Siddalingaiah, who was also an educationist, played a vital role in starting a boarding school for the backwards classes in Chitradurga in 1974. He also served as the 17th President of Kannada Sahitya Parishad from 1989 to 1992.
Published May 07, 2025 | 11:54 AM ⚊ Updated May 07, 2025 | 11:54 AM
GS Siddalingaiah.
Kannada writer, educationist and scholar of Vachana Literature, GS Siddalingaiah (94) passed away on the morning of Wednesday, 7 May, due to age-related health issues in a private hospital in Bengaluru.
A native of Bellave in the Tumakuru district, Siddalingaiah was born on 20 February 1931. He graduated with a BA degree from Maharaja’s College, Mysore University, and obtained his MA from the same university in 1961.
Soon after the completion of his education, he worked as a teacher in a government college. He had also worked as a professor and a principal before retiring as the Director of the Department of College Education in 1988.
A renowned poet and critic, Siddalingaiah’s poetry collections include Uttara, Chitra-Vichitra, Aivattara Nelu, and Rishyasringa. His editorial pieces include Shatabdi Deepa, Jangamajyoti, etc., and his literary reviews include Mahanubhava Buddha, Kavi Lakshmisha, Chamarasa, and Hosagannad Kavya.
Siddalingaiah, who was also an educationist, played a vital role in starting a boarding school for the backwards classes in Chitradurga in 1974. He also served as the 17th President of Kannada Sahitya Parishad from 1989 to 1992.
As the president of the Kannada Sahithya Parishad, Siddalingaiah introduced several initiatives, including poets’ conferences during Rajyotsava and Ugadi. He also organised conferences for female authors and writers at the district and taluk levels in Karnataka.
He started the Kavya Kammata programme for young poets and also organised competitions for young poets and storytellers, and started publishing collections of the best poems and short stories.
With a motive to involve writers of the Bandaya Sahithya Movement in the programmes of Kannada Sahithya Parishad, Siddalingaiah used to organise two-day literary conferences for them in the 1990s.
Besides this, three major Kannada literary conferences were held during his time, including the Davangere Conference, a literary discussion programme in which the audience also participated and the New Research Conference on discoveries. The conferences he organised were well received by the audience.
According to the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, an official emblem was designed and approved during the tenure of noted author BM Srikantaiah. Years later, during Siddalingaiah’s term, the need for a flag was recognised.
A committee of experts was formed to finalise its design, which was approved in January 1990. Since then, the flag has been prominently displayed at all major council events.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
