Udupi district played key role in building Kannada Nadu: Laxmi Hebbalkar

Udupi district in-charge Minister Laxmi R Hebbalkar lauded the district’s key role in building Kannada Nadu while reminiscing the contributions of veterans writers and activists who struggled for the unification of Karnataka.

Udupi district in-charge Minister Laxmi R Hebbalkar on November 1, said the district played a key role in building Kannada Nadu wherein veterans, including Benagal Rama Rao, Kota Shivarama Karantha, Panje Mangesh Rao and others struggled for the unification of Karnataka.

Delivering the Rajyotsava address at Udupi, Ms. Hebbalkar noted that the contribution of Udupi to the language and culture of Kannada was immense, with the works of Nandalike Lakshminarayana, Gulvadi Venkata Rao, Late Karantha, Havanje Lakshminarayanappayya, Hattiyangadi Narayana Rao, Airodi Shivaramaiah, Mogeri Gopalakrishna Adiga, Kadekar Rajagopala Krishna Rao, S.U. Paniyadi, Koradkal Srinivas Rao, Pa Vem Acharya, P. Gururaja Bhat, Matapady Rajagopalacharya and others.

The Minister noted that though Karnataka had plurality geographically, it has remained united emotionally. The name ‘Karnataka’ was given on November 1, 1973 during the regime of the late D. Devaraja Urs as the Chief Minister and since then the language and culture have bonded people emotionally, she added.

As elders rendered their immense contribution to the language and the land, it was now the responsibility of the younger generation to nurture the language and its culture. They could do so by using the language in their daily life, Ms. Hebbalkar said. The district, she noted, also has people speaking other languages, including Tulu, Konkani, Beary and others. These languages were being treated as the land’s own languages.

Udupi’s contribution to the language also extends to oral literature, in the forms of Yakshagana Talamaddale and Yakshagana Prasangas (stories). While hundreds of artists have carried forward the interpretations to Prasangas in Talamaddale, more than 5,000 Prasangas were created by Yakshagana exponents without divulging their names.

Ms. Hebbalkar said the district has created a niche in banking, tourism, healthcare, culture, education, including medical education and such other sectors owing to untiring efforts of enterprising people of the region. The Minister later presented the district Rajyotsava Awards.