Chapter XIII CULTURE - Government of Karnataka

A Handbook of Karnataka 486
translators upto 2008. In 2009 the Academy merged with Kuvempu Bhasa
Bharati of Mysore, with an office at Bangalore.
Tulu Language and Literature
Tulu is one of the rich and ancient languages of the Dravidian family.
Tulu speaking people are called Tulavas mostly found in Dakshina Kannada
and Kasargodu district of Kerala. Tulunadu is bounded by the Kalyanapura
river in the North, Arabian sea in the west, Western ghats in the east and the
Payaswini/Chandragiri river in the south.
Tulu has its own linguistic pecularities and shares a number of common
features with Kannada and other Dravidian languages. Tulu has a very vast
folk tradition which has its own pecularities. Folklore in Tulu is mainly found
in the form of Paddanas, Sandi, Kabita, Uralu, Padipu, Nritya-padya, Gadi,
Ogatu, Jogula, Ajjikathe etc.,
Tulu Brahmins are generally educated people in the Vedas and Shastras.
Their folk songs are based on the episodes from the epics ‘Ramayana’ and
‘Mahabharatha’. Among the lower castes and untouchables, the Bhuta worship
tradition is prevalent.
When compared with other Dravidian languages, Tulu has a very little
classical literature. During the past 150 years, Tulu has adopted the Kannada
script for its literary works. Even though the works of Tulu literature initiated
by the Basel Mission Christians were only translations of the teachings of
Christianity in the beginning, a few important works like the Tulu English
Dictionary etc., were published. Later collections of their folksongs etc., and
histories of Dakshina Kannada and Tulava Culture were also published. Works
on Tulu Grammar, dialect and a doctoral theses on the structure of Tulu verb
transformational analysis were published in the latter half of the Twentieth
Century. The Kerala and Karnataka governments have helped in developing
lexicons and text books of Tulu. Many Kannada plays of Yakshagana and many
religious works also have been translated into Tulu. Notable early writers of
Tulu literature are Sankayya Bhagawat, Sheenappa Hegade, K.B. Narayana
Shetty and M.V.Hegde. S.U.Phaniyadi established the Tulu Mahasabha in
Udupi in 1928. This gave great boost to Tulu literature and culture. It led to a
linguistic-cum-cultural movement in Tulu.
The Tulu theatre and dramas developed during this period. K.Doddanna
Shetty, K.N.Tailor, Rama Kirodiyan, U.R. Chandar, K.B. Bhandari,
Machendranath, Ramananda Charya, Sitaram Kulal, P.S.Rao, Vishu Kumar
etc. were the pioneers of the Tulu Theatre. The beauty of Tulu idioms, proverbs
and expressions is very well represented in the social activities of this period.
Yakshaganas, the spectacular folk dances of Karnataka are becoming popular
even in Tulu now-a-days. In recent years, Tulu poets like Amrita Someswara,
Anatharam Bangady, Purushottama Punja, Nityananda Karanth, Ashok A.
Shetty, K.Shekar.V.Shetty, G.Bayaru, Madhukumar and A.N.Shetty have
composed Tulu Yakshagana epics. There are some organisation which are
working for the propagation of Tulu language and culture. Tulu Koota of