Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa, popularly known by his pen name Kuvempu, was an Indian poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He is widely regarded as the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th century. He was the first Kannada writer to receive the Jnanpith Award.
Kota Shivaram Karanth, also abbreviated as K. Shivaram Karanth, was an Indian polymath, who was a novelist in Kannada language, playwright and an ecological conservationist. Ramachandra Guha called him the "Rabindranath Tagore of Modern India, who has been one of the finest novelists-activists since independence". He was the third writer to be decorated with the Jnanpith Award for Kannada, the highest literary honor conferred in India. His son Ullas is an ecological conservationist.
Swami Purushottamananda was a monk of the Ramakrishna Mission. He was a prolific writer and orator in Kannada. He was also known as singer.
Shivakumara Swami was an Indian humanitarian, spiritual leader, educator and supercentenarian. He was a Veerashaiva religious figure. Swami joined the Siddaganga Matha in 1930 Karnataka and became head seer in 1941. He also founded the Sri Siddaganga Education Society. Described as the most esteemed adherent of Lingayatism (Veerashaivism), he was referred to as Nadedaaduva Devaru in the state. In 2015, Dr Shivakumara Swamiji was awarded by the Government of India the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award.
Sri Ramakrishna Vidyashala is a residential school for boys run by the Ramakrishna Mission. It is situated in the southern Indian city of Mysore in Karnataka. It offers a comprehensive education from high school to junior college, or grades eight through twelve.
The Rajyotsava Prashasti or Rajyotsava Award, the second highest civilian honor of the Karnataka state of India are conferred annually by the Karnataka Government on the occasion of the establishment of the state on 1 November, celebrated as the Kannada Rajyotsava.
Ram Shri Mugali was a Kannada language writer. He was awarded the central Sahitya Akademi in 1956 for his work "Kannada Sahitya Charitre". He was the president of the 44th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held in Siddganga, in the Tumkur district of Karnataka state, India.
Aralumallige Parthsarathy is an international scholar in the field of Dasa Sahitya, which values the culture of the historic Bhakthi movement, practiced through centuries in the Hindu devotional movement Haridasa Sahitya and descended from the Indian philosopher and theologian Madhwacharya. He has authored 52 books and 35 audio CDs, has undertaken international lecture tours, and is an award recipient.
Sri Shreedhara Swami Maharaj was an Indian prominent Kannada-Marathi saint and religious poet in the Hindu tradition. Shreedhar Swami was a devotee of Lord Ram and a disciple of Samarth Ramdas. Recognised as the incarnation of Adi Guru Sri Dattatreya
Appaiah Swami or Sadguru Appayya Swami was a Hindu Indian spiritual master who lived in Virajpet town, in Kodagu, Karnataka, India.
K. V. Krishna Prasad, also known as KP, is a Carnatic music vocalist.
Balaji Tangali Lalitha Naik is an Indian social activist, politician, writer, film actress who was the minister of Kannada, Culture, and Department of Women & Child Welfare of Karnataka. Naik has also served as an MLC (1986-1992) and MLA (1994-1999). She won the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award in 1991. She is also known for leading important literary, social and language-rights movements such as Bandaya movement and Gokak agitation.
Dr. Ramaswami Balasubramaniam, known as Dr R Balu, is a development scholar, author, public policy advocate, leadership trainer known for his development work with rural and tribal people in Saragur and Heggadadevana kote Taluks of Mysuru in Karnataka, India. He founded Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM), a development organization based in Saragur when he was 19. He is also the founder and chairman of the Grassroots Research And Advocacy Movement (GRAAM), a public policy think tank in Mysuru. After spending 26 years in development work among rural and tribal people, he pursued academic degrees in leadership, organisational development and public policy. He was the Frank T Rhodes professor at Cornell University between 2012 and 2014, and has held academic positions in Cornell and other universities. His books Voices from the Grassroots and I, the citizen (2015) are compilation of narratives and reflections of a development expert. He published Power Within: The Leadership Legacy of Narendra Modi in 2024.
Hale Yedatore, a village in the Krishnaraja Nagara taluk of the Mysore district, Karnataka state, India is located about four kilometers north of the commercially important newly built town of Krishnarajanagara, and about 44 km north-west of the historically important city of Mysore. The name Yedatore derives from two Kannada language words, yeda and tore – a name that arises from the "bend to the left" made by the river at that spot which is considered sacred by Hindus. There are steps leading from the temple down to the bathing areas ("ghats") by the river. Yedatore village was severely damaged in the 1920s from the flood waters of the River Kaveri, prompting the Mysore ruler to build the new town, named Krishnarajanagar, little southerly on an elevated land.
Siddalingaiah, was an Indian poet, playwright, and Dalit activist, writing in the Kannada language. He is credited with starting the Dalit-Bandaya movement in Kannada and with starting the genre of Dalit writing. He is one of the founders of the Dalita Sangharsh Samiti along with B. Krishnappa.
Aryamba Pattabhi is an Indian novelist and writer in Kannada language. She is the younger sister of Triveni, a popular Kannada novelist and the niece of B. M. Srikantaiah, a famous Kannada poet, writer and translator.
Ibrahim Sutar was an Indian social worker and poet known for folk-music performances across Karnataka and neighboring states which spread the message of Hindu–Muslim communal unity.
Taľaku Subbanna Venkannayya was University of Mysore's first Kannada Professor. He was also a popular Kannada writer, translator, editor and teacher who nurtured many later Kannada littérateurs like Kuvempu, D. L. Narasimhachar, T. N. Srikantaiah, K. S. Narasimhaswamy, M. V. Seetharamaiah, C. K. Venkataramaiah, K. Venkataramappa, G. Venkatasubbiah and S. V. Parameshwara Bhatta. In fact, Kuvempu begins his book Sri Ramayana Darshanam with a two-page dedication to his teacher T. S. Venkannayya. T. S. Venkannayya translated the biography of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa from Bengali into Kannada for the first time in 1919. T. S. Venkannayya along with D. V. Gundappa, V. Seetharamaiah, B. M. Srikantaiah and T. N. Srikantaiah were at the forefront of the Kannada Movement from 1920s onwards and were instrumental in the founding of Kannada Sahitya Parishat (Bangalore) and Kannada Sangha at Central College, Bangalore and Maharaja College, Mysore. T. S. Venkannayya was responsible for the organising of the 1931 Kannada Sahitya Sammelan at Mysore.
Vellimalai Sri Vivekananda Ashramam is a Hindu spiritual center and pilgrimage site located in the foothills of Vellimalai in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. This ashrama was founded in 1940 by Swami Ambananda, a direct disciple of Sri Sarada Devi.
Swami Harshananda (1930–2021) was a monk of the Ramakrishna Order who wrote over 200 works on spirituality, Hinduism, and Vedanta philosophy in Kannada, Sanskrit and English. He promoted daily spiritual practice and meditation, impacting spiritual seekers globally through retreats and courses. The Swami was a polyglot and an expert in Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Bengali and English. Throughout his days as the head of the Bangalore Math, the Swami delivered regular spiritual discourses at the Ashrama in Kannada and English. Additionally, he was skilled in singing bhajans.
