After the demise of Venkatashastri, the building was named after him on Bendre’s suggestion. Erstwhile Mysore king Jayachamaraja Wadiyar inaugurated the building on December 11, 1943. Litterateur BM Srikantaiah laid the foundation stone for the building in 1942. Hasoodi Venkatashastri, an areca merchant, donated Rs 30,000 to construct a building. When the Karnataka Sangha had no permanent place, the then City Municipal Council sanctioned a site.
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“The Sangha successfully organised Akhila Karnataka Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, presided by Bendre, in 1942 and Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in 1976,” she added. Secretary Ashalatha said the Sangha has been awarded the Dr Da Ra Bendre Rashtreeya Trust Award, Suvarna Karnataka Rajyotsava Award and other honours for its contribution to Kannada language. Several books, including that of Girish Karnad, Shanthinath Desai, Sudha Murthy, Vasumathi Udupa, T P Ashoka and others, were released at the sangha,” said Treasurer HD Mohan Shastri. Bendre’s Naadalile was also published by Sangha. Kuvempu’s works which were published from Karnataka Sangha are Sahitya Prachara, Raktakshi and Navilu Part 1 and 2. “The Sangha has so far published 30 books, including that of Kuvempu, Kukke Subramanya Shastri, JP Rajarathnam, DaRa Bendre, AN Murthy Rao, TP Kailasam, Goruru Ramaswamy Iyengar and other prominent writers. Its ‘Tingala Athithi’ programme, where a writer is invited every month for an interaction, is popular among the local population.
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Awards are also given in the name of Shambha Joshi, Shivaram Karanth, Bendre and Tee Nam Srikantaiah. The Sangha encourages Kannada literature students of Kuvempu University through awards and gold medals. The lifetime achievement award, which carries a cash reward of Rs 25,000, is also conferred. Kuvempu award is presented for best novel, UR Ananthamurthy award for best short story, KV Subbanna award for best drama, P Lankesh award for Muslim writers and Hasoodi Venkatashastri award for best science literature. One of the major activities in the Sangh calendar is conferring of literary awards each year in the name of honorary members with a cash prize of Rs 10,000. Such memberships have also been given to 13 prominent Kannada personalities, including MK Indira, P Lankesh, GS Shivarudrappa, HaMa Nayak, UR Ananthamurthy, KV Subbanna, Shivamogga Subbanna, Na D’Souza and NS Lakshminarayana Bhat. The first recipient of honorary membership was Kuvempu,” Sangh president HD Udayashankara Shastri said. The only criterion is that they should have achieved something significant in Kannada literature at the state or national level. “We confer honorary memberships to prominent litterateurs hailing from undivided Shivamogga district. The organisation generates its own income through rentals from a commercial complex. Despite conducting programmes throughout the year and conferring cash awards to achievers and students, the Sangha does not accept any grants from the government. It stands tall among the hoary and reputed literary organisations in the state, like the Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha of Dharwad, set up in 1890, and Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Bengaluru, established in 1915.
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MP Badarinarayana Iyengar at a programme on November 27 in 1959 Nittur Shreenivasarayaru, Da Ra Bendre and then
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Sangha Secretary S N Shivarama Shastri, Dattatreya Shastri,