Prathivadhi Bhayankara Sreenivas widely known as P. B. S. was an Indian playback singer, composer, harmonium player, lyricist, littérateur, and poet known for his works in South cinema, and Bollywood. His major chunk of work has been in Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu languages. He has garnered the Kannada Rajyotsava Prashasti, the Tamil Kalaimamani Award, and the Madhavapeddi Satyam Award by the Andhra Siva Foundation, for his contributions to music and cinema. In his honor, Sri Kala Sudha Telugu Association of Chennai, instituted the P. B. Sreenivas Mahapurush Award to honor veteran singers.
North Karnataka is a geographical region in Deccan plateau from 300 to 730 metres elevation that constitutes the region of the Karnataka state in India and the region consists of 14 districts. It is drained by the Krishna River and its tributaries the Bhima, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, and Tungabhadra. North Karnataka lies within the Deccan thorn scrub forests ecoregion, which extends north into eastern Maharashtra.
Annigeri is a taluk of Dharwad district in the state of Karnataka, India, located 20 km west of Gadag en route to Hubli and 35 km from Hubli.
Kayyara Kinhanna Rai was an Indian independence activist, author, poet, journalist, teacher and farmer.
M. Chidananda Murthy was a Kannada writer, researcher and historian. He was a well-known scholar in Karnataka specializing in the history of Kannada language and ancient Karnataka. He was also known for his campaign to conserve the monuments Hampi and to secure classical language status to Kannada Language. Murthy also articulated that uniform civil code and an anti-conversion law must be enacted by the Government in India.
Chandrashekhara Basavanneppa Kambara is a prominent Indian poet, playwright, folklorist, film director in Kannada language and the founder-vice-chancellor of Kannada University in Hampi also president of the Sahitya Akademi, country's premier literary institution, after Vinayak Krishna Gokak (1983) and U.R. Ananthamurthy (1993). He is known for effective adaptation of the North Karnataka dialect of the Kannada language in his plays, and poems, in a similar style as in the works of D.R. Bendre.
Ganjam Venkatasubbiah, also known as G. V., was a Kannada writer, grammarian, editor, lexicographer, and critic who compiled over eight dictionaries, authored four seminal works on dictionary science in Kannada, edited over sixty books, and published several papers. Recipient of the Kannada Sahitya Akademi Award and the Pampa Award, Venkatasubbiah's contribution to the world of Kannada Lexicography is vast. His work Igo Kannada is a socio-linguistic dictionary which encompasses an eclectic mix of Kannada phrases, usages, idioms, and serves as a reference for linguists and sociologists alike.
Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi was an Indian scholar of Vachana sahitya in the Kannada-language and academic who served as the vice-chancellor of Kannada University in Hampi. A noted epigraphist of Kannada, he was awarded the National Sahitya Akademi Award in 2006 for Marga 4, a collection of his research articles.
Devegowda Javaregowda, known as De Ja Gou or simply Javaregowda, was an Indian Kannada writer, folklorist, researcher, scholar and academic. He was disciple of authors T.N. Srikantaiah and Kuvempu. His literary career spans over decades in which he wrote over thirty-four biographies in Kannada language and other works including children's literature. He campaigned for the promotion of Kannada language. He had received Pampa Prashasti (1998), Padma Shri (2001) and the Karnataka Ratna (2008) awards for his contributions in literature and education. He became a centenarian in 2015 and died on 30 May 2016.
Chennaveera Kanavi was an Indian Kannada language poet and author. In a career spanning over seven decades he wrote over 25 anthologies and over 28 books across genres. He was considered one of the major poets and writers in the Kannada language and received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his poem "Jeeva Dhwani" in 1981. He was popularly known as "Samanvayada Kavi", "Chembelakina Kavi", and "Soujanyada Kavi".
Sondekoppa Ramachandrasastri Ramaswamy is an Indian writer, journalist, biographer, social activist and environmentalist. He has authored more than 50 books and thousand articles both in Kannada and English. He is recipient of the "Karnataka State Sahitya Akademi Award" (1992) for year's best work in social science. In 2015, he was honoured by Hampi University, Karnataka with the 'Nadoja' award. An avid campaigner for environmental issues and people's rights, he has led numerous movements both at state and national level for conservation of vast tracts of rich flora and fauna from ill-planned Government policies. His years as a writer and chronicler brought him under the influence of doyens of literature and public life such as D. V. Gundappa, V. Sitaramayya, Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma, Yadava Rao Joshi and P. Kodanda Rao. His writings essentially mirror the literary, cultural, nationalist and developmental problems that are contemporaneous to the present day scenario. S. R. Ramaswamy is currently the honorary Editor-in-Chief of Kannada monthly "Utthana" and "Rashrothana Sahitya" at Bangalore.
Togere Venkatasubbasastry Venkatachala Sastry, commonly known as T. V. Venkatachala Shastry, is a Kannada-language writer, grammarian, critic, editor and lexicographer. He has authored in excess of 100 books, translations and has edited collections of essays, biographical sketches and felicitation volumes. Recipient of the Kannada Sahitya Akademi Award (honorary), Sastry is an authority on Kannada language grammar and its various facets ranging from the metre scale on which he has written extensively to the history of Kannada literature spanning two millennia.
Wooday P. Krishna is an Indian educationist, technocrat and social activist. Krishna is also the Honorary General Secretary of Seshadripuram Educational Trust, President, Karnataka Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Former Chairman Gandhi Peace Foundation and former Chairman, The Institution of Engineers (India), Karnataka State Centre. He has served as a member of State Disaster Management Authority, Government of Karnataka in the rank of Minister of State, to develop proactive mitigating strategies for any disasters in the State.
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.
Kampalapura Veeranna Narayana, also known as KVN, is an Indian linguist, professor of Kannada language and literature, and a literary critic. He is currently the Chairman of the Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi Pradikara, Government of Karnataka. He hails from Piriyapattana in Mysore district. During his time as a professor in Bangalore University, he initiated investigations into Kannada language and culture from the root level. He served as the registrar of Hampi Kannada University. His major areas of interest are Kannada language, literature, teaching and science.
Dr. Manu Baligar is an Indian Kannada writer, author, playwright, former civil servant and the current president of Kannada Sahitya Parishat. He hails from Shigli in Gadag district, and is the elder brother of V. P. Baligar, a retired Indian Administrative Service officer and former chairman of Housing and Urban Development Corporation. He was a civil servant in the Karnataka Administrative Service, and retired as the commissioner of Department of Kannada and Culture, Government of Karnataka. He was elected the president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, an apex body for the promotion of Kannada language, on 3 March 2016 for a term of three years which was later legally extended to five years. He has been conferred with many coveted honors including the highly prestigious Nadoja Award by the Hampi University in 2019 and also an honorary doctorate for literature from Karnataka University Dharwad. Also, he has been conferred with two gold medals for his exemplary work on IRDP during his career as a civil servant.
Sara Aboobacker was an Indian Kannada writer of novels and short stories, and a translator.
Daroji Eramma, popularly known as Burrakatha Eeramma was a folk singer and performer of the Burrakatha, a folk art form of epic storytelling from South India. She was awarded several awards including the Rajyotsava Prashasti in 1999.
The Nadoja Award is a prestigious award presented annually by Kannada University, Hampi, India to eminent personalities for their contribution in various fields. The word "Nadoja" belongs to Adikavi Pampa which means `teacher to the Land's.
Bilalukoppa Krishnayya Sumitra, popularly known as B. K. Sumitra, is an Indian singer known for her work in Kannada films. She is also popular for her numerous devotional and folk songs.
