Chandrashekhara Kambara | |
|---|---|
 Kambara during a talk about "Kannada in Technology" inBangalore, 2013 | |
| Born | (1937-01-02)2 January 1937 (age 88) |
| Occupation | |
| Alma mater | PhD fromKarnataka University,Dharwad[1] |
| Period | 1937–present |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Notable awards | Jnanpith Award Sahitya Akademi Award Padma Shri Pampa Award Padma Bhushan |
| Spouse | Satyabhama |
| Children | 4 |
Chandrashekhara Basavanneppa Kambara (born 2 January 1937) is a prominent Indianpoet,playwright,folklorist, film director inKannada language and the founder-vice-chancellor ofKannada University inHampi also president of the Sahitya Akademi, country's premier literary institution, after Vinayak Krishna Gokak (1983) and U.R. Ananthamurthy (1993).[2] He is known for effective adaptation of theNorth Karnataka dialect of the Kannada language in his plays, and poems, in a similar style as in the works ofD.R. Bendre.[3]
Kambara's plays mainly revolve around folk ormythology interlinked with contemporary issues,[4] inculcating modern lifestyle with his hard-hitting poems. He has become a pioneer of such literature.[5] His contribution as a playwright is significant not only to Kannada theatre but also to theIndian theatre in general as he achieved a blend of the folk and the modern theatrical forms.[6]
He has been conferred with many prestigious awards including thePadma Bhushan in 2021,[7][8]Jnanpith Award in 2011 for the year 2010,[9]Sahitya Akademi Award, thePadma Shri byGovernment of India,[10] Kabir Samman,Kalidas Samman andPampa Award. After his retirement, Kambara was nominated as the Member ofKarnataka Legislative Council, to which he made significant contributions through his interventions.[11]
Chandrashekhara Kambara was born in kannada-speaking family inGhodageri, a village inBelgaum district ofBombay Presidency (today inKarnataka). He was the third son in the family, with brothers Parasappa and Yallappa who still reside in the small house belonging to the Kambara family in the village.[5] From an early age, Kambara was interested in folk arts, local culture and ritual.[1] His favorite Kannada writers includeKumara Vyasa,Basava,Kuvempu andGopalakrishna Adiga and among English writers, it isW. B. Yeats,William Shakespeare andFederico García Lorca.[12]
Popularly known asShivapur Kambar Master in his native district, Kambara had his schooling inGokak and returned to Belagavi for higher education at Lingaraj College. Owing to poverty, he had todrop out of school[12] but Jagadguru Siddaram Swamiji ofSavalagiMatha blessed Kambara and took care of all his primary and high school educational expenses which is why Kambara honours theseer in many of his writings.[5] After his post-graduation, he did his PhD thesis onUttara Karnatakada Janapad Rangbhumi ("The Folk Theatre of North Karnataka") fromKarnataka University,Dharwad.[13]
After a brief stint in teaching in theUniversity of Chicago, he taught inBangalore University for over two decades and was aFulbright scholar.[1]
He has been elected as the chairman of Sahitya Academy on 12 February 2018.
He served as the chairman ofNational School of Drama Society, New Delhi from 1996 to 2000 and as the president of Karnataka Nataka Academy from 1980 to 1983. He started using north Karnatakadialect of Kannada in his poems and plays which is not very common inKannada literature.
Kambara is the founder vice-chancellor of theKannada University atHampi. His grand vision of Kannada literature and Karnataka culture is reflected in the way he showed commitment to build it. The architecture, the choice of the subjects that cover the diverse variety of culture and society of Karnataka, selection of place, faculty or academic activities, the scholars whom he drafted from different parts of the state and the Nadoja honorary award instead of thehonorary doctorate which he introduced, show Kambara's native vision which was evolved in his literary works for decades.[6]
As the first vice-chancellor of the University, Kambara served two terms of three years each, during which he could shape it in a unique manner, compared to other traditional universities. All the constructions during his tenure as the vice-chancellor are on hillocks, with huge stone structures resembling theVijayanagara period architecture. He also created a separate publication unit for publishing the results of research and project works going on in Kannada University.[14]
He is a strong supporter of imparting school education withKannada language as themedium of instruction.[15] His justification for this stance is that onlymother tongue can provide an "experience," which is an integral part of learning and learning through any other language only gives people "information," which makes them less competent.[16] This concurs withUNESCO's recommendation that "providing education in a child's mother tongue is a critical issue."[17]
Kambara has to his credit 25 plays, 11anthologies of poems, 5 novels, 16 research works and several scholarly write-ups on folk theatre, literature and education.[1] Some of his popular plays include "Jokumaraswamy", "Jayasidnayaka", "Kadu Kudure", "Nayi Kathe", "Mahamayi", "Harakeya Kuri" and others. He was conferred with theSahitya Akademi Award in 1991 for another popular playSirisampige.[18]
He was a pioneer in introducingBailahongal's famousSangya Balya (bayalata) andJokumaraswamy, a traditional ritual of his native district, to the literary world[1] which have seen thousands of performances, not only in Kannada, but several otherIndian languages as well.[19] His most recent novel,Shikhar Soorya, is rated among the best Kannada novels.[13]
Many of his works have beentranslated to English and several other Indian languages. The playJokumaraswamy has been translated to English (Seagull Books, Calcutta in 1989),Marathi (Abholi Prakashan, Solhapur in 2000),Hindi (Vidya Prakashan Mandir, New Delhi in 1985),Telugu (Mudrika Printers, Kurnool in 1993),Tamil,Punjabi and Malayalam among others. TheSahitya Akademi Award-winning playSirisampige has been translated to English (Seagull Books)[20] and to Tamil, Hindi, Marathi andRajasthani by theSahitya Akademi, New Delhi. His novel "Singarevva Mattu Aramane" translated asKulothe Chingaramma, toMalayalam by C Raghavan, is one of his works that has become popular in Kerala.[21]
Apart from his literary career, Kambara has been associated with direction of feature films. His directorial work in many movies on the plays scripted by him; he has directed films such as Karimayi, Sangeeta and Kadu Kudare. Jeeke Maastara Pranaya Prasanga. Two of his plays which have been made into television series. His contributions include many documentaries for the Government of Karnataka and Government of India.[3] His "Kaadu Kudure" entered into the Indian Panorama and won the National Award. His film "Sangeeta" won the Best Feature Film State Award in the year 1981. He has also adopted his playG.K. Maastarara Pranaya Prasanga for television.
Besides his voluminous works, Kambar has presented papers on Indian Folklore and theatre in the University of Chicago, American Oriental Centre, New York, International Theatre Institute – Berlin, Moscow, and Jade: Akita Japan and many universities and cultural organizations in India. The Folklore Dictionary he compiled for Kannada Sahitya Parishad is a monumental work.
In his lengthynarrative poemHelatena Kela ("Listen, I will tell you") in the early 1960s, Kambara introduced some of the recurringthemes which he would often return to in his later works. Themes of tradition and modernity,crises of feudalism,native identities,colonialism, march of history, sex, loss of faith, thedeath of God and several related themes explored later in his plays, novels and poetry had found metaphorical expression in the narrative poem.[6] The eponymous, long narrative poem has the musicality and rhythm of theLavani form and uses rich earthy imagery.[22]
Shivapura is an imaginaryutopian village which continues to be a character, ametaphor and the locale in most of his works. It forms the locus of his poems and tales.[23] In his characterisation,Lord Shiva andParvati visit the place and bless the villagers. EvenRama, when he wasgoing to Sri Lanka in search ofSita, visits the village en route.[13]
Five of his books have been awarded by the Karnataka Sahitya Academy. His well-known playJokumaraswamy has won the "Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya Award" ofNatya Sangh as the "Best Play of the Year" in India in the year 1975. Another popular playJaisidanayaka won theVardhamaana Prashasti as the "Best Book of the Year" – 1975 in Karnataka.
HisSaavirada Neralu won the "Ashan Award" (Kerala) as the best collection of poems in 1982. He won the K.V. Shankare Gowda Award for Theatre in 1990. He is the recipient of theSangeet Natak Akademi Award, New Delhi,[19] for playwrighting in the year 1983 and theSahitya Akademi Award, New Delhi, for the playSiri Sampige in 1991.[27]
Kambara received the eighthJnanpith Award for the Kannada language, the highest literary honour conferred in India, in September 2011 for the year 2010.[18] The prestigious award which was instituted in 1961, carries a cheque for₹ 750,000, a citation and a bronze replica of goddessVagdevi.[28] The Chief Minister of Karnataka,D. V. Sadananda Gowda was among the many dignitaries who wished him well on the occasion of receiving this award.[29] At a felicitation ceremony held a week after winning the award, theGovernment of Karnataka announced that it will reprint all works of Kambara, including his plays and make them available at allgovernment school libraries. His works will also be translated to different languages. A drama festival featuring his plays will be staged to honour the laureate.[30]
His contribution to Kannada literature in the field of poetry, plays, novels and stories, and on his research and political perceptions are listed below.[3]
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