Writer Shivaram Karanth's house reduced to rubble

MANGALORE: Development has claimed a major landmark in Udupi. It is the 200-year-old house of Jnanpith awardee and literary giant Shivaram Karanth at Kota in Udupi district, 80 km from here. The house was razed to make way for the four-laning of the National Highway 66 between Surathkal -Kundapur.
An NHAI official in-charge of the project said that it was impossible to widen the road near Karanth's house without touching it."The available width was just 24 metres. Now we have 45 metres.''
Even late V S Acharya, who was Udupi district in-charge minister, had expressed his helplessness saying road widening and related technicalities were best left to officials. "If there is any chance of preserving it, we will do it. Though Karanth was born in Kota, he lived most of his life in Suhasa in Saligrama and Balavana in Puttur,'' he had remarked.
It was at Kota, where the young Karanth lived with his brothers and did his schooling in the nearby Kota Primary School and Guliyar School. The house was built by Karanth's father Shesha Karanth and later was renovated. The prized possessions in the house were a 150-year-old clock, a swing and wooden chair used by Karanth, which are now with family members.
Malini Mallya, president, Dr Kota Shivaram Karanth Research and Study Centre Trust, said the house, no doubt being the birth place of Karanth was holy, but it had lost it sanctity as it was turned into a commercial unit. `It is natural that emotions are attached with such institutions. But national concerns override these sentiments. The Rs 2-crore memorial built nearby for Karanth is a fit substitute memorial for him.''