Date:05/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/05/stories/2008110554700500.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Kumaravyasa Bharata hits stands

K.N. Venkatasubba Rao

The text has been a revered one in the State for over 700 years for its poetic grandeur

One of the 200 Ganjifa drawings depicted in the text

Bangalore: The long-pending literary task of providing authentic interpretation to the popular and one-time mandatory household text ‘Gadugina Bharata’ or ‘Carnata Bharata Katha Manjari’, authored by Gadugina Naranappa ( 1165 to 1242), has been fulfilled with the publication of the Kumaravyasa Bharata recently.

Thanks to the septuagenarian scholar Anaji Ramanna Serturama Rao — popularly known as Aa.Ra.Se in Kannada literary and cultural circles — and D.K. Shyamasundara Rao of the Kamadhenu Pustaka Bhavana, for having successfully interpreted the original text and publishing it despite challenges.

The text has been a revered one in the State for over 700 years for its poetic grandeur and musical rendering of The Mahabharata, from the mundane and metaphysical perspectives. Musical rendering of the text, along with interpretations in the established Gamaka or Kavya Vachana tradition, was once a regular cultural programme in the majority of the villages across the State. Keeping and reciting the text, as keeping the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, was a matter of pride, wisdom and value for each family in rural and urban areas.

The Kengal Hanumanthaiya Government’s successful mission to print, publish and sell the book, at an affordable price of Rs. 2 itself speaks volumes about its popularity and importance.

Several individuals and institutions have attempted to provide interpretations of the 8,600 complex poems, which is written in the Bhamini Shatpadi using a range of metaphors drawn from mythologies, in standard Sanskrit, standard Kannada and rural idioms.

Deciding to try his hand the publisher and author Prof. Rao started searching for the right person to accomplish the task. After holding sessions with Aa.Ra.Se., who is an authority on Kumaravyasa, he launched the project in 2003. He also sought the help of nationally renowned artist Ganjifa Raghupati Bhat, who belongs to the Ganjifa art tradition. Prof. Rao published the royal-size 1,316-page volume, of which 96 pages contain a scholarly introduction and over 200 Ganjifa drawings. It is priced at Rs. 1,800.

Interested may contact Kamadhenu Pustaka Bhavana, Legislators Home Complex, Bangalore.