K. Shivaram Karanth

K. Shivarama Karantha (ಶಿವರಾಮ ಕಾರಂತ)
Kamat's Potpourri
Born	(1902-10-10)10 October 1902 Kota, Udupi, Kingdom of Mysore, British India
Died	9 December 1997(1997-12-09) (aged 95) Manipal, Udupi district, Karnataka
Occupation	Novelist, playwright, poet, naturalist, environmentalist, film director, journalist, Yakshagana researcher and artist, educationist
Nationality	Indian
Period	1902–1997
Genre	Fiction, popular science, literature for children, dance-drama
Literary movement	Navodaya

Kota Shivaram Karanth (10 October 1902 – 9 December 1997) was a Kannada writer, social activist, environmentalist, Yakshagana artist, film maker and thinker. Ramachandra Guha called him the "Rabindranath Tagore of Modern India, who has been one of the finest novelists-activists since independence". He was the third writer to be decorated with the Jnanpith Award for Kannada, the highest literary honor conferred in India.

Shivaram Karanth was born on 10 October 1902, in Kota near Udupi in the Udupi district of Karnataka to a Kannada speaking family. The fifth child of his parents Shesha Karantha and Lakshmamma, he completed his primary education in Kundapura and Mangalore. Shivaram Karanth was influenced by Gandhi's principles and took part in Indian Independence movement when he was in college. He did not complete his education and went to participate in the Non-co-operation movement and canvassed for khadi and swadeshi for five years up to 1927. By that time Karanth had already started writing fiction novels and plays.

Karanth was an intellectual and environmentalist who made notable contribution to the art and culture of Karnataka. He is considered one of the most influential novelists in the Kannada language. His novels Marali Mannige, Bettada Jeeva, Alida Mele, Mookajjiya Kanasugalu, Mai Managala Suliyalli, Ade OOru Ade Mara, Shaneeshwarana Neralinalli, Kudiyara Koosu, Svapnada Hole, Sarsammana Samadhi, and Chomana Dudi are widely read and have received critical acclaim. He wrote two books on Karnataka's ancient stage dance-drama Yakshagana (1957 and 1975).