Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha - Charter of The Sangha

Charter of The Sangha

The first charter of the new body was to publish books in Kannada. Kannada could live and thrive only through books and journals so the Sangha brought out its first publication two years after it was established and then came the first Kannada literary and cultural journal Vagabhushana. Since Kannada was the mother tongue of the rulers of Mysore, Mr. Deshpande enlisted the support of the Maharaja of Mysore, Shri Chamaraja Wodeyar for the Sangha. The Government of Mysore used to send its scholars to conduct Kannada exams which the Sangha used to hold periodically. It also gave money for the construction of a building for the Sangha which was appropriately named as Chamaraja Mandira.

The Sangha organized the first conference of Kannada writers in Dharwad in 1905. This was the precursor of the present-day Kannada Sahitya Sammelan (annual literary conference). In 1912, when Sir Mokshagundam Vishweshwaraiah became the Diwan of Mysore, Mr. R. H. Deshpande who knew him intimately, wrote him a letter congratulating him on his appointment and further requested him to foster more attention on the development of the Kannada language and culture. As a result, Mysore convened the first conference of Kannada writers from all parts of the country in Bangalore in 1915. The conference decided among other things to establish the Kannada Sahitya Parishat on the lines of the Karnataka Vidyavardhak Sangha. Mr. Deshpande and Justice R.A. Jagirdar (later the first Vice Chancellor of Karnataka University), served on a committee appointed by the conference to draft the constitution of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat. Thus came into being yet another organization working for the welfare of the Kannada country as a whole.