A. N. Krishna Rao
Encyclopedia
Dr. A. N. Krishna Rao (1908–1971) (Arakalagudu Narasigarao Krishna Rao - popularly known as ANaKru), is one of the well-known writers in Kannada language. He was popularly known as Kadambari Sarvabhouma (King of Novels). He is known as the person who started the Pragatishila (progressive) movement in Kannada literature
. He has received an honorary doctorate from Mysore University and is the recipient of the Kannada Sahitya Akademi
award.
town of the state of Karnataka
, India
. His father's name was Narasinga Rao and mother's name was Annapoornamma. The family were natives of the town called Arkalgud
in the Hassan district
of Karnataka
. At the start of his career, he edited literary Kannada magazines like Katha Manjari and Vishva Vani. He was also an editor of the Kannada Sahitya Parishath’s publication called Kannada Nudi. ANaKru was the nominated as the president of 43rd Kannada Sahitya Sammelana
held in Manipal
. Once introducing him to an audience, one of Kannada's other major writer Maasti Venkatesh Iyengar
said "I am a Tamil Kannadiga, Sir Mirza Ismail is a Muslim Kannadiga, and Anakru is a pure Kannadiga". This tribute from a literary like Maasti mirrors the Kannada fervor Anakru was known for.
ANaKru was one of the persons who fought for the unification of Kannada-speaking people who were spread across different provinces in British India. He started a movement to promote and popularize Kannada. He openly criticized people in authority who neglected Kannada and fought against them. In one such case, he wrote an article in Kannada Nudi, criticizing the Hindi
-oriented policies of R. R. Divakar (first governor of Bihar), the President of Kannada Sahitya Sammelana
in 1929. On being asked to apologize, ANaKru resigned from the post of the editor and walked away.
ANaKru lived for most of his life in a house called Annapoorna at VV Puram, a locality in South Bangalore. He died on 8 July 1971 at the age of 63.
was in vogue. He rejected this form of literature saying that such writings were a creation of aesthetes and did not reflect the disturbing truths of real life. This led him to come up with writings that formed a new movement in itself, called Pragatishila (progressive). ANaKru wanted literature to become an instrument of social revolution. Influenced by ANaKru, many other writers like Ta Ra Su, Basavaraj Kattimani and Niranjana started writing novels that belonged to the Pragatishila form.
ANaKru was well-known for going against the set rules, an example being his three novels, Nagna Sathya, Shani Santaana and Sanje Gaththalu, which talk of prostitution. He was condemned by many people for depicting vulgarity in these novels. To defend these novels, ANaKru came up with another book called Sahitya mattu kama prachodane and he said:"If telling the truth is vulgar, then I am a vulgar writer; if the act of covering with a cloth, a downtrodden, helpless, naked woman on the street is vulgar, then I am a vulgar writer". His non-moralistic approach to writing and extensive usage of dialogue contributed to vast readership.
ANaKru also wrote many novels which belong to the Artist-Novel model. In this model, most of the novels follow a familiar pattern of a born artist who becomes famous, only to succumb to the charms of a woman and his hold on the art deteriorates. At the end, the artist either overcomes this to regain his art or succumbs to the woman's passion and is destroyed at the end. One of ANaKru's most popular novels's called Sandhyaraaga belongs to this model and talks of the life of a dedicated musician contrasting him with his mean brother. Other novels written by ANaKru in this model are Mia Malhar, Udayaraga, Sahitya Ratna and Nata Sarvabhauma
. Anakru was awarded the Sahitya Akademi
Karnataka
State award. Mysore University awarded Anakru an honorary doctorate in literature.
Based on Anakru's fiction Sandhyaraga, the Kannada movie Sandhyaraga released in 1966 was a hit movie.
Kannada literature
Kannada literature is the corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, a member of the Dravidian family spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script....
. He has received an honorary doctorate from Mysore University and is the recipient of the Kannada Sahitya Akademi
Sahitya Akademi
The Sahitya Akademi ', India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India...
award.
Life
ANaKru was born on the 9th of May, 1908 in the KolarKolar
Kolara is a city in the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Kolar District. It is known for being one of the gold mining sites in India....
town of the state of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. His father's name was Narasinga Rao and mother's name was Annapoornamma. The family were natives of the town called Arkalgud
Arkalgud
Arkalgud, also known as Arakalagudu is a panchayat town and is one among the eight taluks of Hassan district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is situated 30 km from Hassan and 195 km. from Bangalore. The river Hemavati forms the entire northern boundary of the Taluk; river Kaveri...
in the Hassan district
Hassan district
Hassan is a district in Karnataka state, India. The district headquarters are Hassan.Hassan district was the seat of the Hoysala Empire which at its peak ruled large parts of south India from Belur as its early capital and Halebidu as its later capital during the period 1000 - 1334 CE...
of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
. At the start of his career, he edited literary Kannada magazines like Katha Manjari and Vishva Vani. He was also an editor of the Kannada Sahitya Parishath’s publication called Kannada Nudi. ANaKru was the nominated as the president of 43rd Kannada Sahitya Sammelana
Kannada Sahitya Sammelana
Kannada Sahitya Sammelana is the premier gathering of writers, poets and kannadigas. It is held with the aim of preserving and developing Kannada language, its literature, arts, culture and music. It was started in 1915 and held at Bangalore for the first time. It used to be inaugurated by...
held in Manipal
Manipal
Manipal is a university town situated in the state of Karnataka in India. It is a suburb within Udupi city and is administered by Udupi City Municipality. It is located in the rocky hinterland of the Malabar Coast of south west India, about 8 km from the Arabian Sea...
. Once introducing him to an audience, one of Kannada's other major writer Maasti Venkatesh Iyengar
Maasti Venkatesh Iyengar
Maasthi Venkatesha Iyengar was a popular writer in Kannada language. He was the fourth person among eight recipients of Jnanpith Award for Kannada the highest literary honour conferred in India. He was popularly referred to as Maasti Kannadada Aasti which means Maasti is Kannada's Treasure...
said "I am a Tamil Kannadiga, Sir Mirza Ismail is a Muslim Kannadiga, and Anakru is a pure Kannadiga". This tribute from a literary like Maasti mirrors the Kannada fervor Anakru was known for.
ANaKru was one of the persons who fought for the unification of Kannada-speaking people who were spread across different provinces in British India. He started a movement to promote and popularize Kannada. He openly criticized people in authority who neglected Kannada and fought against them. In one such case, he wrote an article in Kannada Nudi, criticizing the Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
-oriented policies of R. R. Divakar (first governor of Bihar), the President of Kannada Sahitya Sammelana
Kannada Sahitya Sammelana
Kannada Sahitya Sammelana is the premier gathering of writers, poets and kannadigas. It is held with the aim of preserving and developing Kannada language, its literature, arts, culture and music. It was started in 1915 and held at Bangalore for the first time. It used to be inaugurated by...
in 1929. On being asked to apologize, ANaKru resigned from the post of the editor and walked away.
ANaKru lived for most of his life in a house called Annapoorna at VV Puram, a locality in South Bangalore. He died on 8 July 1971 at the age of 63.
Literature
Starting from his first novel, Jeevanayathre (journey of life), ANaKru continued to write for about 40 years and wrote more than 100 novels. He was a prolific writer and his literary output exceeded 80,000 pages. When he started writing his novels, the Navodaya form of Kannada literatureKannada literature
Kannada literature is the corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, a member of the Dravidian family spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script....
was in vogue. He rejected this form of literature saying that such writings were a creation of aesthetes and did not reflect the disturbing truths of real life. This led him to come up with writings that formed a new movement in itself, called Pragatishila (progressive). ANaKru wanted literature to become an instrument of social revolution. Influenced by ANaKru, many other writers like Ta Ra Su, Basavaraj Kattimani and Niranjana started writing novels that belonged to the Pragatishila form.
ANaKru was well-known for going against the set rules, an example being his three novels, Nagna Sathya, Shani Santaana and Sanje Gaththalu, which talk of prostitution. He was condemned by many people for depicting vulgarity in these novels. To defend these novels, ANaKru came up with another book called Sahitya mattu kama prachodane and he said:"If telling the truth is vulgar, then I am a vulgar writer; if the act of covering with a cloth, a downtrodden, helpless, naked woman on the street is vulgar, then I am a vulgar writer". His non-moralistic approach to writing and extensive usage of dialogue contributed to vast readership.
ANaKru also wrote many novels which belong to the Artist-Novel model. In this model, most of the novels follow a familiar pattern of a born artist who becomes famous, only to succumb to the charms of a woman and his hold on the art deteriorates. At the end, the artist either overcomes this to regain his art or succumbs to the woman's passion and is destroyed at the end. One of ANaKru's most popular novels's called Sandhyaraaga belongs to this model and talks of the life of a dedicated musician contrasting him with his mean brother. Other novels written by ANaKru in this model are Mia Malhar, Udayaraga, Sahitya Ratna and Nata Sarvabhauma
Awards and honours
A. N. Krishna Rao acted as the president of the 43rd Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held in ManipalManipal
Manipal is a university town situated in the state of Karnataka in India. It is a suburb within Udupi city and is administered by Udupi City Municipality. It is located in the rocky hinterland of the Malabar Coast of south west India, about 8 km from the Arabian Sea...
. Anakru was awarded the Sahitya Akademi
Sahitya Akademi
The Sahitya Akademi ', India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India...
Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
State award. Mysore University awarded Anakru an honorary doctorate in literature.
Based on Anakru's fiction Sandhyaraga, the Kannada movie Sandhyaraga released in 1966 was a hit movie.