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R. Ganesh (also known popularly as Shatavadhani Ganesh, born 4 December 1962) is a practitioner of the art of avadhana, a polyglot, an author in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
and
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 ...
and an extempore poet in multiple languages. He has performed more than 1300 avadhanas, 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 ...
,
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
, Telugu and
Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...
. He is known for extempore composition of poetry (āśukavita) during these performances, and even of chitrakavya. He is the only Śatāvadhāni from
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 ...
. He once set a record by composing poetry for twenty-four hours continuously. From 30 November 2012 to 2 December 2012, he performed the first ever Shatavadhana entirely in Kannada. On 16 February 2014, in Bangalore, he performed his 1000th avadhāna.


Childhood and education

Ganesh was born on 4 December 1962 to a
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 ...
brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
family, in Kolar, Karnataka, to R. Shankar Narayan Aiyar and K. V. Alamelamma. Ganesh picked up Tamil, Kannada and Telugu from his environment as a child. Also in his childhood, he read Sanskrit and Kannada literature and was writing poetry at the age of sixteen. He learned English at school, and he later learned several other languages like
Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...
,
Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, Marathi,
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
,
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and Italian. He has a
B.E. A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Bac ...
degree in mechanical engineering from UVCE, an MSc (Engineering) degree in metallurgy from IISc, pursued research in materials science and metallurgy, has an MA degree in Sanskrit, and a D. Litt in Kannada, which was awarded by Hampi University for his thesis on the art of Avadhana in Kannada.


Avadhana

Ganesh is well known for his performances of '' avadhana'', in which he composes extempore solutions in metrical verse to problems posed in parallel by the ''pṛcchaka''s on stage, satisfying the constraints imposed by them, while simultaneously dealing with interruptions designed to break his concentration. The performance tests poetic skill, creativity, memory, concentration, scholarship, and wit. The main variants are the Aṣṭāvadhāna (eight ''pṛcchaka''s) and Śatāvadhāna (hundred ''pṛcchaka''s), both of which he performs. Although there are records of Bellave Narahari Sastry performing ''avadhana'' in Kannada during 1933–36 (having learnt it from Telugu's Pisupati Chidambara Shastri), there was no living tradition of avadhana in Kannada when Ganesh took it up; thus he is credited with reviving ''avadhana'' in Kannada. In 1981, after seeing an avadhana performance for the first time, by Lepakshi Medavaram Mallikarjuna Sharma, he tried one himself in front of his friends. He performed 13 astavadhana between 1981 and 1987. In 1987, he gave a major astavadhana performance at Kolar in the centenary year of D. V. Gundappa, where thousands of people and several learned persons assembled. His 100th and 200th astavadhanas were also performed at Kolar, his native place. His astavadhanas became very popular and he gave hundreds of performances, some of which were viewed by people even in pouring rain. He has performed ''avadhana''s using eight languages, including Sanskrit, Kannada and Telugu. He is also credited with introducing ''chitrakavya'' into ''avadhana'', previously considered impossible to do in an ''avadhana''. He has given more than 20 avadhana performances in American and European countries. He performed his first Shatavadhana at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore on 15 December 1991. He did another one 15 days later, then one each again in 1992 and 1993, with his fifth, the first to be done entirely in Kannada, in 2012. In addition to his D. Litt thesis ''The Art of Avadhana in Kannada'' and the forthcoming ''Avadhana Sahasra'', he has written books about the art of Avadhana to groom future ''avadhani''s including 'Shatavadhana Sharade'', ''Shatavadhana Srividye'' and ''Sataavadhaana shaashvati''. He has also started lectures on poetry composition, prosody and poetics on the website of "Padyapaana" organisation.


Other work

He performed a shatavadhana in a single day in 1991. He also gives public lectures, on dance ('' nāṭya śāstra''), music, art, culture, literature, poetics, etc. In his kAvya-chitra shows, he performs with painter B.K.S.Varma, composing poems while the latter paints. He has also written lyrics and composed verses for dance performances. He learned the performance art
Yakshagana Yakshagana is a traditional theatre, found in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kasaragod district and Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur district, Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Keral ...
and conceived the idea of ''eka vyakthi yakshagana'' (single-person Yakshagana), of which several performances have been given by Mantapa Prabhakara Upadhyaya. He has played the role of Horatio (dubbed Harshananda) in a Sanskrit production of ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
''. He has given multiple lectures on various topics in Gokhale Institute of Public affairs, most of which is published on YouTube.


Literary works

* ''Kannadadalli Avadhanakale'' (The art of Avadhana in Kannada) (D. Litt thesis) * ''Vitaana'' * ''Nityaneeti'' * ''ShriChakreshwari Stavana'' * ''Sandhyadarshana'' * ''Shatavadhanasharade'' * ''Kavitegondu Kathe'' * ''Dhoomadhoota'', a parody of Meghaduta * ''Samaanyadharma'' * ''Neelakanthadeekshitana Shatakatraya'' * ''Shaddarshana Sangraha'' * ''Vanitaakavitotsava'' * ''Kusumadevana Drishtantakalikaa Shataka mattu Neelakanthadeekshitana Shaantivilasa'' * ''Vibhootipurusha Vidyaranya'' * ''Human values in the code of Kautilya'' * ''Human values in Manusmriti'' * ''Human values in the Ramayana'' * ''Human values in Telugu Literature'' * ''Subhashita Samputa'' * ''Alankaarashastra'' * ''Bharateeya Kshaatra Parampare'' * ''Brahmapuriya Bhikshuka'' * Mannina Kanasu ; Works in Sanskrit Ganesh is considered one of the Sanskrit authors to have "carved a niche for themselves in twentieth century", and is credited with introducing new genres into Sanskrit literature. His works include: * Anveṣaṇam, an allegorical one-act play (rūpaka), a satire on social evils (1984) * Sāmbalaharī (khaṇḍakāvya) (1989) * Śaṅkaravivekīyam, a poem with two readings (dvisandhānākavya) * Antaḥkāntiḥ, a novel in blank verse, on the last days of Vivekananda * Saugandhikā, a collection of sonnets in blank verse * Citraculikā, an example of Chitrakavya. * Śrīkṛṣṇa-laharī, 123 verses on
Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
* Śrījāmba-laharī, 51 verses on
Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
* Śṛṅgāra-laharī, 103 verses long * Jātaśakuntalā, a 123-verse work on Shakuntala * Ilākaivalyam, 154 verses in Vedic metre * Evam api ṛtavaḥ, poem on the effects of the seasons on village life * Cāṭucandrikā, 87 blank verses * Śrīcandreśvarīstavanam (with Kannada translation) * Madhusadma : a collection of Sanskrit poems 1st ed. R. Ganesh; with a foreword by K. Krishnamoorthy. Published 1989. Library of CongressPK3799.G29 M33 1989


Awards

* Rajyotsava Prashasti (Karnataka State Award) for 1992 by 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 ...
. At 29, he was the youngest person to have received the award. * Rashtriya Yuva Pratibha Puraskar * Kāvyakaṇṭhapraśasti * Bādarāyaṇa-Vyāsa Puraskar awarded by the President of India for contributions to Sanskrit for the year 2003. * 'Sediyapu Award' for the year 2010. * Honorary doctorate (D. Litt) from Tumkur University in 2010. * "Chit-prabhananda" award * Erya Award for 2012. * Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize 2021.


References


External links


Official website

Articles on Prekshaa Journal

Livestream of 1000th avadhana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ganesh, Shatavadhani Kannada-language writers Living people 1962 births Sanskrit writers Sanskrit poets Indian Institute of Science alumni Writers from Karnataka People from Kolar district Indian mechanical engineers