Karnataka - Gulbarga   

‘Sharana Sahitya kept Kannada alive'

GULBARGA: The 12th century Sharana Sahitya played a crucial role in protecting Kannada, religion and culture from total obliteration due to the popularity of Urdu in the region for more than 700 years, dramatist and writer Chandrakant Kusnoor has said.

“The Vachana Sahitya created a bond between religion and language in the region and it was because of the 12th-century social revolution by the Sharanas that the language and culture was protected against the dominant Urdu language,” said Mr. Kusnoor.

Delivering the presidential address at the 12th Gulbarga District Kannada Sahitya Sammelan at Babugowda Darshanapur Rangamandira here on Sunday, Mr. Kusnoor said the region, which was under the rule of the Moghuls, Bahamanis and the Asif Jha dynasty for a long period, had Urdu as the medium of instruction not just in schools but also in professional colleges. Despite that, Kannada survived and flourished mainly because of the Sharana Sahitya, he said.

The contribution of Gulbarga region in the enrichment of Kannada was immense, Mr. Kusnoor said. While the Sharana and Dasa sahitya enriched the language, the first classical Kannada work, Kavirajamarga, was penned by Amoghavarsha.

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