Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa (born August 20, 1931), is a Kannada

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...

 novelist, whose works are immensely popular both within and beyond 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...

. 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

Marathi language

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...

 for the past several years. Most of his works reveal the theme of Advaita vedanta and search of truth.