With the murder of M.M. Kalburgi, the fate of a number of research projects — which he was passionately involved in — hangs in the balance.
Significant among them are the ambitious projects to translate the entire literature of Adil Shahi era of Vijayapura district into Kannada, and to bring out Vachana literature in different languages.
The Adil Shahi project, which began in 2012, has seen eight volumes being released in Kannada from Persian, Arabic and Dakhani Urdu.
In one of his interviews with The Hindu reporter on November 29, 2012, the late writer said the project would open a gateway into Bijapur’s remarkable history for literature lovers. Kalburgi, excited about the project, had expressed fears that he may not see the end of it considering his age.
Krishna Kolhar Kulkarni, director of the project committee, claimed that most of the project work was over and the remaining 10 volumes are expected to be released in March 2016. Kalburgi had monitored most of the work before his death, he said.
“The project will surely not face difficulty. However, what is most unfortunate is that the man behind this ambitious project will not be present when the last volumes are released,” Mr. Kulkarni regretted.
Kalburgi was also involved in translating 1,750 select Vachanas into different languages by the Basava Samiti.
Samiti president Aravind Jatti said translation of works into 23 Indian languages was completed. There was a plan to take up translation into Bodo, Nepali, French, Chinese, and Spanish in later stages.
According to Purushothama Bilimale, director of the American Institute of Indian Studies, New Delhi, Kalburgi was working on holding a workshop to translate Vachanas into Bodo and Nepali in New Delhi and had sought the help of the Dehali Kannada Sangha. “His sudden demise may hamper the progress of this project,” he said.
Another project, which Kalburgi was guiding, was to publish 25 select doctoral theses on the 25th anniversary of the anointment of the Chitradurga Brahanmatha seer Murugharajendra Swami.
