A Life That Refused to Give Up

If M. S. Nanjundarao had used up all his luck as a child, no one would have blamed him. As a student, he was swept away by the Hagari River during a school excursion near Ballari. His friends returned home believing the worst. Yet on the very day his family was preparing his last rites, he walked through the door alive, rescued by a stranger.

Years later, he survived a jeep accident in K.R. Nagar with only minor injuries. Not long after, a van he was driving overturned on the way to T. Narasipura. Miraculously, no one was hurt.

You could say he simply had remarkable luck. Or perhaps, as the old saying goes, he still had work left to do. That work would become Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath.

An Artist in the Making

Born in 1932 in Suddekunte, a village on the Karnataka–Andhra border, Nanjundarao was the eldest son of Dasappa, a primary school teacher with many talents. His father painted theatre backdrops, staged plays and travelled to study sculptures and historic monuments. As a child, Nanjundarao often sat beside him, helping paint stage scenery—an experience that sparked his lifelong love for art.

He completed his schooling in Suddekunte, Kodigenahalli and Madhugiri. While still a student, he was drawn into the freedom movement between 1944 and 1946, before completing his SSLC in 1948.

Recognising his talent, his father sent him to Sri Jayachamarajendra Art School in Mysore. Financial hardships forced him to live with relatives, but he later moved into a free student hostel run by freedom fighter Subbanna. Impressed by his sense of responsibility, Subbanna eventually appointed the young artist as the hostel's warden.

Nanjundarao earned his diploma in painting in 1952, and through mentors like Veerappa and Subbanna, he came into contact with artists, political leaders and public figures who would shape his career.

From Exhibition Gates to Vidhana Soudha

After moving to Bangalore, Nanjundarao worked on exhibition designs, decorative structures and public art.

His elaborate entrance gates for the Dasara Exhibition, the Congress Exhibition, and the Malnad Festival in Madikeri won widespread appreciation and established his reputation.

His growing recognition led Chief Minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah to appoint him to the artists' committee responsible for creating artworks for the newly built Vidhana Soudha.

In 1960, he led the team that designed the stage and decorations for the All India Congress Session in Bangalore. The work earned praise from leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru and, equally importantly, brought Bangalore's artists together as a community.

A Life That Refused to Give Up

If M. S. Nanjundarao had used up all his luck as a child, no one would have blamed him. As a student, he was swept away by the Hagari River during a school excursion near Ballari. His friends returned home believing the worst. Yet on the very day his family was preparing his last rites, he walked through the door alive, rescued by a stranger.

Years later, he survived a jeep accident in K.R. Nagar with only minor injuries. Not long after, a van he was driving overturned on the way to T. Narasipura. Miraculously, no one was hurt.

You could say he simply had remarkable luck. Or perhaps, as the old saying goes, he still had work left to do. That work would become Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath.

An Artist in the Making

Born in 1932 in Suddekunte, a village on the Karnataka–Andhra border, Nanjundarao was the eldest son of Dasappa, a primary school teacher with many talents. His father painted theatre backdrops, staged plays and travelled to study sculptures and historic monuments. As a child, Nanjundarao often sat beside him, helping paint stage scenery—an experience that sparked his lifelong love for art.

He completed his schooling in Suddekunte, Kodigenahalli and Madhugiri. While still a student, he was drawn into the freedom movement between 1944 and 1946, before completing his SSLC in 1948.

Recognising his talent, his father sent him to Sri Jayachamarajendra Art School in Mysore. Financial hardships forced him to live with relatives, but he later moved into a free student hostel run by freedom fighter Subbanna. Impressed by his sense of responsibility, Subbanna eventually appointed the young artist as the hostel's warden.

Nanjundarao earned his diploma in painting in 1952, and through mentors like Veerappa and Subbanna, he came into contact with artists, political leaders and public figures who would shape his career.

From Exhibition Gates to Vidhana Soudha

After moving to Bangalore, Nanjundarao worked on exhibition designs, decorative structures and public art.

His elaborate entrance gates for the Dasara Exhibition, the Congress Exhibition, and the Malnad Festival in Madikeri won widespread appreciation and established his reputation.

His growing recognition led Chief Minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah to appoint him to the artists' committee responsible for creating artworks for the newly built Vidhana Soudha.

In 1960, he led the team that designed the stage and decorations for the All India Congress Session in Bangalore. The work earned praise from leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru and, equally importantly, brought Bangalore's artists together as a community.

Building Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath

Following the success of the Congress session, Kengal Hanumanthaiah proposed creating an organisation dedicated to artists and art lovers. The result was Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath.

Nanjundarao was there from the very beginning. What started in a small room at Gandhi Sahitya Sangha in Malleswaram gradually became one of India's leading art institutions.

When the Parishath outgrew its first home, a larger site on Kumarakrupa Road became available—but several influential groups wanted the land. Working alongside his colleagues, Nanjundarao personally approached K. S. Nagaratnamma, then Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and secured the site for the Parishath.

That decision shaped the future of art education in Karnataka.

Today, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath is a premier institution offering undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral studies in painting, sculpture, graphic arts and commercial art, attracting students from across India and abroad.

A Builder of Institutions

Nanjundarao believed an art school should be more than classrooms.

Under his leadership, Chitrakala Parishath grew to include galleries, museums, workshops and one of the country's finest collections of traditional and modern Indian art. He painstakingly collected Karnataka's traditional ‘togalu’ bombe (leather puppets), documented traditional Mysore paintings, and built galleries featuring artists such as the Roerichs, Gaganendranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, M. F. Husain, and S. H. Raza, alongside Kalighat and Pattachitra traditions.

By the time of his passing, the Parishath housed permanent galleries, a thriving College of Fine Arts and generations of artists who had studied under its roof.

"Meshtru" 

To generations of students and staff, he was simply "Meshtru"—teacher. He was known for personally welcoming visitors, walking them around the campus, and discussing ideas with students. Though strict, he quietly waived fees for those who could not afford them while persuading patrons to support the institution. 

Even on Sundays, he could often be found on campus overseeing work, chatting with children attending art camps, or sitting beneath the porch planning the Parishath's next project. Before leaving every evening, he would ring the small temple bell on campus—a simple ritual that marked the end of another day devoted to the institution he had built. 

When Prof. Nanjundarao passed away, it was only fitting that hundreds gathered at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath to pay their final respects. The institution he had nurtured from its earliest days had become inseparable from his name—and remains his enduring legacy.

Sources :

https://pramilalochan.blogspot.com/2015/10/he-dared-to-dream.html

‘He Dared to Dream’ Article by Pramila Lochan 

Published in Sunday Herald - Articulations, Deccan Herald, May 11, 2003

‘Malleswarada Rashtra Shilpigalu - Brief life sketches in Kannada of eminent citizens and organisations of Malleswaram Locality ‘ 

Published by: Malleswaram Residents Welfare Association