Devanur Mahadeva

Devanura Mahadeva (born 1948), an award winning novelist and a public intellectual, writes in Kannada language. Devanura Mahadeva was born in 1948 in Devanuru village in Mysore district of Karnataka state, India. He is credited to be of the one of the best Indian writers and is from a Dalit community. He worked at CFTRI in Mysore. The Government of India conferred upon him the Padma Shri award, the fourth highest civilian award.^[1] Known among literary circles to be a rebel, Mahadeva rejected the Nrupatunga Award (carrying a purse of Rs 5,01,000) in 2010.^[2] Devanura's rejection of the award was based on his dissatisfaction that despite being the official language of the state, Kannada is yet to be made the primary language of instruction in schools and colleges. He wants Kannada to be made the medium of learning at least up to the college level. Mahadeva is a Central Sahitya Academy awardee for his novel Kusuma Baale. In the 1990s he rejected the government's offer to nominate him to the Upper House of the Indian Parliament under the litterateur's quota.^[3]

Literary contributions

• Dyavanuru (ದ್ಯಾವನೂರು)
• Odalaala (ಒಡಲಾಳ)
• Kusuma Baale (ಕುಸುಮಬಾಲೆ)
• Edege Bidda Akshara (ಎದೆಗೆ ಬಿದ್ದ ಅಕ್ಷರ)
• Devanura Mahadeva Avara Krithigalu (ದೇವನೂರು ಮಹಾದೇವ ಅವರ ಕೃತಿಗಳು)

Awards and recognitions

Devanur's many awards and recognitions include:

• Karnataka Sahithya Academy Award.
• Kendra Sahithya Academy Award in 1990.
• Padma Shri in 2011^[4]

Notes