Linguistically, Kannadigas were scattered under the different
rulers of Mysore, Bombay, Hyderabad and Kodagu during the British
Raj. Hence the Kannada language was deeply influenced by other
languages and there was no standard communicable Kannada language
for all Kannadigas except dialects. A lot of disparity was found
in the pronunciation of Kannada. To bring a standard communicable
Kannada language for the people and the government, Karnataka's
autonomous cultural body, Karnataka Sahitya Parishat
was established on May 5th 1915. Later it was changed
to Kannada Sahitya Parishat.
 The
then Dewan of Mysore State,
Sir. M. Visveswaraya and the Maharaja of Mysore State,
Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the State officials and scholars
were instrumental in establishing this literary body to
reform the Kannada language and to encourage writers to bring
out more works in the language.
In the beginning the parishat was housed in a rented building.
Then on May 29th 1933, the Parishat was housed in its own building
opposite the Akhila Karnataka Makkala Koota in Chamrajpet. The
then Dewan of Mysore, Sir Mirza Ismail took keen interest
in establishing the present Parishat building. The Parishat
has a meeting hall, Sri Krishnaraja Parishat Mandira,
in addition to the office building and the publishing department.
It was built at a cost of about Rs 30,000. The majority of the
cost of the building was borne by Mysore State and the rest
came from private donations.
As per the 1915 Constitution of the Parishat, its aims
are:
1. Publishing books on Kannada grammer, history of Kannada,
and dictionaries in Kannada.
2. Bringing out literature pertaining to modern philosophy,
science of nature, modern literature in Kannada.
3. Translating the best literature from other languages into
Kannada.
4. Establishing an archeological museum to exhibit ancient artefacts
of Karnataka.
5. Monetary help to scholars to publish more works in Kannada
and Sanskrit.
6. Holding yearly Kannada Sahitya Sammelanas in the state.
This yearly Kannada convention serves as a platform for literati
to voice their concerns about cultural and social issues.
 Since
its inception, the Parishat has come a long way in the service
of the Kannada language. Till now, the Parishat has held 68
state level conventions on Kannada literature. The Parishat
has been striving to equip itself with all the required facilities
such as a computer laser printing facility and offset printing
press. It has set up units in all the districts of the State.
Financially also the Parishat is more stable now with funds
to the tune of about Rs one crore. These funds come from private
donations and grants from the state government as well. Elections
are being held once in three years for the post of the Parishat
President. The Parishat has a full-fledged library, a
section exclusively for Kannada research scholars. There is
a museum where ancient historical exhibits like Panchaloha
idols, coins, instruments used by folk singers, all donated
by one Suryanarayana Chadaga, a philanthrophist, are
displayed.
Eminent scholars of the Kannada language like Dr Masthi Venkatesh
Iyengar, Thirumale Thatacharya, Prof. A.N. Murthy Rao, Prof.
G. Venkatasubbaiah, G. Narayana, Dr Hampa Nagarajaiah, Prof.
G.S. Siddalingaiah and others have served as Presidents
of the Parishat. The first President of the Parishat was H.V.
Nanjundaiah. Even the Maharajas of Mysore - Narasimharaja
Wodeyar, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar have served as honorary
presidents. Mr N. Basavaradhya, who is the current President,
has been associated with the Parishat for the past 50 years.
Address: Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Pampamahakavi Road,
Chamarajpet, Bangalore - 560 018
Phone: 661 2991/662 3584
Click
here for the Publishing activities of the Kannada Sahitya
Parishat.
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