"Kannada literature had deep influence on Indian thought"

President Pratibha Patil on Thursday paid glowing tributes to Kannada literature and said it had deeply influenced Indian thought.

Speaking after honouring Union Law Minister and writer M Veerappa Moily with the Moortidevi Award for his work Sri Ramayana Mahanveshanam, she said: “There have been great literary works in Kannada literature from ancient times, which have had a deep influence on Indian thought. Its ‘Vachana Sahitya’ is literature for the common man in simple language and is unique.”

Patil said she had been told that Kannada literature had received the highest number of Jnanpith awards, besides many Sahitya Akademi awards and pointed out that the Moortidevi Award, instituted by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, was yet another acknowledgement of the significant ongoing works in Kannada literature.

Praising Moily’s work, she said: “As a writer, Moily forayed into many forms of writing. His literary armoury consists of novels, books of poems, collections of essays and plays, including his magnum opus “Mahanveshanam””.

Full report here Deccan Herald