Kotiganahalli Ramaiah

Kotiganahalli Ramaiah quit college in order to join the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti, the political group that spearheaded the struggle against caste discrimination and fought to acquire land rights for them. He rose to be an instrumental figure in the Dalit movement where his contribution is most remembered for the numerous songs of resistance and struggles composed by him.

Ramaiah and a few others within the movement, established Aadima in 2005, an experimental space that aims to understand the history of cultural resistance and the meaning system that evolved as a response to centuries of marginalization. Since then, Aadima has been researching and documenting oral traditions and narratives, creating plays and films and, experimenting in educational pedagogy with numerous communities that live in the Anthargange Hill Range.

Ramaiah has been awarded the Karnataka SahityaAkademy Award in 2012, SuvarnaRangaSamman - Kannada SanghaKanthavarain 2012 and the prestigious Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 2005.