JOIN USMulti-linguistic scholar and Tulu litterateur Dr Pundur Venkataraj Punichitthaya (76) died at his house ‘Gayathri Nilaya’ in Badiyadka on Friday. He was suffering from Parkinson disease for a long time.
One of the greatest contributors to Tulu language and research, Punichithaya was born on October 10, 1936 at Pundur in Badiyadka district. Brought up in a literary environment, he went on to become a teacher and served at Swamijis High School in Edaneer for 30 years. The credit goes to him for tracing the palm leaf scripts titled ‘Sri Bhagavatho’ (a huge volume of Tulu poems), ‘Kaveri’ (Tulu poetry) and ‘Tulu Devi Mahatme’ (Tulu prose) and translating those scripts into Kannada.
His works include ‘Shailushi’, ‘Subhashitha Lahari’, ‘Jokali’, ‘Nannajjanigondaneyithu’, ‘Mogaveera Samskruthi’, ‘Shankara Vijaya’ etc. He has also scripted lyrics for over 40 devotional song casettes and CDs.
He has rendered his guidance and service to Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy, Tulu Dictionary Project Advisory Committee, Kasargod History Society, Kerala Kannada Text Book Framing Board, Kerala and DK Literacy Kannada Text Book Framing Board etc.
He is the recipient of national award for the best teacher conferred by the President of India, Kotegadde Sitharama Adiga Memorial Pashupatha Sahitya Prashasti, Tapasya Kalavedi award, Bollimbala ward among others.