Kuvempu in Kuppalli

The beautiful home of Kuvempu is in Kuppalli, 18 kms from the main town of Thirthahalli in Shimoga district. Kuvempu is one of the greatest Kannada poets. He was honored with many awards including Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, and Karnataka Ratna. 

He was also awarded the Jnanapith Award, the highest literary honor conferred in India. He was the first among Kannada novelists to be given this award and that was in 1967. A total of 8 Kannada writers have been decorated with the Jnanapith awards so far, which in itself is a great feat for the language.

Thirthahalli is also the birthplace of another Jnanapith awardee U.R.Ananthmurthy and the famous Kannada film director Girish Kasaravali. 

The tiled house, with red-oxide flooring is three-storeyed and has pillars, stairs and furniture all made from wood. It also has a square shaped, open courtyard in the center letting in rain and sunshine, surrounded by brown glossy wooden pillars. It is my favorite kind of house! We call it 'thotti maney' in Kannada. Thotti means pond. Almost every room has a window that opens into the front lawn with a view of the green landscape or the adjacent arecanut plantation. Airy rooms, well ventilated.

There was an "attaa" in every room to keep things. No toilet or bathroom inside the house, that's in the backyard! No sink to wash vessels in the kitchen, that's in the backyard too or perhaps in the centr
al courtyard. A smoke area or 'hogey attaa' just above the kitchen to let the cooking smoke out and absorb the moisture from the vegetables stored above.

The house has been converted into a museum and houses all the books written by the poet, the utensils, agricultural tools, household articles, photographs of his family and grandchildren and even the Mantapa (stage) in which the poet had got married!  

The trust that takes care of showcasing Kuvempu's birthplace and childhood home and also that of his writer son Poornachandra Tejaswi has done a wonderful job. There are signposts everywhere. The whole area - from the memorial building (shown below) to the residence (first pic) to the place where both father and son have been cremated - have been maintained really well, like a private estate. The above picture that of the samadhi of Poornachandra Tejaswi and Kuvempu's burial place is called Kavishaila. You can spend the whole day here - soaking in the greenery and peace and quiet of the place.

Kuppalli, the village, has become famous thanks to Kuvempu. The first part of his pen name, 'Ku' corresponds to the name of the village Kuppalli, the middle (Ve) to his father's (Venkatappa) and the last (Pu) to his own (Puttappa).

The room where there is a projector to display an audio-visual presentation on his life and works.

I had been to R.K.Narayan's house in Mysore earlier this year and now was honored to visit Kuvempu's house. I have read almost all the novels of R.K.N and owned quite a few too but have only 'heard' of Kuvempu and never read him. 

Many talented and excellent writers of Indian languages are not represented at all in our West-leaning English medium CBSE education. We read Shakespeare and Milton, almost every play/poem written by them, we study in great detail the different literary movements and ages in the evolution of English literature but have zero knowledge of our own indigenous playwrights. It is such a pity. 

When I saw the vast collection of writings of Kuvempu in Kavimane (poet's home), I was ashamed of myself. I had only heard a few of his more famous poems but never read him. But I want to change that. As we drove off from his place, I resolved in my mind that, at least, after this visit, I must make a conscious effort to read him. I will.