Bannanje Govindacharya

Bannaje Govindacharya is a prominent figure in literature and scholarship. He was born on the 3rd of August, 1936. He started studying the Vedas studies under his father, Tarkakesari S. Narayanacharya. Govindacharya was a Sanskrit scholar who mastered the Veda Bhashya, Upanishad Bhashya, Mahabharata, Puranas, and Ramayana.

He wrote Bhashyas, or commentaries on Veda Suktas, Upanishads, ShataRudriya, BrahmaSutra Bhashya, and Gita Bhashya. He has written about 4000 pages of Sanskrit Vyakhyana with about 150 books. He has also written a screenplay for the Sanskrit film, Bhagavadgita and Shankaracharya. Govindcharya was the editor at Udayavani at one point in his life. While there, he wrote a book on the life of Shree Madhwa Acharya called Acharya Madhva: Baduku-Bareha.

In 1979, Bannanje Govindacharya also served as the Brand Ambassador of India at the World Conference on Religion & Peace at Princeton, USA. He was also the President of the Sanskrit Parishad in South Canara. He served as President of All India Madhwa Sammelanna in Chennai in 1995 and he served as President of the Sahitya Sammelanna in Udupi in 2001.

In 2009, he was the recipient of the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honour. The Government of Karnataka also awarded him a meritorious award for his contributions to scholarship and literature. Bannanje Govindacharya passed away on the 13th of December, 2020 due to a heart attack.