BALLARI: Veteran artist V T Kale expressed his unhappiness over the attitude of the state government for not mentioning his name officially after it made it compulsory for government offices to put up the picture of 12th century social reformer Basavanna, though the picture was painted by him in 2005.
After intellectuals expressed their sadness over the ‘ignorance’ of the state government, it sent an official to Kale’s house in Sandur on Tuesday to thank him for creating the picture. Kale thanked the government for selecting his painting. At the same time, he also expressed his unhappiness for his name not being mentioned in the official order or on the painting.
Senior assistant director of the Department of Information and Public Relations Ramalingappa B K met the veteran artist and thanked him. The official told Express that he would bring the feelings of the artist to the notice of his higher-ups in the department. Kale told Express that he had painted the picture after Shivamurthy Murugharajendra Sharanaru of Murugharajendra Mutt in Chitradurga asked for the same for the mutt’s purpose.
“Before the picture was painted, the pictures of Basavanna wearing a crown or holding a sword were found everywhere. Swamiji asked me to paint the picture that symbolises what Basavanna really was. I readied the painting and it was approved by the swamiji,” he recalled.