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Kuvempu
ಕುವೆಂಪು
The Rashtrakavi of Karnataka — the poet who sang the universal vision
Years
1904 – 1994
Known as
Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa — 'Kuvempu', the Rashtrakavi
Birthplace
Kuppali, Karnataka
Field
Poets & Writers
“O invisible Mother! May I be born again and again, and serve thee for all time!”
— Kuvempu, the invocation of the national anthem of Karnataka
The Story
Born in 1904 in Kuppali, Kuvempu — K.V. Puttappa — was educated in Mysore and became a professor of Kannada at the university. He began as a poet of nature and beauty and grew into the philosopher-poet of the modern age, whose vision embraced all humanity and all creation.
His masterpiece, Sri Ramayana Darshanam, is a modern epic — a retelling of the Ramayana in blank verse that took him years to write and that won him the Jnanpith Award in 1967. His philosophy of the 'universal vision' — the vision of the divine in all beings — is the heart of his poetry, his novels, and his essays.
He was honoured as the Rashtrakavi, the national poet, and with the Padma Vibhushan. He died in 1994, and his home at Kuppali has become a centre of pilgrimage for the Kannada people — the poet who sang that all humanity is one family.
Core Ideas
Sri Ramayana Darshanam
His modern epic that won the Jnanpith.
The Rashtrakavi
The national poet of Karnataka.
The Universal Vision
The divine seen in all beings.
The State Anthem
His hymn is the anthem of Karnataka.
The Jnanpith
The highest honour of Indian literature, 1967.
Why it matters today
Kuvempu is honoured as the Rashtrakavi of Karnataka — the poet whose universal vision and modern epic made him the greatest literary figure of the Kannada land. His state anthem is sung every year, his works are the treasure of the language, and his name remains the most honoured in the modern literature of Karnataka.