Poet and playwright Siddhalinga Pattanashetti has been chosen for the prestigious Gudleppa Hallikeri Award for 2024 by the Gudleppa Hallikeri Memorial Foundation, Hosaritti (Haveri District). Veeranna Chekki, senior trustee of the Gudleppa Hallikeri Memorial foundation of Hosaritti, haveri District announced. This is the 19th award and will be presented in the honour of the birth anniversary of Gudleppa Hallikeri on 6 June.
About Guldeppa Hallikeri
Indian freedom fighter Gudleppa Hallikeri (1906–1972) was a native of Hosaritti, in the Haveri district of the state of Karnataka. In Hosaritti, he founded the Gandhi Grameena Gurukul, a residential school. Hallikeri used nonviolent protests and peace demonstrations to collaborate with numerous other liberation fighters, including Mailara Mahadevappa, Sanikoppa, and Mahatma Gandhi. In his last hometown of Hubli, there is a life-size iron wrought statue of Hallikeri. Hallikeri and Aluru Venkata Rao collaborated actively on the unification of Karnataka. One of the colleges in North Karnataka bearing his name is the Gudleppa Hallikeri Arts, Science & Commerce College, run by the Karnatak Lingayat Education Society, located in Haveri.
Gudleppa Hallikeri Award
The Gudleppa Hallikeri Award honors those who have made significant achievements to literature, society, or social service. It bears the name of Gudleppa Hallikeri, a well-known liberation warrior who shared Mahatma Gandhi’s beliefs.
About Sidhalinga Pattanashetti
Siddhalinga Pattanashetty, a renowned poet-translator-columnist, was born in 1939 in Yadwada, near Dharwad. He lost his father at a young age and returned to his mother’s hometown Managundi. He completed his primary education while working in a tea shop before returning to Dharwad with his mother. He pursued a Hindi M.A., Ph.D., and later worked as a high school teacher, lecturer, and professor at Karnataka College.
Pattanashetty was deeply influenced by plays he saw in his childhood and later studied English, Hindi, Sanskrit literature, and Anusandhanas. He is recognized as an important poet, columnist, and creative translator of the contemporary context. His main works of poetry include Neena, Re-Bandidala, Aparampara, and Kulai. He has also translated plays like One Day of Asadha, From Suyyasta to Suyyodaya, Chora Charandasa, and Mudrarakshasa.
Poet Bahusha uses statues in Kannada poetry, creating works that celebrate the swinging emotions on the rhythm. His passion for writing is never dull, and his poetry leaves the hearts with its passion and dramatic twists. Pattanashetty Kavya Marga is a unique contribution to Kannada.