Anita Desai, is an Indian novelist and the Emerita John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a writer she has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times. She received a Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978 for her novel Fire on the Mountain, from the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Literature. She won the British Guardian Prize for The Village by the Sea (1983). Her other works include The Peacock, Voices in the City, Fire on the Mountain and an anthology of short stories, Games at Twilight. She is on the advisory board of the Lalit Kala Akademi and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, London.
Virachand Raghavji Gandhi was a Jain scholar who represented Jainism at the first World Parliament of Religions in 1893. A barrister by profession, he worked to defend the rights of Jains, and wrote and lectured extensively on Jainism, other religions, and philosophy.
Jainism has been present in Maharashtra since ancient times. The famous Ellora Caves demonstrate that Jainism was part of a thriving religious culture in Maharashtra in premodern times.
Jainism has had a notable following in Gujarat. According to the 2011 Census of India, around 0.959% of the population of Gujarat is Jain. There are several old Jain temples that draw pilgrims from Jains around the world in places such as Palitana, Taranga, Sankheshwar, Idar.
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L. Gundappa (1903-1986) was a distinguished professor of Kannada literature at Bangalore University who played a pivotal role in the revival of Kannada literature. Inspired by his mentor, B. M. Srikantaiah, Gundappa made significant contributions to the field, particularly in the areas of translation and promoting world literature to Kannada readers.
K. M. Chaitanya is a film director, documentary maker and theater person. His first feature film Aa dinagalu in Kannada, won several awards including the Filmfare Awards South for Best Director and Best Feature Film in 2007. Chaitanya also won awards for Best Debutant Director by the South Indian Cinematographers' Association, Chennai Film Fans Association and Raghavendra Chitravani Award. Aa Dinagalu was listed by The Week among the top 10 Indian films of 2007. Chaitanya studied Journalism at Christ College.
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.
Jayant Kaikini is a poet, short story writer, playwright, columnist in Kannada and a lyricist in Kannada cinema. He has so far published six anthologies of short stories, four books of poetry, three plays and a collection of essays. He is valued as one of the best writers in Kannada literature and has revolutionized the field by giving it a fresh new perspective. He has bagged many notable awards like 'Karnataka Sahitya Academy' award, Kusumagraj Award, Katha Award, DSC Prize for South Asian Literature amidst others. Kaikini is regarded as one of the most significant writers in Kannada today. Kaikini has been conferred the honorary doctorate from Tumkur University.
Gururaja Shyamacharya Amur was an Indian professor of literature, writer and critic in both the Kannada and English languages. He was a recipient of many prestigious awards including the Central Sahitya Akademi Award instituted by the Government of India.
The credit for introducing Jainism to the West goes to a German scholar, Hermann Jacobi, who translated some Jain literature and published it in the series 'Sacred Books of East' in 1884. In Europe, the largest Jain populations are in Britain, with a population of about 25,000.
Modern Kannada literature refers to the body of literature written in the Kannada language, a language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka. The Kannada script is the writing system used in Kannada literature. In the last forty years, eight modern Kannada authors have been awarded the Jnanpith award, a prestigious private literary award in India. In addition, the Sahitya Akademi Award, the second-highest award for literature granted by the Government of India, has been conferred upon Kannada writers fifty times.
Kumarpal Balabhai Desai is an author, critic, editor, journalist, columnist and translator from Gujarat, India. He studied and later taught at the Gujarat University. He is associated with several social and Gujarati literary organisations such as Gujarati Sahitya Parishad. He has written and edited more than hundred books including biographies and several works on Jainism. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004.
Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa is an Indian novelist, philosopher and screenwriter who writes in Kannada. His work is popular in the state of Karnataka and he is widely regarded as one of modern India's popular novelists. His novels are unique in terms of theme, structure, and characterization. He has been among the top-selling authors in the Kannada language and his books have been translated into Hindi and Marathi which have also been bestsellers.
Dakshin Bharat Jain Sabha (DBJS), also known as the South Indian Jain Association, is a religious and social service organization of the Jains in India. The organization is headquartered at Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India. The association is credited with being one of the first Jain associations to start reform movements among the Jains in modern India. The organization mainly seeks to represent the interests of the native Jains of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa.
Adya Rangacharya, known as R.V. Jagirdar till 1948, later popularly known by his pen name Sriranga, was an Indian Kannada writer, actor and scholar, and a member of the Adya Jahagirdar family. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship in 1967 and the Sahitya Akademi Award for literature in 1971 for Kalidasa, a literary criticism in Kannada.
Shantinath Kuberappa Desai was one of the leading modern authors of the Navya (modernist) movement in Kannada Literature.
In Jainism, Jinvani means the message or the teachings of the Jina (arihant). It is made up of two words Jina (arihant) and Vani (voice). Often the words are spelled out separately or put together as "Jinavani" in publications. It is depicted in various forms, such as "Jinwani" which may be a hymn, and is also personified as Jinvani Maa. The omniscient form of Jina-Vani is said to be a letterless speech, when emanating from an arihant, which is understandable by all present, in their own language, as it is transformed into lettered discourse. In literature, discourses of the tirthankara are generally referred to as Jinvani, as well as Srutu Jnana, meaning scriptural knowledge.
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.
