Dr. K. S. Narasimhaswamy (January 26, 1915 – December 27, 2003) was a prominent poet in Kannada language

Kannada language

Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...

. His most popular collection of poems Mysooru Mallige has seen more than twenty reprints and sought as an ideal gift at a wedding to the newly married couple in 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...

. Narasimhaswamy has been conferred many prestigious awards including Sahitya academy award and Kannada sahitya academy award

Kannada Sahitya Parishat

Kannada Saahithya Parishath is an Indian non-profit organisation that promotes the Kannada language. Its headquarters are in the city of Bangalore, in the state of Karnataka, India. It strives to promote Kannada through publishing books, organising literary seminars and promoting research projects...

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Early life

Narasimhaswamy who belongs to the Hoysala Karnataka Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 community was born in Kikkeri in Mandya district. He had his early education in Mysore. In 1934 he joined Central College in Bengaluru and completed his Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree. He married Venkamma in Tiptur in 1936. He often portrayed his wife as the inspiration for his poems which mainly deal with romance in married life.

Works

His romantic love poems, inspired by Robert Burns

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...

 (whose work he translated to Kannada as Robert Burnsna Premageetegalu) were unique to the language at the time when most Kannada poetry

Kannada poetry

Kannada poetry is poetry written in the Kannada language spoken in Karnataka. Karnataka is the land that gave birth to eight Jnanapeeth award winners, the highest honour bestowed for Indian literature...

 dealt with nature and the natural world. He is considered to be part of the Navodaya movement in Kannada literature

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....

. By virtue of his innovative 'simple Kannada' poetry, Narasimhaswamy was able to bring Kannada poetry to a broad audience. Noted film director T.S. Nagabharana made a romantic film based on Mysooru mallige which went on to win several national awards.

Awards and honors

Narasimhaswamy received many awards and recognitions, including the prestigious Pampa Award for Kannada literature for his poetry collection Dundu Mallige in 1997. He was the president of the 60th 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 Mysore in 1991, and received the Sahitya Academy award for 'Tereda Baagilu' in 1978. He was conferred an honorary doctorate by Bangalore University

Bangalore University

Bangalore University is a public university located in Bangalore, Karnataka State, India. The university is one of the oldest in India, dating back to 1886...

 and Honorary Fellowship by Sahitya Academy and Kannada Sahitya Parishat

Kannada Sahitya Parishat

Kannada Saahithya Parishath is an Indian non-profit organisation that promotes the Kannada language. Its headquarters are in the city of Bangalore, in the state of Karnataka, India. It strives to promote Kannada through publishing books, organising literary seminars and promoting research projects...

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Poetry Collections

• Mysooru Mallige
  Mysooru Mallige
  Mysooru Mallige is one of the great literary works of K. S. Narasimhaswamy, a great Kannada poet. This collection of poems inspired the movie made by T.S. Nagabharana and also a musical play by Kalagangothri....
  
    (1942)
• Ungura (1942)
• Airaavatha (1945)
• Deepada Malli (1947)
• Iruvanthige (1952)
• Shilaalathe (1958)
• Maneyinda Manege (1960)
• Tereda Baagilu (1976)
• Navapallava (1983)
• Malligeya Maale (1986,2004)
• Dundu Mallige (1993)
• Navila Dani (1999)
• Sanje Haadu (2000)
• Kaimarada Nelalalli (2001)
• Ede Thumba Nakshtra (2002)
• Mounadali Maatha Hudukutha (2003)
• Deepa Saalina Naduve (2003)
• Haadu-Hase (A Collection of songs) (2003)

Translations

• Media (1966)
• Robert Burns Kaviya kelavu Premageetegalu (1997)
• Kelavu Chinee Kavanagalu (1997)

Prose

• Maariya Kallu (1942)
• Upavana (1958)
• Damayanthi (1960)
• Sirimallige (1990)

Footnotes