Mysore/Mysuru: Among 68 recipients of Kannada Rajyotsava award in the State, six are from Mysuru district, two from Chamarajanagar and one each from Kodagu, Mandya and Hassan districts. Besides, a publication house from the city was also given the Award.

Six awardees from Mysuru are Javarappa (Media), P. Gangadhara Swamy (Theatre), Dr. Kabbinale Vasanth Bharadwaj and ‘Mimicry’ Dayanand (Miscellaneous), P. Gowraiah (Sculpture/Fine Arts/Handicraft) and Mahadevu (Folklore). B.N. Sriram Publications is the publication house from the city to bag the award.

From Chamarajanagar, Prof. Gopalan Jagadish was awarded in the field of Science and Technology and Prof. C. Naganna from the field of literature.

Lieutenant General Codanda Poovaiah Cariappa  from Kodagu has been awarded in Miscellaneous category, followed by K.T. Chandu of Mandya in the field of Education and Subbu Holeyar (H.K. Subbaiah) of Hassan in the field of Literature.

First among newspaper hawker

In a first, the award was bestowed on a newspaper distributor, thus enriching the value of the award. The 71-year-old Javarappa, who has been in the occupation for the past 56 years, is a resident of Chamundipuram in K.R. Mohalla. He started his career as a newspaper distributor at the age of 15, which he does still to eke out a living. Apart from Kannada, Javarappa can also speak English and has a penchant for reading books.

“It’s an unforgettable moment in my life that I was considered for the award by the Government, for working as a newspaper distributor from the past five decades,” said elated Javarappa.

Retired teacher of Rangayana

P. Gangadhara Swamy, aged 74, is a native of Mundaragi in Gadag district. Swamy, who is settled in Dattagalli in Mysuru city, after retiring from Rangayana Dharwad unit, has also served in Rangayana Mysuru from 1989 to 2006 till his transfer to Dharwad. Swamy has also directed several plays including ‘Beechi Bullets’ and translated a Bengali play into Kannada titled ‘Meravanige.’

Literary and cultural achiever

Dr. Kabbinale Vasanth Bharadwaj, though a native of Hebri taluk in Udupi, has made Mysuru his home for the past several decades. To pursue his interest in literature, Dr. Bharadwaj took voluntary retirement as a Bank Manager at the age of 48. Since then, he has involved in various forms of literature like poetry, story, translation, research, criticism, dictionary, editing volumes and song features among others.

Pride of Beesu Kamsale artiste

Mahadevu, aged 74 years, is a native of Kempisiddanahundi, Nanjangud taluk in the district. He has devoted his  life to ‘Beesu Kamsale’ for the last 50 years and his own troupe ‘Sri Malai Mahadeshwara Swamy Beesu Kamsale Sangha’ and has performed in Mysuru Dasara, New Delhi and several other places.

Conserving art on the verge of extinction

As an artist, P. Gowraiah is striving for the conservation of traditional style of art called ‘Hudugu.’ Apart from learning the nuances from the doyen of handicrafts Mir Showkath Ali, Gowraiah has a Diploma in Inlay Arts and has trained hundreds of artists by starting Inlay unit with a touch of technology.

A feather in cap for mimicry artiste

Kannada film actor-cum-mimicry artiste Dayanand made a career as “Stand-Up Artiste’ even before it became popular on TV channels. As a small screen and big screen artiste, Dayanand has been entertaining people from 1990. He also directed a movie named ‘Anireekshita’ recently.

Mysuru’s book publishing house too bags honour

B.N. Srirama Book Publishing House, Saraswathipuram in Mysuru, was started by N. Ram in the year 1989. It has published over 120 books including that of prominent writers like Poornachandra Tejaswi, Chaduranga, Sara Abubacker, Basavaraju, Aparanji Shivakumar, Pradeep Kenjige, Prabhakar Shenoy and Kripakar-Senani.

One each from Kodagu, Mandya and Hassan among awardees

Retired Lieutenant General Codanda P. Cariappa, who received Kannada Rajyotsava award, hails from Siddapura in Kodagu. After serving the Indian Army, Cariappa is settled in Mumbai, post retirement. He has served as the head of Rajput Rifles and Master General Sustenance (MGS) of Indian Army, Personal Officer to President of India and Principal Staff Officer to Chief of Army. He is also a recipient of Param Vishist Seva Medal (PVSM).

A multi-faceted personality

The 93-year-old K.T. Chandu is a multi-faceted personality, who has played significant roles like that of freedom fighter, writer, Gandhian, Kannada literary lover, co-operative organiser, book lover, farmer leader and also as a progressive farmer.  He is popularly known as ‘Chandu Anna’ among the people of Mandya district.

Two-decade long service at DD, Akashvani

H.K. Subbaiah, who is better known as Subbu Holeyar, retired from Chandana channel of Bengaluru Doordarshan after 26-year long service. He also served as a Programme Producer at Akashvani Bengaluru Station.

He is actively involved in the fields of literature and theatre.

A scholarly teacher and writer

Prof. C. Naganna, a native of Chikkati in Gundlupet taluk, Chamarajanagar district, was a English Professor by profession, who has also contributed to Kannada literature. He had served as Professor in Comparative Literature and Translation section of Kuvempu Institute for Kannada Studies (KIKS) and Professor in English Department, Maharaja’s College. A resident of Vijayanagar in Mysuru, Prof. Naganna, a well-known critic and translator, had also served as University of Mysore Prasaranga Director. He has 11 literary works to his credit and has edited nine other works.

Contribution to Science & Technology

Prof. Gopalan Jagadish, a native of Kollegal in Chamarajanagar district, is currently settled in Bengaluru.  As a faculty at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, for the last 25 years, Prof. Jagadish has made significant contributions in the field.