‘Shivarama Karanth: The quintessential bahuroopi’
Speakers felt Karanth gave a new lease of life to Yakshagana
Karnataka Yakshagana Academy president Lakshminarayana Samaga said Jnanpith awardee Kota Shivaram Karanth was a ‘bahuroopi’ (man with multifaceted personality) in true sense.
He was speaking after inaugurating a seminar on Shivarama Karanth organised as part of Bahuroopi national theatre festival, by Nataka Karnataka Rangayana at Vidyavardhaka First Grade College on Friday.
“No other writer in Kannada has the expanse and depth as Karanth did. Karanth was a restless man. Hence, he worked in every field with equal passion — be it writing novel, creating plays, research, dictionary, environment, politics, cinema and yakshagana. Karanth involved himself with equal passion and learnt every aspect of things that he set out to do,” Samaga said, adding “Karanth lived as he wrote, and wrote just the way as he lived his life.”
Karanth gave new lease of life, to the coastal art form — Yakshagana.
“The credit of having taken Yakshagana to pinnacle of glory at international level, goes to Karanth,” Samaga said.
Human-centric literature
Referring to his literature, Samaga said Karanth created human-centric literature as against the supreme force (God). Through his works, he set out to find the truth whether anything existed beyond human life.
“Karanth would draw everyone towards self with the force of nature and the beauty of a roaring sea. But sometimes, it would be scary too, because just as we would think he is calm, he would kick up a storm,” Samaga revealed.
Rangayana director B V Rajaram, Vidyavardhaka Sangha president Gundappagowda, principal Shivaramu Kadanakuppe and others were present.
