Tue Feb 04 14:05:54 UTC 2025: ## Kannada Literary Organisations Urged to Promote Pan-India Fraternity Through Awards

**Belagavi, February 4, 2025** – Veteran Kannada writer Siddhlinga Pattanashetti has called on Kannada literary organizations to expand their award recognition to writers from other Indian languages. Speaking at the Ambikatanaya Datta Award ceremony in Dharwad on Sunday, Pattanashetti argued that this practice would foster a national literary community, introducing both Kannada writers and their works to a wider audience, and vice versa.

Pattanashetti, citing the example of the Bendre Award previously given to a Bengali writer by the Dr. D. R. Bendre National Memorial Trust, encouraged a resumption of this practice. He also urged the trust to publish Bendre’s complete works, including translations of his poems and a CD release of his All India Radio recordings. He further appealed to the Karnataka state government and other organizations to undertake a complete publication of Bendre’s writings, similar to the collected works of Kuvempu.

This year’s Ambikatanaya Datta Award was presented to writers Veena Shanteshwar and S.G. Siddaramaiah. Shanteshwar highlighted Bendre’s significant contribution to Kannada literature, emphasizing his belief in the language’s unique capacity to satisfy intellectual needs. Siddaramaiah expressed his deep respect for both Bendre and Kuvempu. The ceremony also included presentations on the works of the award recipients by resource persons Basavaraja Donur and H.B. Kolkar. The event was attended by the Trust chairman D.M. Hiremath and other dignitaries.

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