Shri Purohit Tirunarayana Ayyangar Narasimhachar (better known as ಪುತಿನ or PuTiNa) was born in Melkote, one of the main pilgrimage centres of the Shri Vaishnava tradition.
Restrictions of his upbringing honed PuTiNa’s natural intelligence and created a dreamer-poet with an introverted, shy character who grew more gentle and confident with time.
“We had good books in middle school. This was how I became familiar with basics like Kanda, Vritta, Shatpadi, etc.” Later, this literature would not be part of his curriculum he laments.
The reason for the formal Kannada PuTiNa used in his works appears here. It is remarkable how much Kannada he learned between learning Tamil at home and Sanskrit at school.
His literary output brought him the Central Sahitya Akademi Award for his “Hamsa Damayanti Mattu Itara Rupakagalu”(1966) and an honorary doctorate from Mysore University (1971).
P T Narasimhachar’s literary oeuvre encompasses various genres, including poetry, drama, essays, lyrical prose, philosophical essays, poetic reflections, and translations.
PuTiNa’s writing refuses to separate ‘those times’ and ‘these times’. Instead, it seeks to understand all human beings’ inner tumult and seeks ways to alleviate it.