Kala Grama, a grave issue

Bengaluru: It’s been almost ten days since Jnanapith awardee Dr U.R. Ananthamurthy was cremated at Kala Grama (Art Village) on the Jnanabharati campus of Bangalore University, and voices against turning Kala Grama into a crematorium for icons of Kannada literature are only growing stronger.

Some prominent Kannada writers, including Hampa Nagarajaiah, and activists, including Gauri Lankesh, are planning to submit a memorandum to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, requesting him to stop the practice.

The state government allotted the land four years ago to set up the National School of Drama. The writers are now demanding that the sanctity of the art school should be maintained and that no memorials should be constructed for litterateurs G.S. Shivarudrappa and Dr U R Ananthamurthy, who were cremated at Kala Grama. The last rites of Mr Shivarudrappa’s too were held in Kala Grama in December 2013.

Hampa Nagarajaiah demanded that samadhis of the two writers should be shifted out of Kala Grama. “I have a great respect for the departed souls and let us not mix issues here. We must ensure that Kala Grama is exclusively meant for the cultural activities and must be earmarked for art, architecture, fine arts and literature. We must also respect the sentiments of other Kannada writers and the government should not be carried away by emotion,” he said.

Journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh felt that the government and artists who are working for the National School of Drama in Kala Grama should come together and identify the survey number of the area allotted, so that the school does not lose any land for creating the samadhis. “But having said this, it is important that the government should name the upcoming structures inside Kala Grama after Dr Shivarudrappa and Dr Ananthamurthy so that they will be remembered forever,” she said.

Renowned writer Chandrashekar Patil, who is popularly known as Champa, said the state government should build ‘samadhis’ for Dr Shivarundrappa and Dr Ananthamurhty in their home towns and turn them into popular tourist attractions. “Both the samadhis can be developed on the lines of Kavishaila in Kuppalli which is dedicated to poet and writer K.V. Puttappa (Kuvempu). Let the samadhi of Dr Shivarudrappa go to Davangere and that of Dr Ananthamurthy to Shimoga. It will be a great feeling too for the local residents,” he said.

This is not the first time that the samadhis of iconic personalities have triggered a public outrage. In fact, wildlife lovers in Bengaluru had opposed the decision of the state government to use parts of Turahalli forest on the city outskirts for the construction of a memorial for the late Kannada star Dr Vishnuvardhan.