H.L. Nagegowda (11 February 1915 – 22 September 2005) was a prominent

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

and author. He received a number of awards in his lifetime, both for his writing and for his work in conserving and propagating folk traditions.

Early life

Nage Gowda was born in Heraganahalli village in

Mandya district Mandya District is an administrative district of Karnataka, India. The district is bordered on the south by Mysore district, Mysore and Chamarajanagar district, Chamarajangar districts, on the west by Hassan District, on the north by Tumkur Di ...

in the southern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. He studied science and law, before becoming a civil servant. He was made an officer of the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

in 1960. Starting from the 1970s, Nage Gowda wrote a number of literary works in Kannada. ''Doddamane'' ("The big house") won critical acclaim for its portrayal of the culture of rural southern Karnataka, and was one of the works that won him the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award. He also wrote several other novels, two collections of poetry, collections of short stories and essays, and a travelogue.

Career

In 1979, Nage Gowda founded the Karnataka Janapada Parishat, an academy devoted to the study and propagation of traditional folk arts in Karnataka. In 1986, he started work Janapada Loka, a museum of the folk arts located in Ramnagaram, around 53 kilometres from Bangalore, which opened to the public in 1994. He also wrote a number of books documenting folk traditions and artforms, and organised festivals, seminars and workshops to promote them. Nage Gowda's work received significant recognition in his lifetime. He won a number of awards, including the

Rajyotsava Award The Rajyotsava Prashasti or Rajyotsava Awards, the second highest civilian honor of the Karnataka state of India are conferred annually by the Government of Karnataka, Karnataka Government on the occasion of the establishment of the state on 1 ...

, the Pampa Prashasti, the Nadoja Prashasti and the Sandesha Award. He served in the Karnataka State Government as a member of the Legislative Council from 1995 until 2001. In 2002, Serpentine Road in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

was renamed Dr H L Nage Gowda Road in his honour.

Death

Gowda died on 22 September 2005 at his residence in

. As a mark of respect, the annual Rajajinagar cultural festival, the Rajajinagar Habba was dedicated to his memory and was organised around a theme of folk arts."Now, it's Rajajinagar Habba"
''Deccan Herald''. 16 October 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gowda, H. L. Nage 1915 births 2005 deaths Indian civil servants Kannada-language writers People from Mandya

Early life

Career

Death

See also

References