BENGALURU: The Kannada Shabdartha Kosha (Kannada dictionary), authored by late scholar and writer T K Anantanarayana, was unveiled at the Indian Institute of Culture in Basavanagudi on Wednesday.
At the event, the speakers paid rich tribute to Anantanarayana, a former government school teacher, whose comprehensive scholarly output was primarily authored between the 1930s and 1960s. The Kannada Shabdartha Kosha stands as a capstone to his decades of rigorous linguistic discipline and dedication to the language. A particularly poignant highlight was the acknowledgement of the author’s sons — Prof A Sreenivasan (80) and A Pattabhiraman (77) — in the completion of the final compilation, preservation and publication of the work.
Nadoja Dr Go Ru Channabasappa, renowned litterateur, doyen of Kannada Vachana literature and president of the 2025 Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, said, “A dictionary is the cultural conscience of a language. The Kannada Shabdartha Kosha by T K Anantanarayana is not merely a reference book, but a monumental intellectual legacy that will guide generations of Kannada readers, writers and scholars.”
Noted writer, critic, academician and quiz master N Someshwara said, “This Shabdartha Kosha reflects decades of rigorous scholarship and linguistic discipline. It is an indispensable resource for students, researchers, translators, and all those engaged seriously with the Kannada language.”