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Hardekar Manjappa

(1886 – 1947) – (Karnataka)

Hardekar Manjappa (Aged 61), a Kannadiga political thinker, social reformer, writer, and journalist, was born in 1886 in Banavasi, a village in Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka, India. After completing his primary education in the nearby town of Sirsi, he started his career as a teacher, earning a salary of seven rupees a month. Manjappa and his brother were involved in the Swadeshi movement and published a weekly newsletter called Dhanurdhari, which had over 10,000 subscribers.

As he was exposed to the teachings of Saint-Reformist Basavanna, Manjappa opened an ashram school in Almatti in 1927 and toured villages of North Karnataka to create awareness about the constructive work of Mahatma Gandhi. He found similarities between the teachings of Basavanna and Gandhi and became skilled at explaining these teachings in public speeches. Manjappa passed away on January 3, 1947.