Google honoured Kannada poet laureate Kuvempu on his 113th birth anniversary with a special doodle, which features the poet sitting on a rock near his home at Kuppali, which nestles in the verdant Malnad hills. Incidentally, Karnataka is also celebrating the golden jubilee of the late poet winning the Jnanpith, this year.
For the first time, the word ‘Google’ is in Kannada on the search engine’s homepage in India. According to Google officials, Upamanyu Bhattacharyya (and Swathi Shelar, who helped with the Kannada lettering) designed this doodle.
Google.com on its website said, “Today, we celebrate the life and literature of Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa, a renowned 20th century Indian poet and author. Known more famously by his pen name Kuvempu, he is considered one of the greatest Kannada writers of his time. The Kannada language is spoken mainly in Kuvempu’s home state of Karnataka, and he strongly advocated for it to be the main medium of education ... Happy birthday, Kuvempu!”
Rashtriya Kuvempu Pratishthana is elated, as the two-day symposium to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Kuvempu receiving the Jnanpith also began on Friday. Kuvempu is the first among the eight recipients of Jnanpith for Kannada, and he is the second among Kannada poets to be revered as ‘Rashtrakavi’.
In April this year, Google had honoured the late Kannada superstar Rajkumar, with a special doodle featuring him.
