Friday’s Google Doodle honoured Kannada novelist and poet Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa, better known as Kuvempu, on the occasion of his 113th birthday. Kuvempu was also a playwright, critic and thinker.
Kuvempu was born in Karnataka’s Shimoga district. His literary career began with a collection of poetry he wrote called Beginner’s Muse. He won the Jnanpith Award for his version of the epic Ramayana called ‘Sri Ramayana Darshanam’.
Kuvempu was a strong advocate of making Kannada the main medium of education. The Karnataka government in 1958 honoured him with the titles of Rashtrakavi, and Karnataka Ratna in 1992. He died in Mysore on November 11, 1994.
The doodle features Kuvempu’s poem Poovu (Flower), “rhapsodizing on the beauty of the poet’s natural surroundings”, Google said in a blog. “To celebrate Kuvempu’s life and work, today’s Doodle by illustrator Upamanyu Bhattacharyya [and Swati Shelar, who helped with the Kannada lettering] shows Kuvempu surrounded by nature in his beloved home,” it added.
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