THIPPERUDRASWAMY
H., 1928-1994
H. Thipperudraswamy (honnALi tippErudfrsfvAmi) (ಹೊನ್ನಾಳಿ
ತಿಪ್ಪೇರುದ್ರಸ್ವಾಮಿ) is a scholar who made a
pioneering effort to look at the culture of Karnataka in its entirety. (‘ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ
ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ ಸಮೀಕ್ಷೆ)
He took
various dimensions such as political history, religious realities and cultural
aspects in to consideration while indulging in a holistic appraisal of the
situation. It’s a laudable effort even though some of his attitudes and
methodological tools may seem a little outdated in the contemporary context.
Thipperudraswamy was born in Honnali a small town in
Davanagere district and obtained early
education in his native town and Teerthahalli. He secured B.A. (Hons.) (1951) and M.A. (1952) degrees in Kannada from the
Thipperudraswamy was a creative writer and contributed a
few works to various genres of literature such as poetry, drama and fiction.
Novels such as ‘paripurnadedege’, ‘kadaLi karpUra’, ‘kartArana kammaTa’, ‘jyOti
beLagutide’ and ‘vacana virUpAksha’ are based on the lives of historical
personalities i.e. Allamaprabhu, Akkamahadevi, Basavanna, Nijaguna Shivayogi
and Raghavanka respectively. They do constitute an interesting attempt of
merging historical data with fictional imagination. However his fame rests on
his scholastic efforts in the fields Cultural history, comparative poetics,
literary criticism and Veerashaiva religion. He has edited a few ancient and
medieval texts.
His doctoral work studies the philosophical traits of the
Shivasharans in the light of their literary out put as well as their mystical
pursuits. ‘VachanagaLalli Veerashaiva Dharma’ is another attempt to place
literature in a philosophical and religious frame work. ‘KarnATaka Samskruti
Sameekshe’ which fetched him the coveted Sahitya Academy Award is a systematic
attempt to study and analyze the culture of Karnataka. It is divided in to ten
chapters including the introductory and concluding chapters. Remaining chapters
deal with the political history of Karnataka, community life, Inscriptions,
literature, folklore, architecture and sculpture, music and dance and painting.
Cultural aspects are invariably delineated and appreciated. The mode of
presentation is basically informative and descriptive. The book is valuable
more for the information provided rather than polemical debates. It serves as
an important source book for further research. He has dealt with thematic pre
occupations of ‘Shunya
Sampadane’, an important work based on Veerashaiva philosophy and Vachanas.
Tipperudraswami was a keen student of comparative poetics and ‘taulanika
kAvyamImAmse’ is an illustration. His contributions to literary criticism and
modern literature are beyond the scope of this note. Some of his important
works are enumerated here:
1.
‘shUnyatatva vikAsa mattu shUnya sampAdane’, 1963
2.
‘sharanara anubAvasAhitya’, 1963
3.
‘vacanagaLalli vIrashaivadharma’, 1969
4.
‘karnATaka samskriti samIkshe’, 1968.
5.
‘kannaDadalli anuBAvasAhitya’ , 1962
6.
‘cAmarasa’ (Biography)
7.
‘BImakavi’ (1970)
8.
‘cAmarasa’
9.
‘Shri sharaNa carita mAnasa’ 1956, (Textual
Criticism)
10. ‘Amugi
dEvayyagaLa sAngatya’ 1965, (Textual Criticism)
11. ‘siddarAma
carite’, 1975, (Textual Criticism)
12. ‘basaveshvara vachanadeepike’,
He
has written a few biographies meant for children on the lives of Kannada poets
and Veerashaiva saints.
Thipperudraswamy
was awarded the Central Sahitya Academy award for his ‘Karnataka Samskriti
Sameekshe’ in 1969 and the life time award of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy in
1985.