Daijiworld News Network - Kundapur (MB)

Kundapur, Nov 15: Kannada novelist and man of letters Sooryanarayana Chadaga (75) of Koteshwar near here passed away on Tuesday, November 14.

Born in 1932 in Koteshwar as son of Narayana and Sheshamma Chadaga, he had his high school education in Kundapur and later founded restaurant business with his brothers. With a flair for writing, he wrote his first novel 'Ratna Padeda Bhagya' at the age of 22.

Not looking back, Chadaga wrote 22 novels in the following years. The popular Tulu film 'Pageta Puge' with the late Anand Shekhar in the lead, was based on his well-known novel 'Honnu-hennu-mannu'.

Although he lived in Bangalore, he played a major role in bringing together writers and authors of DK and Udupi origin and gave budding writers a big boost. He also compiled a huge book of write-ups bey 106 woman writers. While his novel 'Manetana' had won an award, others like 'Kaveri' and 'Manasa Sarovara' won him immense popularity among Kannada readers.

He also held the credit of having published 63 novels under the banner of his 'Nandana Prakashana'.

He is survived by wife Shanta and son Sheshanarayana, whose name is, interestingly, an combination of his grandparents Sheshamma and Narayana.