BENGALURU: A refulgent chapter in Kannada literature came to an end with the passing away of Santeshivara Linganaiah Bhyrappa, popularly known as SL Bhyrappa, at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Wednesday. He was 91. He is survived by his wife, Saraswathi, and two sons, SB Udayshankar and SB Ravishankar.
Authorities at Jayadev Memorial Rashtrotthana Hospital and Research Centre in Rajarajeshwari Nagar said Bhyrappa suffered a cardiac arrest at 2.38 pm. He was moved to the Intensive Care Unit, where he breathed his last, according to the hospital. He had been admitted to the hospital three days ago for age-related illness.
The mortal remains of Bhyrappa will be kept for public viewing at Ravindra Kalakshetra in Bengaluru from 8 am till afternoon on on Thursday.
His body will be then taken to Mysuru, where it will be kept for public viewing and the last rites will be held with full state honours on Friday.
Born at Santeshivara village in Channarayapatna taluk of Hassan district on July 26, 1934 (as mentioned by Bhyrappa in his autobiography), Bhyrappa lost his mother and siblings early to the bubonic plague. Left to his own means, he took up jobs, including as a railway porter, to fund his education.
He worked as a professor of philosophy across India, including New Delhi, and served as a member of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Bhyrappa’s literary works spanning over six decades have been among the top-selling ones in Kannada, and he is the only writer whose novels are translated into all scheduled languages in India and foreign languages. Starting with his first Bheemakaya in 1958, he authored over 25 novels, which in all have witnessed over 500 reprints, setting a record.
Kindling reading habit among youngsters
Some of Bhyrappa’s popular works are Parva, Aavarana, Grihabhanga, Tantu, Nayi Neralu, Vamshavriksha, and others. His works had a gripping narrative power, which kindled the habit of reading among youngsters, revolved around themes of human impulses, complexities of religions and culture in India, philosophy, history, social structure, music, mythology, psychology and morality. His works have inspired directors to make movies out of them.
He also has the credit of winning many awards. Bhyrappa won the Saraswathi Samman in 2010, Sahitya Akademi Award in 2015, Padma Shri in 2016, and Padma Bhushan in 2023 for his contributions to the fields of literature and education.
Bhyrappa was not a figure without controversies, one of the most notable being his public dispute with another literary giant Girish Karnad relating to Tipu Sultan, his praise for Sanskrit calling it mother of all languages and opposing women’s entry to Hindu temples. He was termed a right-wing writer by a section of writers and activists.
He transported readers to worlds he wrote about
Writer SL Bhyrappa was an extensive researcher, who used to visit locations in person for his novels. He was known to tour regions that were relevant to the themes in his novels, which helped him give authentic setting to his works. The writer himself had admitted that most of his main novels are research-based. During his visits, Bhyrappa interacted with the locals. He wished to know about the place, its history and other details from the locals’ view. With the extensive travel and research, his avid readers said that Bhyrappa was able to take them to the world he set in his novels.
For his work ‘Sartha’, a historical novel which takes the readers to 8th-century India, when the priests and saints used Sanskrit widely, Bhyrappa wished to understand the language better, and also the shlokas. For this, he went for evening walks with Sanskrit scholar HV Nagaraja Rao, with the condition that the latter talked to him only in Sanskrit.
His novel ‘Parva’, regarded as one of his magnum opuses, demythologises the characters of the Mahabharata and retells the story as a historical event. For this, he conducted extensive research on the original Mahabharata epic, written by Vyasa, and also visited the locations mentioned in it, including Kurukshetra and Dwarka. He visited the Himalayas for his book ‘Yaana’.
Bhyrappa had learnt music for some time during his stay in Hubballi in 1958 and continued learning it after he went to Gujarat. He had recalled that despite having 50 years of music knowledge, he prepared for three years for his musical fiction ‘Mandra’, which fetched him the Saraswathi Samman award for the year 2010.