Bhyrappa’s ideological positions often attracted criticism within literary circles. Seminars have been organised on his novels, his ideologies, and the clashes between his work and personal beliefs.
Published Sep 24, 2025 | 6:55 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 24, 2025 | 6:55 PM
One of the best-selling authors in Kannada for over 25 years, Bhyrappa leaves behind a rich body of literary work, including 24 novels, four volumes of literary criticism, and an autobiography.
Synopsis: Renowned Kannada novelist and philosopher SL Bhyrappa passed away in Bengaluru on 24 September 2025 following a cardiac arrest. A prolific writer for nearly three decades, Bhyrappa’s vast body of work is often celebrated for its psychological depth and social insight, exploring human suffering, cultural conflict, and caste.
“I don’t write just for the sake of story nor for entertainment. Delving deep into the crisis, and helping readers sense the labyrinth of the crisis are my aims of writing,” Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa, popularly known as SL Bhyrappa, once said in a Sahitya Akademi documentary on his life and work.
One of the best-selling authors in Kannada for over 25 years, SL Bhyrappa passed away on Wednesday, 24 September, in Bengaluru after suffering a cardiac arrest.
He leaves behind a rich body of literary work, including 24 novels, four volumes of literary criticism, and an autobiography.
A lecturer in philosophy for several years, Bhyrappa’s work has been widely celebrated for its philosophical depth, psychological nuance, and insightful reflections on social realities. At the same time, it has faced fierce criticism for allegedly promoting Hindutva.
Although he was awarded the Padma Shri in 2016 and the Padma Bhushan in 2023, for Bhyrappa, awards were never as significant as what his work could achieve.
“Awards will come and go. No one will observe what awards a writer has got. If they (readers) have an interest in his book, they will like it,” he once told PTI.
Born into a traditional Hoysala Karnataka Brahmin family in Santheshivara, a village in Hassan district, Bhyrappa grew up in extreme poverty.
At the age of nine, he witnessed a tragedy when a plague ravaged his village, claiming the lives of two of his siblings. He lost his mother two years later, at the age of 11. These early experiences of loss and hardship, in both urban and rural settings, shaped the themes and characters of his books.
In Grihabhanga (1970), set in rural Karnataka, Bhyrappa wrote about a woman’s struggle against poverty, plague, famine, abuse, and superstition in pre-Independence Mysore.
“He was a powerful novelist, and Grihabhanga was his finest work. In my view, it ranks among the ten best novels in Kannada,” writer-novelist Vivek Shanbhag told South First.
Similarly, Tabbaliyu Neenaade Magane (1968), meaning ‘You have become orphan, son’, explored cultural differences between Indian and Western societies. The novel begins with a song about the cow and goes on to explain its reverence as a divine symbol as well as a source of cultural conflict. It was later adapted into a film in 1977 by B V Karanth and Girish Karnad.
Another celebrated novel, Daatu (1973), is set predominantly in rural India. The story follows the daughter of a Brahmin priest who chooses her own path rather than submitting to the rigid boundaries of caste.
Bhyrappa’s intense training in music also influenced his novel Mandra (2002), which celebrates Hindustani classical music through its narrative and characters.
Bhyrappa’s ideological positions often attracted criticism within literary circles.
In 2023, when he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, he said, “I got this award as Modi is the PM. Else, I would not have received it. Not that I am praising the Modi government for giving this award. I don’t have any political links. Modi is one of the best prime ministers that the country has seen.” The statement drew attention among other literary figures.
Bhyrappa also publicly debated with Girish Karnad over the legacy of Tipu Sultan. In his novel Aavarana (2007), Bhyrappa portrayed Tipu as a “religious fanatic,” while Karnad depicted him in his plays as a progressive and visionary ruler.
Aavarana was accused of promoting Hindu fundamentalism by critics like UR Ananthamurthy, who deemed it “dangerous” for its revisionist history contrasting Tipu Sultan’s image as a secular ruler. Bhyrappa asserted that his version was research-based truth over ideology, positioning himself as a “debater-storyteller.”
Despite controversies, Bhyrappa’s work, which often explored human suffering, cultural conflict, and the complexities of social hierarchies, earned wide acclaim. Many of his novels have been translated into multiple Indian languages.
Seminars have been organised on his novels, his ideologies, and the clashes between his work and personal beliefs. His books are part of undergraduate and postgraduate curricula in Karnataka universities and have been the subject of around 20 PhD dissertations, according to his website.
His line from the documentary will now go down with him: “It is not important for me that my books have a huge market today. What is crucial is what happens to my writings after a couple of centuries.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
