Kota Shivaram Karanth was a Kannada writer, social activist, environmentalist, Yakshagana artist, film maker and thinker. He was described as the "finest novelist-activist of modern India" by Ramachandra Guha.
He was the third person among seven recipients of Jnanpith Award for Kannada the highest literary honour conferred by the Govt. of India. He was conferred Padma Bhushan by Government of India which later he returned in protest against the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.
Shivaram Karanth was born in Kota near Udupi in the Udupi district of Karnataka to a native Kannada family.
Web : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivaram_Karanth