Dr. B. A. Viveka Rai conferred with Shivaram Karanth Award in Udupi

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Oct 12, 2025: Noted scholar Dr. B. A. Viveka Rai was conferred with the Dr. Shivaram Karanth Award during the Karanth Birth Anniversary and Literary Festival held at the newly inaugurated Ravindra Kala Mantapa of MGM College, Udupi, on Saturday. The event was organised by the Dr. Shivaram Karanth Trust.

Accepting the award, Dr. Viveka Rai said he found in Karanth an exceptional blend of “reading, travel and experimentation — three rare qualities in any writer.” He added, “Karanth’s strength lay in anthropology. He travelled extensively to understand diverse cultures. Only those disconnected from the world claim their own culture to be supreme. Karanth, on the other hand, could effortlessly mingle with children and become one among them.”

Inaugurating the festival, Udupi–Chikkamagaluru MP Kota Srinivas Poojary described Karanth as “a multifaceted personality with ten different dimensions.” He said, “I have never seen such a straightforward and outspoken person. Karanth was also active in politics and had contested elections from Puttur and Uttara Kannada.”

Dr. Gananatha Shetty Ekkaru, president of the Dr. Shivaram Karanth Trust, welcomed the gathering.

On the occasion, senior folklorist S. A. Krishnayya, researcher Dr. Rekha Bannadi and Yakshagana artist Sheikh Mohammad Ghouse were felicitated for their contributions to their respective fields.

Veteran Kannada critic Dr. S. R. Vijaya Shankar delivered a special lecture, while M. A. Gafoor, chairman of the Coastal Development Authority, released the trust’s bulletin. The event concluded with a stage performance of Maimanalada Suli, a play based on Karanth’s novel.