After nearly decade, work on Kuvempu Chitabasma Smaraka Bhavana to commence soon

Mysuru, DHNS: Vishwakavi Sri Kuvempu Chitabasma Smaraka Bhavana, an initiative of Sri Ramakrishna Seva Kendra at Yachenahalli, T Narsipur taluk, Mysuru district, conceived in 2015, is finally seeing some progress.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will lay the foundation stone for the Bhavana on July 27, Saturday, at 1:00 pm. Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy and Mysuru district in-charge Minister H C Mahadevappa will be present in the ceremony organised by Mysuru District Administration and Kannada and Culture Department.

Seer Nadanandanatha Swami, managing trustee of the Kendra, said, the Bhavana was conceived as a memorial for poet laureate Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa, popularly known as Kuvempu, on the historical Sultan Road, on the border of Mysuru and Mandya districts.

“It is conceptualised to unite people as a literary, spiritual, social, cultural as well as an academic centre,” he noted.

“The Kendra would have become a reality in 2019 itself. Director for Kannada and Culture, on December 4, 2019, had earmarked Rs 85 lakh for the project. However, it was returned to the State government, from the account of the Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru, in the financial year 2019-20. Our pleas, since 2015, received positive response from ministers, including former chief minister B S Yediyurappa, and officials. And now, CM Siddaramaiah finally gave the go-ahead order,” the seer recalled.

Seer Nadanandanatha Swami.

The Bhavana, at Vivekananda Nagar, on Sultan Road, was approved on November 13, 2019, by the Under Secretary for Kannada and Culture. The Sultan Road is over 250 years old, connecting Srirangapatna with Malavalli, via Arakere, perceived to have been used by the armies of Hyder Ali and his son Tipu Sultan.

Nadanandanatha Swami said, that on February 2, 2021, also then Mysuru District in-charge Minister S T Somashekar had written a letter to the Director of Kannada and Culture department, to release the funds for the memorial, on priority.

The seer said, he is in possession of the ashes of Kuvempu, who was cremated in Kuppalli, Thirthahalli taluk, Shivamogga district in November 1994.

Nadanandanatha Swami said, he was in awe with Kuvempu since his high school days and was lucky enough to meet him several times.

Kuvempu's chitabasma ash.

“I used to take the residents of Yachenahalli and surroundings on short trips to the residence of Kuvempu at Gokulam 2nd Stage, VV Mohalla, in Mysuru, as ‘Udayaravi Yatre’. When Kuvempu died in Mysuru, on November 11, 1994, I was near the body till it left for Kuppalli. I asked my cousin Dr Y D Rajanna, who was serving at Begaru as a veterinarian and residing at Shringeri, to go to Kuppalli for the cremation. Dr Rajanna brought a small portion of the ashes of Kuvempu for me, as he knew about my reverence for the great poet. I secured the ashes in a copper pot and offered puja to it daily,” he said. Dr Rajanna served as president of Mysuru District Kannada Sahitya Parishat recently.

Institutions

Since his pre-university days in Bengaluru, Y S Nagaraju has been a member of Ramakrishna Ashram. He was ordained as Nadanandanatha Swami in 1984.

After a couple of attempts to start Ramakrishna Yoga Kendra at Yachenahalli, he finally started Sri Ramakrishna Seva Kendra in 1990. At present, the trust manages Ramakrishna Seva Kendra High School (government-aided), Sharada Devi Samskrutha Patashala, Vatsalya English Medium School and Thayi Madilu Old Age Home. Besides the Kuvempu memorial, it has a plan for a school and home for physically and mentally challenged children.

The seer said, the memorial is planned on an 80X80 feet plot of the Kendra and would house a statue of Kuvempu, at whose feet, the pot containing the ashes would be placed. It will include a seminar hall, a photo gallery, a library and a guest house.

“We already have over 10,000 books, which need to be preserved and displayed. The memorial will strive to popularise the concepts propounded by Kuvempu, like ‘Vishwamanava’ message and ‘Mantra Mangalya’, simple marriage,” he said. The seer is also a writer and has published four collections of a total of 6,000 vachanas.

At present, the only memorial with the ashes of Kuvempu is situated at Kuppalli, his native, named Kavi Shaila.