Name Shivamogga Airport after Kannada poet Kuvempu: BSY

Team Udayavani, Feb 13, 2023, 10:06 AM IST

Bengaluru: Shivamogga Airport should be named after Rashtrakavi Kuvempu suggested former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.

Suggestion to rename Shivamogga Airport will be forwarded to the Centre, said BS Yediyurappa.

Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa, popularly known as Kuvempu, was a renowned 20th-century Kannada poet and author. Born on December 29, 1904, in Mysore, he is the first among Kannada writers to get the prestigious Jnanpith Award.

For his contributions to Kannada Literature, the Government of Karnataka awarded him with the honorific Rashtrakavi (National Poet) in 1958 and Karnataka Ratna (Gem of Karnataka) in 1992.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Shimoga on February 27. It is almost certain that the new airport here will be inaugurated. On that day, Prime Minister Modi himself said that the name of the National Poet Kuvempu should be announced at the airport. We have decided to name it after Rashtrakavi Kuvempu, the greatest poet this country has seen in the 20th century and a Jnanpith awardee,” said BS Yediyurappa.

He also said that a unanimous decision will be taken in the session to finalize the name and it will be recommended to the central government.
“Kuvempu preached the universal message through writing. Prime Minister Modi is working hard to implement it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working to spread the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” said BS Yediyurappa.

Kuvempu’s epic narrative ‘Sri Ramayana Darshanam’, a modern rendering of the Indian Hindu epic Ramayana, is regarded as the revival of the era of Mahakavya (Great Epic poetry) in contemporary form and charm.

His writings and his contribution to ‘Universal Humanism’ gives him a unique place in modern Indian literature.

Kuvempu took his last breath on November 1, 1994, at the age of 89.

(With ANI inputs)