Srikrishna Alanahalli

Srikrishna Alanahalli, also known as Alanahalli, was a renowned Indian novelist and poet who primarily wrote in the Kannada language. He was born on April 3, 1947, in Alanahalli, which was a part of the Kingdom of Mysore. After completing his Master's degre in Philosophy in 1969, he worked as a lecturer at the Mysore University and the Central Institute of Indian Languages until 1979. During this period, Alanahalli began exploring his passion for writing and eventually became a full-time writer. He had an interest in politics, agriculture, journalism, and cinema. He was fondly referred to as Alanahalli by his readers and admirers.

Alanahalli burst onto the Kannada literary scene like a meteor with his debut novel Kaadu in 1972. This novel became an instant hit and was adapted into a film that launched the career of Girish Karnad as a director, introduced Amrish Puri to the film world, and won national and international acclaim. It marked Lokesh as an actor par excellence and won the child artiste GS Nataraj, who played "Kitty," the National award in 1974. Alanahalli wrote several more novels, including Parasangada Gendethimma (1978) and Bhujangayyana Dasavataragalu (1982). His novels portrayed innocence, lust, revenge, and jealousy. Alanahalli was an accomplished writer and editor.

He served as editor of the magazine 'Sameekshana' and contributed to various literary works. He was known for translation of Dogri Pahari love poems into Kannada and published 12 books in Kannada that included novels, poetry, and short stories. Srikrishna Alanahalli excelled in various fields during his short life. Born with a passion for agriculture, he developed a farm called 'Alanahalli Tota', which became a hub for experimenting with new techniques and ideas in agriculture.

In recognition of his literary contributions, Alanahalli received several accolades during his lifetime and posthumously. He was awarded the Sahitya Academy Prashasti in 1966 for his poetry collection 'Mannina Haadu'. He was also honoured with the Karnataka government prize for 'Kaadu' in 1970. He received the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Honorary prize posthumously in 1989. Despite his achievements, Alanahalli's life was cut short when he passed away at the age of 41 in 1989.