At the heart of this story is K.V. Subbanna — a student of Kuvempu, a thinker, and a builder of institutions. Through the voice of K.V. Akshara, son of K.V. Subbanna, we trace how Ninasam, founded in 1949 as Neelakanteshwara Natya Seva Sangha, grew into a space where theatre, cinema, literature, and ideas came together.

The people of Heggodu came together to build the Shivaram Karanth Rangamandira, turning collective belief into physical space. Theatre here was not performance alone — it was participation.

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Through the 1980s and 90s, Subbanna’s vision expanded. The Rangayana training centre nurtured actors. Thirugaata carried theatre across Karnataka, taking stories to people instead of waiting for audiences to arrive. And with the Sanskruti Shibira, thinkers like U.R. Ananthamurthy and voices from across India gathered in Heggodu — transforming it into a national site of cultural exchange.

Through it all, Subbanna remained rooted in Heggodu — not as an escape from the world, but as a way of engaging with it differently. What he built through Ninasam was not just an institution, but a way of thinking — where learning, art, and everyday life could exist together.

Credits

Akshay Ramuhalli, Bruce Lee Mani, Gorveck Thokchom, Kishor Mandal, Kruthika Rao, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Ram Sheshadri, Sananda Dasgupta, Sanoob Puliyanchali, Shilpi, Tanvi Avlur, and Velu Shankar.