The Descent of the Ganga (ಗಂಗಾವತರಣ)

One of Da Ra Bendre’s most famous poems, revealed to the world when he recited it at the close of his President’s Speech at the Kannada Saahitya Sammelana in Shivamogga in 1943. Per his own admission, the rapturous reception it received left him reeling.

Here is a recording of my reciting the original Kannada poem.

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To read and listen to more (including the entire translation), please buy my book, The Pollen Waits On Tiptoe. If you are living in India, you can buy the book by going to this page.

THREE IMPORTANT MATTERS:

1. If you are living abroad, you will, unfortunately, not be allowed to buy the book on Amazon India. Therefore, if you would like one or more copies of the book, please write directly to me (mk.ajjampur@gmail.com) with your details.

2. Buying 10 or more books will entitle you an overall discount of 30%. To avail yourself of this discount, contact MUP directly at mup@manipal.edu.

3. The book is also available as an ebook. The app hosting the ebook is called VIVIDLIPI and the book can be purchased at this link. (Since the publisher does not have an agreement with Amazon, I am afraid the book is not available on Kindle.)

Author: MKA

I'm Madhav, from Bangalore. I write my own poetry in English (you can read it at mkajjampur.com) and translate Da Ra Bendre's poetry from Kannada into English. I am the author of "The Pollen Waits On Tiptoe", a book of my English translations of selected poems by Bendre. The book is available on Amazon India and VIVIDLIPI. Besides Bendre, I also translate sundry other Kannada writings into English. My favourite poets include Yeats, Tagore, Bendre, Dylan Thomas, Emily Dickinson, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. If you'd like to get in touch, do write to me at mk.ajjampur@gmail.com. I'd be very happy to hear from you!

6 thoughts on “The Descent of the Ganga (ಗಂಗಾವತರಣ)”

    1. I agree completely, Vyasa! This is sublime poetry, capable of being written only by a ವರಕವಿ. Imagine how the audience that listened to Bendre recite it LIVE must have felt! You know that question about “if you could back to some time in the past, what would you choose?”. Well, I’ve often thought it would be something to go back to Sahitya Sammelana of 1943 and listen to Bendre end his ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷ ಭಾಷಣ with this poem’s rendition! ಆಹಾಹಾ!

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