Kulakunda Shiva Rao Death Anniversary: Remembering pioneer of Kannada literature

Kulakunda Shiva Rao, also known as Niranjana, was a renowned Kannada playwright, novelist, and freedom fighter. He faced many challenges during his childhood, which ultimately shaped his later literary career.

Throughout his life, Niranjana wrote over sixty books, including his first published novel, Vimochane, in 1953. Other notable works by Niranjana include Chirasmarane and Mrityunjaya. He also edited the Kannada translation of Vishwa Katha Kosha, a collection of world short stories, and translated numerous works into Kannada.

During his youth, Niranjana was attracted to Marxism and became an active member of the Communist Party of India. Although he later became disillusioned with the party, he continued to use his writing to advocate for the oppressed and downtrodden.

In 1971, Niranjana suffered a stroke, but he continued to write, publishing Mrityunjaya in 1976. Chirasmarane is based on the historic Kayyur incident of the 1940s in Kasaragod district, where peasants rose against local landlords. The work was later adapted into a 1986 Malayalam movie called Meenamasathile Sooryan by Lenin Rajendran.

In addition to his writing, Niranjana edited the 25-volume Vishwa Katha Kosha, which made stories from around the world available in Kannada. He also worked as an editor to bring out the Kannada Jnana Kosha. Niranjana was married to Venkata Lakshmi, who later became a writer with the pen name Anupama Niranjana. The couple had two daughters, Seemanthini and Tejaswini. Niranjana's wife passed away from cancer in 1991, and Niranjana himself passed away on March 13, 1992, in Hyderabad, due to illness.