Manjeshwar Govinda Pai

Born: 23 March 1883

Died: 6 September 1963

• He also known as Rastrakavi Govinda Pai, was a Kannada poet.
• He was awarded the first Rashtrakavi title by the Madras Government (Kasaragod district was part of South Kanara district of Madras Presidency prior to the linguistic reorganisation of States on 1 November 1956).
• He was the one who put Manjeshwaram ( Kerala) on the literary map of India.
• He also enriched Kannada learning with his historical studies and research.
• He was an authority on the chronology and history of Tulunad.
• His works also testify to his universal outlook as well as to his deep compassion for the poor and the downtrodden.
• He was able to read and write fluently in 25 languages including Tulu, Malayalam, Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Persian, Pali, Urdu, Greek and Japanese apart from Kannada, Konkani, and English.
• He translated several Japanese works into Kannada.

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