Hulkuntemath Shivamurthy Sastri Shivaprakash (born 1954) is a leading poet and playwright writing in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

. He is professor at the School of Arts and Aesthetics,

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

, New Delhi. He heads the Cultural Centre at Berlin, known as the Tagore Centre, as Director run by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). He has seven anthologies of poems, twelve plays, and several other books to his credit. His works have been widely translated into English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Polish,

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and Telugu. His plays have been performed in

, Hindi, Meitei, Rabha, Assamese, Bodo, Tamil and Malayalam. Shivaprakash is also a well-known authority on vachana literature,

Bhakti movement The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of Bhakti, devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6t ...

s of India, and

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

and other mystic traditions.

Life and career

Shivaprakash was born in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

in June 1954. His father Shivamurthy Shastri was an eminent

Veerashaiva The Lingayats are a monotheistic religious denomination of Hinduism. Lingayats are also known as , , , . Lingayats are known for their unique practice of Ishtalinga worship, where adherents carry a personal linga symbolizing a constant, intim ...

scholar and served under the erstwhile

Maharaja of Mysore The maharaja of Mysore was the king and principal ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore and briefly of Mysore State in the Indian Dominion roughly between the mid- to late-1300s and 1950. The maharaja's consort was called the maharani of Mysore. In ...

. After obtaining his MA in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

from

Bangalore University Bangalore University (BU) is a public state university in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The university is a part of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and affiliated by University Gra ...

, Shivaprakash joined the

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

government service as an English lecturer and taught for over two decades at various colleges in

and

Tumkur Tumkur, officially Tumakuru, is a city and headquarters of Tumakuru district in the Karnataka state of India. Tumkur is known for Siddaganga Matha. Tumkur hosts India's first mega food park, a project of the ministry of food processing. The Ind ...

. In 1996, he was appointed the editor of ''

Indian Literature Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akadem ...

'', the bimonthly journal of

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of the Indian government. Its off ...

in New Delhi. Shivaprakash joined the School of Arts and Aesthetics in

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

in 2001, where he is professor of

Aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

and Performance studies. In 2000, he was selected for the International Writing Program of the School of Letters,

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

, and is honorary fellow of the school. Professor H. S. Shiva Prakash served as Director of Tagore Centre in Berlin (2011-2014). He retired from JNU in 2019 and has been living in Bangalore since 2021.

Poet

Shivaprakash published his first anthology of poems ''Milarepa'' in 1977, when he was still 23. It was immediately recognized as a fresh voice in Kannada poetry. But Shivaprakash gained popularity and acclaim only with his second anthology, ''Malebidda Neladalli'' in 1983. The poem "Samagara Bhimavva" became an instant hit, which brought him to the centre-stage of post-Bandaya Kannada poetry. Since then Shivaprakash has published four collections of poetry, ''Anukshana Charite'', ''Suryajala'', ''Maleye Mantapa'' and ''Matte Matte'' and two anthologies of poems in translation, ''Maruroopagalu'' and ''Nanna Mainagara'', and edited the translation of contemporary Gujarati poetry, ''Samakaleena Gujarati Kavitegalu'' and Malayalam poetry ''Manasantara''. Shivaprakash's poems make use of mystic

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

ism, dream-images,

archetypes The concept of an archetype ( ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main mo ...

and motifs from everyday life to portray the nature of power and the contradictions of modern life.

Playwright

Shivaprakash published his first play ''Mahachaitra'' in 1986. The stage-adaptation of the play by C.G.Krishnaswamy for the troop ''Samudaya'' became a major hit. The play was based on the life and times of the 12th century

saint Basavanna and narrated the struggles of the artisan saints of the city of Kalyana (now

Basavakalyan Basavakalyana is a historical city and municipal council in the Bidar District of the Indian state of Karnataka. It was the capital of Western Chalukya Empire, Kalyani Chalukya and Kalachuris of Kalyani two dynasties. It is famous for the world ...

) through a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

analytic. The play received rave reviews and was acknowledged as a landmark in

Kannada literature Kannada literature is the Text corpus, corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, which is spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script. Attestations in literature span one and a half millennia, R.S. ...

. ''Mahachaitra'' is recognized as one among the three greatest plays out of the 25-odd plays on Basavanna written in Kannada, the other two being P. Lankesh's ''Sankranti'' and

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian playwright, actor, film director, Kannada writer, and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwr ...

's '' Taledanda''. Shivaprakash won the

award for this play. His other plays include ''Sultan Tipu'', ''Shakespeare Swapnanauke'', ''Manteswamy Kathaprasanga'', ''Madari Madayya'', ''Madurekanda'', ''Madhavi'', ''Matrika'', ''Makarachandra'', ''Sati'', ''Cassandra'' and ''Maduvehennu''. He has also translated

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' and adapted

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

's ''The Shoemaker's Prodigious Wife'' into Kannada under the title ''Mallammana Mane Hotlu'' and

's ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' under the name ''Maranayakana Drishtanta''. ''Manteswamy Kathaprasanga'', a play about a 16th-century Dalit saint was made into a successful stage adaptation by director Suresh Anagalli and produced over 300 shows. It kindled interest in this obscure saint and the life of Manteswamy has since been a major area of research in Kannada academia. Most of Shivaprakash's plays are inspired by Marxism and

Shaiva Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

, particularly Veerashaivism and Kashmir Shavism. The plays also employ motifs from

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

and other forms of mysticism like

Mahayana Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

and

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. Structurally, the plays are inspired by Japanese

Noh theatre is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

and Brecht's

epic theatre Epic theatre () is a theatrical movement that arose in the early to mid-20th century from the theories and practice of a number of theatre practitioners who responded to the political climate of the time through the creation of new political ...

The Mahachaitra controversy

''Mahachaitra'' was prescribed as a textbook for undergraduate courses in three universities of Karnataka. In 1995, nearly a decade after its publication, when it was prescribed as a textbook in Gulbarga University, it caused a heated controversy. A section of Lingayats under the leadership of the nun Shri Shri Jagadguru Mate Mahadevi accused the work of portraying Basavanna in poor light and urged the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as GoK or GoKA, formerly known as Government of Mysore (1956–1974), is a democratically elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka ...

to ban the play. It led to a legal battle and the play was eventually withdrawn from the university syllabus. The ''Mahachaitra'' controversy seems to have inspired Githa Hariharan's English novel ''In Times of Siege'' (2003), which narrates the story of a professor in an

open university The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, who finds himself in the midst of a controversy over a chapter on Basavanna which he wrote for an undergraduate textbook.

Major works

Poetry

* ''Milarepa'' * ''Malebidda Neladalli'' * ''Anukshana Charite'' * ''Suryajala'' * ''Maleye Mantapa'' * ''Matte Matte'' * ''Mabbina Haage Kanive Haasi'' * ''Maruroopagalu'' (Kannada translation of poems from various languages) * ''Nanna Mainagara'' (Kannada translation of the Malayalam poems of K. Satchidanandan) * ''Navilu Nagara'' (songs from his plays) * ''Maatu Mantravaaguvavrege'' * ''Maretuhoda Dombaraake''(Kannada translation of Spanish poems by Zingonia Zingone) * ''Kavite Indinavarege'' (Collected poems) * ''Autumn Ways'' (Haiku in English) * ''Maagiparva'' (Kannada Haikus) * ''I Keep Vigil of Rudra'' (English translation of Kannada Vachanas)

Plays

* ''Mahachaitra'' * ''Sultan Tipu'' * ''Shakespeare Swapnanauke'' * ''Manteswamy Kathaprasanga'' * ''Madari Madayya'' * ''Madurekanda'' * ''Madhavi'' * ''Matrika'' * ''Makarachandra'' * ''Sati'' * ''Cassandra'' * ''Maduve Hennu'' * ''King Lear'' (Kannada translation of

's play) * ''Maranayakana Drishtanta'' (Kannada adaptation of ''

'') * ''Mallammana Mane Hotlu'' (Kannada adaptation of

's ''The Shoemaker's Prodigious Wife'') * "Nataka Illiyavarege 2011 (C0llected Plays)

Others

* ''Sahitya mattu Rangabhoomi'' (a treatise on literature and theatre) * ''Modala Kattina Gadya'' (a collection of essays) * ''Yuganta'' (Kannada translation of Irawati Karve's book of the same name) * ''Batteesa Raaga'' (Spiritual autobiography) In English: * ''Incredible India: Traditional Theatres'' (New Delhi: Wisdom Tree, 2007) * ''I Keep Vigil of Rudra: the Vachanas'' (New Delhi: Penguin India, 2010) * ''Everyday Yogi'' (New Delhi: HarperCollins India, 2014)

Awards and honours

* Kusumagraja Rashtriya Puraskar-2017. * Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry: ''Malebidda Neladalli'' (1983), ''Suryajala'' (1995) * Four Kannada Sahitya Akademi best book prizes * Sangeeth Natak Akademi Award (1997) * Satyakama award for 2003 *

Ministry of Human Resource Development Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

fellowship for

* Honorary Fellow of the School of Letters,

, since 2000. * Karnataka Rajyotsava Prashasti, 2005. * Sahitya Akademi Award (2012)

References

External links

A research paper on Shivaprakash's plays *http://asiatic.iium.edu.my/v3n1/article/Rajayshriee_Khushu-Lahiri.pdf * < *https://web.archive.org/web/20080828115531/http://at-lamp.its.uiowa.edu/virtualwu/index.php/archive/record/iwp_and_writers_workshop_at_praries_lights_with_hs_shivaprakash_and_j_towns *http://www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/reviews/20_olear.asp *https://web.archive.org/web/20080514195149/http://lokadharmi.org/madhuvehennu.htm *http://www.ciil.org/Main/Announcement/MBE_Programme/paper/paper13.htm *https://openlibrary.org/a/OL374678A *https://web.archive.org/web/20050419110806/http://www.katha.org/Academics/deep%20stories%20%26%20silences_bionotes.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Shivaprakash, H. S. 1954 births Living people Kannada poets Kannada-language writers Indian literary critics Writers from Bengaluru Indian male poets 20th-century Indian poets Indian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian male writers Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2005 Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award