BENGALURU: Popular playwright and actor Girish Karnad was given a final farewell by close family members and friends at the Kallapalli crematorium in the city on Monday. The cremation was held amid tight security.
Sources said that no rituals were performed before the body was sent into the electrical crematorium at 2 pm. Those mourning stayed for about an hour before leaving.
No celebrities were present as the Karnad family wanted to keep it a simple affair.
Shanthinagar MLA and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Chairman N A Haris paid his condolences before the cremation. Bengaluru Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun, retired Additional Chief Secretary to Govt. of Karnataka Chiranjeevi Singh, Revenue minister RV Deshpande were present during the cremation.
D K Shivakumar told mediapersons that a funeral with state honours was planned for Karnad, but the family did not agree to it. When he attempted again to push for a guard of honour for Karnad, he was shown the way out by writer Ramachandra Guha, who was present with the family at the crematorium.
The irrigation minister said that a state holiday was announced to give Karnad the honour he deserved. "In all his works, an inclination towards social change was evident. Karnad was not just a 'vyakti' (person) but a 'shakti' (power)," he added.
At Karnad's residence on Lavalle road, entry was restricted to just family, friends and members of the theatre fraternity. Poets Jayant Kaikini and K S Nissar, and theatre artiste-cum-writer Zafer Mohiuddin, who translated and staged Girish Karnad's play 'Dreams of Tipu Sultan' into Hindi and Urdu, visited Karnad's house and paid their condolences.
Arjun Sajnani, who is translating Karnad's last play on the Vijayanagara empire, 'Road to Talikota', was also present.
Zafer Mohiuddin, who had a long association with Karnad spanning 25 years, said that he was influenced by the legend in all aspects, even when it came to his dress sense.