Kuvempu is widely regarded as the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th century.
20 Facts About Kuvempu
2.
Kuvempu was the first Kannada writer to receive the Jnanpith Award.
3.
Kuvempu studied at Mysuru University in the 1920s, taught there for nearly three decades and served as its vice-chancellor from 1956 to 1960.
4.
Kuvempu was conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 1988.
5.
Kuvempu penned the Karnataka State Anthem Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate.
6.
Kuvempu was born in Hirekodige, a village in Koppa taluk of Chikmagalur district and raised in Kuppalli, a village in Shivamogga district of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore into to a Kannada-speaking Vokkaliga family.
7.
Early in his childhood, Kuvempu was home-schooled by an appointed teacher from South Canara.
8.
Kuvempu joined the Anglo-Vernacular school in Thirthahalli to continue his middle school education.
9.
Kuvempu finished his lower and secondary education in Kannada and English languages in Thirthahalli and moved to Mysore for further education at the Wesleyan High School.
10.
Kuvempu was forced into enter marital life on this faculty out of Ramakrishna Mission.
11.
Kuvempu has two sons, Poornachandra Tejaswi and Kokilodaya Chaitra, and two daughter, Indukala and Tharini.
12.
Kuvempu's son Poornachandra Tejaswi was a polymath, contributing significantly to Kannada literature, photography, calligraphy, digital imaging, social movements, and agriculture.
13.
Kuvempu began his academic career as a lecturer of Kannada language at the Maharaja's College in Mysore in 1929.
14.
Kuvempu worked as an assistant professor in the Central college, Bangalore from 1936.
15.
Kuvempu re-joined Maharaja's college in Mysore in 1946 as a professor.
16.
Kuvempu went on to become the principal of the Maharaja's college in 1955.
17.
Kuvempu was the first graduate from Mysore University to rise to that position.
18.
On 23 November 2015 night, many valuables including the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards conferred on poet laureate Kuvempu were stolen from Kavimane.
19.
The gradually rising hill south of the house is named Kavishaila, Kuvempu's mortal remains were placed at Kavishaila.
20.
India Post honoured Kuvempu by releasing a postage stamp in 1997 and 2017.