# Rajyotsava Awards (2014)

The Government of Karnataka announced the Rajyotsava awards for the year 2014. The awardees included 59 noted eminent individuals from various fields on the occasions of the 59th anniversary of the Karnataka state formation day. The awards were given away at the Ravindra Kalakshetra in Bangalore on 1 November 2014. The 2014 awards saw 1924 nominations that were screened by a panel. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah announced that the government would bring out commemorative postal stamps of the 59 awardees.

## List of awardees

The Rajyotsava award winners for the year 2014 are:

### Individual

| Awardee | Area of expertise | Location | Highlights |
| Mudnakudu B Chinnaswamy | Literature | Chamrajanagar | Renowned Kannada poet & playwright. He has authored 26 books: 6 poetry collections, 4 essays, 3 plays and short stories. He is a prominent dalit voice. He is the first Kannada poet to have an anthology published in Spanish. Winner of 2009 Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award for lifetime achievement. |
| H Girijamma | Literature | Davangere | A doctor, child psychologist and author 13 novels and six short story collections. Winner of Kannada Sahitya Academy award (2006), Visvesvaraya Award and Attimabbe Prize. |
| Shudra Srinivas | Literature | Bangalore | Literary figure. |
| G H Hanneradu Math | Literature | Dharwad | Literary figure. |
| Vishnu G Bhandari | Literature | Uttara Kannada | Literary figure. |
| Kanti Hanumantharayaru | Theatre | Bagalkot | Theatre personality. |
| Abdul Sahab Annegeri | Theatre | Haveri | Theatre personality. |
| T Nanjundaswamy | Theatre | Mysore | Theatre personality. |
| J Lokesh | Theatre | Bangalore | Theatre personality. |
| Shivakumari | Theatre | Bellary | Theatre personality. |
| V Mani | Dance and Music | Bangalore | Artist. |
| D Kumara Das | Dance and Music | Bellary | Artist. |
| S Shankar | Music | Bangalore | Renowned Carnatic music vocalist. Winner of the Best Musician award by the Bangalore Gayana Samaja. |
| Indu Vishwanath | Music | Bangalore | Noted Kannada movie playback singer. |
| Pankaja Ramakrishna | Dance | Mysore | Danseuse from Mysore. She is an exponent in classical and folk dance. She established the Sarveshwara Nritya Kalamandira in the year 1984. She has been training students for over 21 years. |
| S Yogalingam | Folk art | Bangalore | Folk artist and second generation performer of the Keelu kudure for 50 years since the age of 14 in the year 1960. Has over 12,000 performances to his credit. Performed in Kannada films Bangaarada Manushya, Kittur Chennamma and Upendra. Learnt from T.C. Sundara Murthy, former Rajyotsava award winner and pioneer of the dance form. |
| Maruthi Hanamanth Bhajantri | Folk art | Bagalkot | Folk artist. |
| Poojari Nagaraj | Folk art | Kolar | Folk artist. |
| Lakshmibai Reval | Folk art | Yadgir | Folk artist. |
| Chikkamariyappa | Folk art | Mysore | Folk artist. |
| Vanase Narayan Ganiga | Yakshagana / Bayalata | Udipi | Yakshagana exponent. |
| Sampaji Seenappa Rai | Yakshagana / Bayalata | Dakshina Kannada | Yakshagana exponent. |
| Bheemappa Doddabalappa Shillekyata | Yakshagana / Bayalata | Koppal | Bayalata exponent. |
| Basappa Dudalappa Salala | Yakshagana / Bayalata | Gadag | Bayalata exponent. |
| Gururaj Hebbar | Social service | Hassan | Social service. |
| Dr. P J Jacob | Social service | Dharwad | Social service. |
| N Venkatesh | Social service | Chikballapur | Social service. |
| Hanumanth Bommu Gouda | Social service | Uttara Kannada | Social service. |
| Dr. Leela Sampige | Social service | Tumkur | Activist who has worked for decades for the cause of sex workers. |
| S. Janaki | Cinema / Singer | Chennai | She is called Nightingale of the South with over 20,000 songs to her credit across numerous languages over 5 decades. She has received 31 state and 4 national awards. She sang her very first Kannada song "TaLenenthu" for the film Rayara Sose in 1957. After her 50 years in the industry, her first song was for the Kannada film "Premigagi Naa". |
| Vaijanath Biradar Patil | Cinema | Bidar | Veteran Kannada actor of over 300 films. He won the Golden Wheel Award for Best Actor at the Imagineindia Film Festival in Madrid for his role in the movie Kanasemba Kudureyaneri (‘Riding the Stallion of Dreams'). |
| R T Rama | Cinema | Mandya | Kannada film comedian. |
| M.S. Rajashekar | Cinema | Mysore | Renowned director of Kannada films. |
| Chandrashekhar Y Shilpi | Sculpture | Gulbarga | Senior sculptor specialising in creating idols in the Chalukya and Rashtrakuta styles. Winner of Karnataka Shilpa Kala Academy Award (2011). Disciple of Nadoja Naganna Badiger (Gulbarga). |
| Y Yankappa | Sculpture | Davangere | Noted sculptor. |
| Lakshmi Ramappa | Fine arts / Sculpture | Shimoga | |
| Kasim Kanasavi | Fine arts / Sculpture | Ilkal, Bagalkot, Karnataka | Visual Artist and Indian Contemporary Painter. He won the award for his painting titled "Gandhi Vichardhara 2" and his painting series called "Ramayana" is Artist's take on the ancient sanskrit epic Ramayana. |
| D A Choudappa | Agriculture / Environment | Chikballapur | |
| Shivananda Kalave | Environment | Uttara Kannada | |
| Keeranageri Jagadish | Agriculture / Environment | Ramanagaram | |
| Asha Sheshadri | Agriculture | Shimoga | Award winning horticulturist. She has nearly 40 varieties of orchids and 25 anthurium varieties in her green house at Kannangi. Winner of M. H. Marigowda Memorial Best Horticulturist Award in the year 2000. |
| Khadri S Achyuthan | Media | Mandya | Senior journalist, Author and columnist. |
| T. Abdul Hafeez | Media | Bangalore | Veteran photo journalist of South India with a career spanning 50 years. Worked with The Hindu between 1979 and 2005 and was Assistant Editor of the publication. As a photo journalist covered the 1991 anti-Tamil violence in Karnataka. Karnataka Olympic Association awardee in 2013. |
| Lakshmana Kodase | Media | Shimoga | Renowned journalist from Shivamogga district. Journalism career spanning 37 years. Worked with Janapragathi (weekly), Udayaravi (weekly) and Prajavani. In Prajavani, worked as sub-editor, reporter, chief reporter and chief of news bureau. As assistant Editor of the Prajavani, he was instrumental in improving the Saptahika Puravani (Sunday supplement), Bhumika, Cinema Ranjane and Education supplement. He was in charge of the editorial page of Prajavani before his retirement in 2012. Being a creative writer, Lakshmana Kodase published more than 25 books including seven novels, five short stories collection and collections on profiles of several eminent personalities. |
| Mohan Basavaraja Desai | Media | Belgaum | Veteran freedom fighter as an Editor for 50 years in Kannada journalism. Founding editor of Kannada weekly Darshana subsequently daily Loka Darshana. |
| Dr. Sandhya Satish Pai | Media | Udupi | Senior journalist and Managing Editor of leading Kannada family weekly Magazine Taranga. |
| Dr. P. Sathish Chandra | Medicine | Bangalore | Vice-Chancellor of NIMHANS. |
| Dr. K. Kasturirangan | Science / Technology | Bangalore | Renowned space scientist. Head of ISRO from 1994 to 2003. He is the chairman of Karnataka Knowledge Commission. Former member of the Rajya Sabha. |
| Dr. B.N. Suresh | Science / Technology | Chikmagalur | Noted aerospace scientist. He was the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre between 2003 and 2007. He is known for his contribution to Space Capsule Recovery Experiments. |
| M. R. Poovamma | Sports | Kodagu | Athlete currently ranked number two in Asia in the 400m. Gold medalist in the 4x400m relay at the Asian games in 2014 at Incheon, South Korea. Silver medalist at the Asian Championships in 2013 at Pune. |
| Mamatha Poojari | Sports | Dakshin Kannada | Kabaddi |
| Vilas Neelagunda | Sports | Gadag | Sportsman |
| Justice M N Venkatachalaih | Other fields | Bangalore | 25th Chief Justice of India from 1993 to 1994. |
| Anke Gowda M | Other fields | Mandya | Sugar mill worker turned book collector and Librarian from Haralahalli (Pandavapura taluk) in Mandya. Obsessive book collector with a diverse collection of 200,000 books collected over 30 years in over 8 languages. |
| Dadapeer Panjarla | Other fields | Raichur | For social harmony. Tattvapada exponent. Authored of 100 tatvapadas. |
| Kanchyani Sharanappa | Other fields | Bijapur | Children's literature. |
| Jaya Suvarna | Horanadu Kannadigas | Mumbai | All India Billava Federation and executive president of Bharat Cooperative Bank. |

### Organisations/Associations

| Awardee | Area of expertise | Location | Highlights |
| Kannada Sahitya Parishat | Kannada language promotion | Headquartered in Bangalore | NGO whose activities include publishing books, organising literary seminars and promoting research projects in the Kannada language. Organiser of annual conference on Kannada literature called Kannada Sahithya Sammelana since 1915. |
| Shanti Kuteer Ashram | Known for contribution to spirituality and Advaita (non-dual) siddhanta | Kannur, Bijapur | Shri Ganpatrao Maharaj established the Shanti Kuteer Ashram in Kannur near Bijapur. He has propagated through his discourses principles of advaita and self-realization. |