Subbanna R. Ekkundi (1923–1995) was a recipient of

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

, National Aaward for Teacher and Soviet Land Award. Ekkundi was born in

Ranebennur Ranebennuru is a city in Haveri district in Karnataka, India.It is situated northwest of Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka. Other nearby cities include Hubballi (108 km) and Mangaluru (271 km). Geography Ranebennuru is at the ...

of Haveri district in the year 1923. His father was Ranganath and mother was Rajakka. He was a student of literature at Willingdon college, Sangli. At Willingdon,

V. K. Gokak Vinayaka Krishna Gokak (9 August 1909 – 28 April 1992), abbreviated in Kannada as Vi. Kru. Gokak, was an Indian historian and writer in the Kannada language and a scholar of English and Kannada literatures. He was the fifth writer to be hono ...

and

R. S. Mugali Ram Shri Mugali (Ranganatha Srinivasa Mugali) (15 July 1906 – 20 February 1993) was a Kannada language writer. He was awarded the central Sahitya Akademi in 1956 for his work "Kannada Sahitya Charitre". He was the president of the 44th Kannad ...

were Ekkundi's professors. Ekkundi and Gangadhar V. Chittal from Hanehalli were classmates at Willingdon. After graduating with B.A. (Hons.) Literature in the year 1944, Subbanna Ekkundi joined the Anandashram High School, Bankikodla as a teacher and retired as Head Master of that institute in 1977. Ekkundi was married to Indira Ekkundi from

Haveri Haveri is a city in Karnataka, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Haveri district. Haveri is famous for its cardamom garlands and Byadagi red chillies. Around 25 km away, there is a place called Bada, which is the birthplace o ...

. In 1992, Ekkundi was awarded the

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

and the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi awards for his outstanding poetical work ''Bakulada Hoovugalu'' in

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 ...

. His poem ''Ladhak Irali Nepa Irali'' which was written during the Second

Indo-China war The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of V ...

was well received. His political sympathies were with the

Communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

. After his retirement, he was given a national award for teaching. He was the author of many works of poetry and short stories. His work is described by an entry in the Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature Besides politics, his poetry deals primarily with traditional Indian mythological and religious themes. His ''Ubhaya Bharati'' concerns the famous debate between the Hindu philosophers

Adi Shankara Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shanka ...

and

Mandana Mishra Mandana may refer to *Mandana (given name) *Mandane of Media, 6th century BCE princess of Media *Mandana Paintings Mandana paintings are wall and floor paintings of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, India. Mandana are drawn to protect home and hea ...

. In 1970, Ekkundi was given award from the Land of the Soviets.

Kannada University Kannada University, also called Hampi Kannada University or Hampi University or Kannada University, Hampi, is a research-oriented public university in Hampi, Karnataka, founded in 1991 by the Government of Karnataka through the Kannada Universit ...

Hampi Hampi or Hampe, also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Hampi town, Vijayanagara district, east-central Karnataka, India. Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 14th&n ...

conferred a PhD degree to a student on a thesis entitled ''S. R. Ekkundi...''. An anthology of his complete poems was released in the year 2008 in a book titled ''Bellaki Hindu''.
Article in the Hindu newspaper.

Collection of Poems

* ''Matsyagandhi'' (1975) * ''Bakulada Hoovugalu'' (1991) * ''Ubhaya Bharati'' * ''Subhadra'' * ''Ananda Teertha'' * ''Mithile'' * ''Kathan Kavanagalu'' * ''Havadigara Huduga'' * ''Bellakkigalu'' * ''Santana'' * Godhiya Tenegalu * ''Parivallagalu * Bellakki Hindu (An Anthology of Complete Poems)

Other Work

* ''Neralu'' (Collection of Short Stories) * ''Eradu Russian Kadambrigalu'' – Translated from Russian language, Russian to English to Kannada (fiction) * Panjugalu

Awards

* Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for Bakulada Hoovugalu * Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award for Bakulada Hoovugalu * Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement * Best Teacher Award * Vardhamana Award

References

External links

Ekkunid's Photo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekkundi, S. R. Kannada poets Educators from Karnataka 1923 births 1995 deaths People from Haveri district Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada 20th-century Indian poets Poets from Karnataka Kannada-language writers