Kuvempu

Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa , ಕುಪ್ಪಳ್ಳಿ ವೆಂಕಟಪ್ಪ ಪುಟ್ಟಪ್ಪ
ಕುಪ್ಪಳ್ಳಿ ವೆಂಕಟಪ್ಪ ಪುಟ್ಟಪ್ಪ
Born	(1904-12-29)29 December 1904 Hirekodige village, Koppa taluk, Chikkamagaluru District, Kingdom of Mysore
Died	11 September 1994(1994-09-11) (aged 89) Mysore, Karnataka, India
Pen name	Kuvempu
Occupation	Poet, Playwright, Novelist, Critic, Thinker, Professor, Vice Chancellor
Nationality	India
Genre	Fiction, poetry, drama, essays
Literary movement	Navodaya
Notable awards	Padma Vibhushan (1988), Padma Bhushan (1958), Jnanpith Award (1967), Karnataka Ratna (1992), Pampa Prashasti
Signature
Website
kuvempu.com

Padma Vibhushan (1988), Padma Bhushan (1958), Jnanpith Award (1967), Karnataka Ratna (1992),

Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa (29 December 1904 – 11 November 1994), popularly known by the pen name Kuvempu or by K. V. Puttappa, was a Kannada novelist, poet, playwright, critic and thinker. He is widely regarded as the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th century. He is the first among Kannada writers to be decorated with the prestigious Jnanpith Award.

For his contributions to Kannada literature, the Government of Karnataka decorated him with the honorific Rashtrakavi ("national poet") in 1958 and Karnataka Ratna ("Gem of Karnataka") in 1992. His epic narrative Sri Ramayana Darshanam, a modern rendering of the Indian Hindu epic Ramayana is regarded as the revival of the era of Mahakavya ("Great Epic poetry") in contemporary form and charm. His writings and his contribution to "Universal Humanism" (in his own words, "Vishwa maanavataa Vaada") gives him a unique place in modern Indian literature. He was conferred the Padma Vibhushan by Government of India in 1988. He penned the Karnataka State anthem Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate.

Kuvempu was born in Hirekodige near Bommalapura in Koppa taluk of the Chikmagalur district, Karnataka, to a Vokkaliga Kannada family. His father was Venkatappa Gowda from Kuppali and mother Seethamma from Hirekodige, a nearby village. He grew up in the lush Malenadu region of Tirthahalli, called Kuppali in Shivamogga district. Early in his childhood, he was home schooled by an appointed teacher from Dakshina Kannada district. He joined the Anglo Vernacular school in Tirthahalli to continue his middle school education. Kuvempu's father died when he was only twelve. He finished his lower and secondary education in Kannada and English languages in Thirthahalli and moved to Mysore for further education at the Wesleyan High School. Thereafter, he pursued college studies at the Maharaja College of Mysore and graduated in 1929, majoring in Kannada.