By C. V. Gopinath, President, Anathalaya and former Additional Secretary to Government of India
The Anathalaya on Narayana Shastri Road, Mysuru, founded in 1896 to serve the poor students, this year is celebrating Thathaiah’s Day at 4 pm on Saturday, 10th September 2022, at the Anathalaya premises.
The celebration coincides with the commemoration of the 178th birth anniversary of its Founder, the Grand Old Man of Mysore, Vrudhapitamaha, Daya Sagara, M. Venkatakrishnaiah.
Every year on the occasion of the Founder’s Day celebration, the institute confers Thathaiah Award after the name of Vrudhapitamaha, Daya Sagara, M. Venkatakrishnaiah and carries a purse of Rs. 25,000.
The award is conferred on persons of high achievements in the field of education, journalism, social reforms and service to society. This year’s award will be conferred on Dr. S. Murali, the renowned Educationist and Eminent Computer Engineer popularly known as “Software Ratnakara.”
About the Awardee
S. Murali holds a Ph.D in Computer Engineering from the University of Mysore (UoM) with a teaching experience in engineering subjects for more than 33 years. He has to his credit more than 250 research papers at National and International levels. Murali has conducted several workshops on Computer Vision and Image Processing technology. He has guided more than 16 Ph.D scholars.
At present he is serving as Chairman of two Technical Colleges, twenty Degree Colleges, two MBA Institutes, one each of Ayurvedic Degree College and Nursing College. Murali has received many national and international awards.
Thathaiah and Anathalaya
Hailing from Magge village in Anatharasanthe hobli of H.D. Kote taluk in Mysuru District, Magge Venkatakrishnaiah, popularly known as Thathaiah, and always referred as the Grand Old Man of Mysore established this institution in 1896. He came from a very poor family that migrated to Mysore and was joined by several like-minded people such as Ambale Annaiah Pandit, C. Narasimhaiah and others to serve the cause of poor students by providing free food and shelter.
Initially, Anathalaya was established by Swami Nanjunda Saraswati at Niranjana Mutt premises on Krishna Vilasa Road. Later some land was allotted near Subbarayanakere on Narayana Shastri Road. At this stage, Thathaiah took charge of this institution when over a period of time Advocate K. Chandrashekharaiah, Chartered Accountant P.R. Hariharan, landlord Mirle Najundaiah, Prof. S.V. Ranganna and Thathaiah’s grandson, M.S. Srinivasa Rao joined the humanitarian crusade by making major contributions to develop this institution for serving the cause of poor students coming from villages in and around Mysore district.
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