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S. L. Bhyrappa
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Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa (born July 26, 1934), is a Kannada novelist, whose works are immensely popular both within India and abroad. Bhyrappa is widely regarded as one of India's foremost modern-day writers. His novels are unique in terms of theme, structure, and characterization. He has been among the top selling authors of Kannada, Hindi and Marathi for the past several years.
Bhyrappa's works do not fit into any specific genre of contemporary Kannada literature such as Navodaya, Navya, Bandaya, or Dalita partly because of the range of topics they deal with.
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Encyclopedia
Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa (born July 26, 1934), is a Kannada novelist, whose works are immensely popular both within India and abroad. Bhyrappa is widely regarded as one of India's foremost modern-day writers. His novels are unique in terms of theme, structure, and characterization. He has been among the top selling authors of Kannada, Hindi and Marathi for the past several years.
Bhyrappa's works do not fit into any specific genre of contemporary Kannada literature such as Navodaya, Navya, Bandaya, or Dalita partly because of the range of topics they deal with. His major works have been the centre of several public debates.
Biography
Early life
Bhyrappa was born in Santeshivara, a remote village in Channarayapatna taluk of Hassan district, about 200 km from Bangalore. He lost his mother to Bubonic plague early in childhood and took on odd jobs to pay for his education. His childhood influences include the Kannada litterateur Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar; Bhyrappa briefly participated in the Indian freedom struggle when he was aged 13.
Bhyrappa completed his primary education in Channarayapatna taluk before moving to Mysore where he finished the rest of his education. His autobiography, Bhitti (Wall) records a break in his high school education. Bhyrappa impulsively quit school, following his cousin's advice and wandered for a year with him. His sojourn led him to Mumbai, where he worked as a railway porter. In Mumbai he met a group of sadhus and joined them to seek spiritual solace. He wandered with them for a few months before returning to Mysore to continue his education.
Education
Career
S L Bhyrappa was a professor at Hubli college, Sardar Patel University of Gujarat, NCERT Delhi, and the Regional College of Education, Mysore from where he retired in 1991.
Bhyrappa has two sons. Bhyrappa and his wife live in Mysore.
Works
Bhyrappa has produced several significant novels. Starting with Dharmashree, first published in 1961, Bhyrappa has authored twenty novels in a career spanning four decades. His major novels have generated public discussions and debates.
Vamshavruksha, Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane, Matadana and Nayi Neralu have been made into movies and have bagged major awards. Vamshavruksha has received Kannada Sahitya Academy Award in 1966 and Daatu (Crossing Over) has received both Kannada and Kendra Sahitya Academy awards in 1975. Parva has been the most discussed and applauded among all of his novels. It narrates the social structure, values and the mystery of mortality in the epoch of Mahabharata very effectively. Bhyrappa reconstructed Mahabharatha from sociological and anthropological angle, through metaphors in this novel.
In addition to novels, Bhyrappa has written tomes pertaining to literature and philosophy such as Sahitya mattu prateeka, Kate mattu katavastu and Naneke bareyuttene?.
Popularity
Bhyrappa's novels have been translated into most Indian languages and English. Bhyrappa has been the top selling author in Kannada for past 25 years and past 8 years in Marathi. He has also been among the top five best selling authors in Hindi.
Most of his novels have gone for several reprints. His latest novel Aavarana was sold out even before its release in February 2007. The novel went on to create a record in Indian literary world by witnessing 10 reprints within five months of its release.
Being a popular novelist, he is facing pressure from various publication houses to give publication rights to them. But still his novels are published by Saahitya Bhandaara located in Balepete in old Bangalore. They have published all his novels starting from Dharmashree to latest controversial hit Aavarana.
Controversies
Bhyrappa was the center of controversies in certain quarters because of his selection of themes and also because of his stands. Most of Bhyrappa's prominent novels (Vamshavruksha, Tabbaliyu Neenaade Magane, Parva, and Saartha) have strong roots in ancient Indian philosophical tradition, a fact which invited severe criticism initially from the Navya writers and from others later.
Bhyrappa supported N. R. Narayana Murthy when the latter was criticized by media and public regarding the controversy concerning playing instrumental version of national anthem. He also backed N. R. Narayana Murthy regarding Kaveri issue saying riots and protests are not going to solve the issue.
Bhyrappa had a debate with Girish Karnad in Vijaya Karnataka regarding religious tolerance of Tipu Sultan. Bhyrappa accused Karnad of being untruthful in giving a factual account of Tipu Sultan in his plays. Bhyrappa claimed that Tipu Sultan was a religious fanatic who wouldn't stand Hindus in his court.
Dr. U.R. Ananthamurthy was an early and prominent critic of Bhyrappa's novels. Bhyrappa has documented his debate with Ananthamurthy in Bhitti, as well as in a few essays in Naaneke Bareyuttene. Recently Bhyrappa's latest novel Avarana, which Bhyrappa claims as historical truths about what Islamic rule have done to Indian social/cultural life, has stirred a major controversy in Karnataka. There has been accusations that Bhyrappa is a Hindu fundamentalist who wants to divide society on the basis of history. Dr. U.R. Ananthamurthy, another big name in Kannada literature has criticised Bhyrappa and his works, terming Aavarana as dangerous. He said that Bhyrappa was a debater who "doesn’t know what Hindu religion stands for". However Bhyrappa claims that the novel was result of his search for truth and there was no ulterior motive behind the novel. He urges critics to study the reference books mentioned in the novel before jumping to any conclusion.
Awards
- Pampa Award in 2005.
- Sahitya Academy award in 1975.
- Kannada Sahitya Academy award in 1966.
- NTR National literary award in 2007.
- Honorary Doctorate from Gulbarga University in 2007.
Bhyrappa was elected as the president of Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held in Kanakapura in 1999.
Works
Novels
- Dharmashree (1961)
- Doora saridaru (1962)
- Matadaana (1965)
- Vamshavraksha (1965)
- Jalapaata (1967)
- Naayi Neralu (1968) -
- Tabbaliyu neenaade magane (1968)
- Gruhabhanga (1970)
- Nirakarana (1971)
- Grahana (1972)
- Dhaatu (1973)
- Anweshane (1976)
- Parva(1979)
- Nele (1983)
- Saakshi (1986)
- Anchu (1990)
- Tantu (1993)
- Saartha (1998)
- Mandra (2001)
- Bheemakaaya (2004/2005)
- Aavarana (2007)
Autobiography
Philosophy
- Satya mattu Soundarya (1966) (Doctoral thesis)
- Saahitya mattu Prateeka (1967)
- Kathe mattu Kathavastu (1969)
- Naaneke Bareyuttene? (1980)
Bhyrappa's works translated to other languages
- Dharmashree : Sanskrit, Marathi
- Vamshavruksha : Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Urdu, English
- Nayi-Neralu : Gujarati, Hindi
- Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane : Hindi
- Gruhabhanga : All 14 languages of India
- Nirakarana : Hindi
- Datu : All 14 languages of India, English
- Anveshana: Marathi, Hindi
- Parva : Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, English
- Nele : Hindi
- Sakshi : Hindi, English
- Anchu : Marathi, Hindi
- Tantu : Marathi, Hindi
- Sartha : Sanskrit, Marathi, Hindi, English
- Aavarana : Sanskrit
- Naneke Bareyuttene : Marathi
- Satya mattu Soundarya : English]
- Bhitti : Marathi, Hindi
Bhyrappa's novels on screen
Movies
- Vamshavruksha (1972)
- Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane (1977)
- Matadana (2001)
- Nayi-Neralu (2006)
Television series
- Gruhabhanga
- Daatu (Hindi)
See also
Footnotes
External links and Further Reading
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- Belagere Krishnashastri, Mareyaladeete, for a warm hearted interpretation of the author's experiences with Bhyrappa.
- Bhyrappabhinandana, a feliciation book on S.L. Bhyrappa
- S.L. Bhyrappa Avara Krutigala Vimarshe a collection of literary criticism on S.L.Bhyrappa's works compiled by Sumateendra Nadig
- Mandra-Manthana, a collection of essays about S.L. Bhyrappa's novel, Mandra, by various literary critics
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