Tightly packed books fill up entire racks that stand wall-to-wall in the room, leaving room for little else. It is an out-of-this-world experience to anyone who enters the place. However, thousands of these rare books are not a part of any private collection; neither do they belong to any government library.

Bhalki Hiremath, in the border district of Bidar, boasts of this enviable collection. The Math, popular in the cultural and spiritual landscape for its efforts in nurturing Kannada during the time of Urdu and Marathi dominance, evokes admiration.

Learning Urdu was mandatory during the reign of the Nizams of Hyderabad. At the same time, proximity to neighbouring Maharashtra (a few kilometres away) meant Marathi dominance. Centenarian seer Channabasava Pattadevaru, who was better known as a ‘Living God’, took upon himself to teach Kannada surreptitiously under the guise of teaching Urdu.

A ray of hope to the poor and the downtrodden, Channabasava Pattadevaru not only worked towards nurturing Kannada, but was also instrumental in enhancing the living conditions of the people of three generations. To this day, thousands of families throughout the district owe their  livelihood to the seer. Channabasava Pattadevaru led the life of a saint. Several schools and colleges in the district stand testimony to his zeal in providing education, particularly to women.

The book collection at the Hiremath also speaks of Pattadevaru’s labour in preserving the books as well as his love of Vachana literature. It is no surprise that most of the books are on Sharana literature.
However, the collection is not limited to Sharana or other religious literature alone. There are books on belonging to various streams of literature. After Basavalinga Pattadevaru succeeded Channabasava Pattadevaru, the collection achieved a rapid growth. A bibliophile, Basavalinga Pattadevaru’s enthusiasm saw the rooms of Math filled with books, which began to be used for research as well.

It is common to find only spiritual texts in any library or collection belonging to maths and other religious places. The exclusivity is more pronounced in maths that follow particular tenets of a religion. But the Bhalki Hiremath Collection is not limited in this manner. Around 60 per cent of the collection comprises very old and important texts pertaining to Sharana literature. It is interesting to find several books on atheism too! Then there are books on socialism and communism as well.

Elsewhere, it is practically impossible to find Devaru Satta, written by Vasudeva Bhoopalam. But this Kannada Math collection has a copy. Periyar’s works on Dravidian Thought as well as books written by Lenin and Karl Marx, along with several editions of Russian authors Leo Tolstoy and Maxim Gorky can also be found here.
The Math also has some manuscripts of cultural and historical importance. There’s a need to preserve the same for posterity.

Translated by B S Srivani