‘Halakatti’s efforts have helped preserve Vachana literature for posterity’

Rich tributes were paid to Fakirappa Gurubasappa (F.G.) Halakatti, revered as the Vachana Pitamaha, at functions organised across Ballari and Koppal on Thursday to mark his birth anniversary and Vachana Sahitya Samrakshana Dinacharane (Vachana Literature Conservation Day).

Speakers hailed his lifelong efforts in collecting, preserving and publishing Vachana literature ensuring that one of Karnataka’s greatest literary and spiritual treasures survive for future generations.

Addressing a commemorative programme at Hongirana Auditorium in the Cultural Complex in Ballari, president of the District Sharana Sahitya Parishat Siddarama Kalmath said that Halakatti rescued Vachana literature from oblivion after the 12th-century Kalyana Revolution scattered the writings of Basavanna and other Sharanas.

He said that while only a handful of Vachanas by about 25 Vachanakaras were known in the early 20th century, Halakatti painstakingly travelled across the region to collect nearly 22,000 Vachanas making them accessible to the Kannada-speaking public through systematic editing and publication.

Tracing Halakatti’s life, Kalmath said that the scholar, born in Dharwad in 1880 with ancestral roots in Halakatti village near Parasgad in Belagavi district, dedicated his entire life to preserving Vachana literature despite poverty and ill health.

He recalled that Halakatti’s interest in Vachanas was sparked after reading palm-leaf manuscripts of Shatsthala and Prabhudevara Vachanagalu while staying at his in-laws’ house in Banahatti during a plague outbreak in Dharwad.

“Had Halakatti not devoted his life to this mission, we would not have access today to the invaluable works of more than 250 Vachanakaras. Kannadigas will forever remain indebted to him for bringing to light the Vachanas,” he said.

Alambhasha, who is a professor at Sathya Education College, explained the philosophical significance of the word Vachana describing it as literature that continues to inspire generations through its simplicity, relevance and aesthetic appeal.

In another programme organised at the Government Boys Pre-University College in Koppal, Sharanabasappa Bilieli, who is an Assistant Professor at Sri Gavisiddeshwara College of Arts, Commerce and Science, described Halakatti as a visionary who has given Vachana literature a permanent place in Kannada literary history.

Delivering the keynote address, he said that Halakatti spent 18 years travelling across Karnataka collecting palm-leaf manuscripts and later, established Hitachintaka, the first printing press dedicated to Vachana literature, to preserve and disseminate the texts.

Prof. Bilieli said that although Halakatti was a successful lawyer by profession, he sacrificed promising career opportunities to devote himself entirely to the conservation of Vachana literature.

He noted that Halakatti collected 2,209 palm-leaf manuscripts, identified 219 previously unknown Vachanakaras, classified the literature into around 250 categories, authored more than 160 works comprising nearly 25,000 pages and published the monthly magazine Shivanubhava continuously for 36 years.

He also launched the weekly Navakarnataka in support of Karnataka’s unification movement.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajesh Shashimath of the Vishwaguru Basaveshwara Samiti highlighted Halakatti’s contribution to Kannada education saying that he established six boys schools and three girls schools in Marathi-speaking areas of the then Bijapur (now, Vijayapura) district to promote Kannada language.

He also noted that Halakatti was the founding force behind the institution that later evolved into the BLDE group.

Both programmes were jointly organised by the district administrations, the Department of Kannada and Culture and local civic bodies. Government officials, scholars, teachers, students and members of the public attended them.

Vachana recitals and cultural programmes marked the celebrations at both the venues.