Kodava poet Mandira Jaya Appanna passes away
Mandira Jaya Appanna, writer and poet, who passed away in Bangalore on the morning of November 7, 2012, will be remembered for her monumental work ‘Kodava Jaya Bharatha’, a book in Kodava language on the epic Mahabharatha.
Jaya Appanna, aged 70 years, was the foremost poet in the Kodava language and was popular for anchoring Kodava language programmes on Doordarshan. Besides, she used to regularly contribute articles to Kodava language papers.
It took her nearly a decade to complete her magnum opus Kodava Jaya Bharatha. What is praiseworthy about the book is the fact that she had woven Kodava traditions and culture and Kodagu landscape into the epic.
Jaya Appanna was conferred the Rajyothsava award last year by the Karnataka government.