Tulu Sahitya Academy awards to be presented on October 4 in Bengaluru

The Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy’s 2025 and 2026 awards ceremony, the Tulu Folklore Diversity and Tulu Recognition Celebration Programme will be held on October 4 at Ravindra Kala Kshetra in Bengaluru.

Being organised in collaboration with Tulu organisations in Bengaluru, the programme will feature a folkloric variety programme at 2 p.m. and the academy’s awards ceremony at 4 p.m., said a release.

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar will present the awards. The awardees are B. Shivarama Shetty, retired professor with Mangalore University (literature/research category); Kuddu Koraga, Dolu (percussion) artist from Pangala in Udupi district (folklore category); and Usha Bhandari, theatre and cinema artist from Bengaluru (drama/cinema category) for the 2025 awards.

Kinnikambala Padmanabha Rao, who developed Kannada keyboard and contributed to Tulu software (literature/research category); Sudhakara Bannanje, theatre and cinema expert (drama/cinema category); and Nemu Parava, Daiva Narthaka from Keyyur village in Puttur taluk (folklore category), for the year 2026.

B. Shivarama Shetty has been chosen for the literature/research category.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Kuddu Koraga, Dolu (percussion) artist from Pangala in Udupi district, was chosen in the folklore category.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Usha Bhandari, theatre and cinema artist from Bengaluru, was chosen under the drama/cinema category.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Kinnikambala Padmanabha Rao, who developed Kannada keyboard and contributed to Tulu software, was chosen under literature/research category.
| Photo Credit:
H.S. Manjunath

Sudhakara Bannanje, theatre and cinema expert, was chosen under the drama/cinema category.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Nemu Parava, Daiva narthaka from Keyyur village in Puttur taluk, was chosen under folklore category.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, Backward Classes Welfare Department and Kannada and Culture Department Minister Shivaraj S. Thangadgi, and Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader will participate in the programme.

Former Chief Minister M. Veerappa Moily delivers the felicitation speech on the occasion of Tulu recognition. Former Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, KPCC President B.K. Hariprasad, Alva’s Education Trust chairman M. Mohan Alva, and Tulu researcher Indira Hegde will also deliver the felicitation speech.