N. Ananthachar
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| Professor N. Ananthachar | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 September 1910 Nyamagondlu, near Tumkur, Kingdom of Mysore, British India |
| 💀Died | 21 April 1976 (aged 65) Bangalore, Karnataka, India21 April 1976 (aged 65) |
| 💼 Occupation | Educationist, teacher, institution-builder |
| Known for | Founding Acharya Pathashala (1935) |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Narmada Bai |
| 👴 👵 Parent(s) | Narasimha Murthy Acharya (father) Tulasamma (mother) |
N. Ananthachar (5 September 1910 – 21 April 1976), commonly known as Prof. N. Ananthachar, was an Indian educationist from the erstwhile Mysore State who in 1935 founded Acharya Pathashala (APS), a group of educational institutions in Basavanagudi, Bangalore.[1][2] Beginning with a primary school of three pupils, he built over four decades a network of schools and colleges spanning primary, secondary, arts, science, commerce, polytechnic and rural education.
A Master of Arts from the University of Mysore, Ananthachar worked as a fruit-and-vegetable vendor to fund his first school and was an advocate of Kannada-medium education and of access to schooling for the poor, for women, and across religious lines.[1] Acharya Pathashala marks his birthday, 5 September, as Founders' Day.
Early life and education
Ananthachar was born on 5 September 1910 into a Madhwa Brahmin family at Nyamagondlu, near Tumkur, and was brought up and educated in Mysore.[1] He was the eldest of five children of Narasimha Murthy Acharya, a teacher versed in Kannada and Sanskrit, and Tulasamma; the family was of modest means. He received his primary education at the Lakshmipuram Government School in Mysore and his high-school education at D. Banumaiah's School, Mysore, and took a Master of Arts degree from the University of Mysore around 1930.[1] His younger brother, N. Ramachar, was honoured by the state government as "Best Teacher" in 1925 and later served Acharya Pathashala.
Move to Bangalore and early career
Ananthachar married Narmada Bai, daughter of Narasimha Rao of Arsikere. In 1933 the couple moved to Bangalore in search of work. After a period of hardship he supported himself through private tuition, clerical work and contracting, before establishing a fruit-and-vegetable business at IV Cross Road, Basavanagudi, later opening a store, "Acharya and Co.", near Vidyarthi Bhavan. Among those who supported him in this period was Navaratna Rama Rao, an official of the Mysore government, who became a patron of his later educational work.
Founding of Acharya Pathashala
On 15 August 1935, Ananthachar opened the Acharya Pathashala Primary School on the first floor of the Basavanagudi Co-operative Society building, funding it partly by selling family gold and taking loans.[2] The school was inaugurated by Navaratna Rama Rao and began with three pupils; within a year it had grown and gained recognition from the government of the day.[2] Ananthachar emphasised Kannada-medium instruction and started an Akshara Dasoha (free-meal) scheme for students.
Expansion of the institution
Over the following decades Acharya Pathashala expanded into a network of institutions:
- Middle School — provisionally recognised in 1936 and permanently in 1937.
- High School — established 1946; a girls' primary and middle school was also started that year.
- Arts, Science and Commerce College — established 1956; recognition was aided by V. L. D'Souza, then vice-chancellor of the University of Mysore, and the college was inaugurated by the Kannada poet Kuvempu. Enrolment across APS reportedly exceeded 3,000 by 1969.
- Polytechnic — established 1958, among the early institutions started under a central-government scheme; later relocated to the "Anantha Jnana Gangotri" campus at Somanahalli (about 26 km from Bangalore on Kanakapura Road), a site of about 105 acres largely donated by villagers.[2]
- Indian Medicine College — started 1960–61; discontinued after about two years.
- Rural High School — established at Somanahalli on 5 June 1961.
- Arts and Commerce Evening College — started 1963–64 for working students.
A Management Committee to administer the institution was formed in 1936 (first meeting 5 July 1936), with Navaratna Rama Rao as president and Ananthachar as founding secretary; the management was formally registered on 2 November 1939, and the association was converted into a public trust, the APS Educational Trust, registered on 16 May 1975.[2]
Building the institution
Acharya Pathashala's early buildings were raised largely through community effort, and the construction of its permanent premises became one of the defining episodes of Ananthachar's work. The municipality granted the institution a free site on the condition that construction be completed within one year, failing which the land would revert; permission to build was obtained from the engineering department once the management had drawn up a budget of ₹33,000 (US$460).[3]
The site was uneven and rocky, and the work was labour-intensive. Stone already lying on the site, at first thought unsuitable, was ultimately used in the construction, and Ananthachar took part in the work himself—there were occasions on which he carried stones from one part of the site to another. Progress was repeatedly halted by financial crises. A retired PWD officer, D. Krishna Rao, gave ₹1,000 that allowed work to resume; committee president M. Rama Rao helped Ananthachar obtain loans from the Bank of Mysore (first ₹1,500, and on another occasion ₹5,500, which Rama Rao ultimately wrote off from his own pocket); and G. A. Acharya, proprietor of Bengal Electricals, extended loans that grew from ₹100 to ₹20,000 towards the building.[3]
Ananthachar also went from house to house soliciting donations, accepting even the smallest contributions; some supporters gave building materials—doors, windows and zinc roofing sheets—in place of money, and one donor, Srinivasaiyya, gave 42 zinc sheets for an early building. The permanent building was completed through this mix of personal effort, loans and community giving; a later building associated with the institution was completed in 1969 at a cost of about ₹700,000 (equivalent to ₹Formatting error: invalid input when rounding or US$Formatting error: invalid input when rounding in 2018).[3]
Educational philosophy
Ananthachar regarded vidyadana (the giving of education) as the highest form of charity and sought to make schooling available regardless of wealth, gender or religion, with a particular aim of educating the rural and urban poor.[2] The family biography records his tutoring of a Muslim student, Rashida Begum, as an early example, and states that appointments at the institution were made on merit rather than heredity.
Death and legacy
Ananthachar died on 21 April 1976, aged 66.[1] After his death the institution continued under administrators including N. Ramachar, S. G. Chandra and A. R. Acharya, the last of whom became secretary in 1982 and further expanded Acharya Pathashala with an English-medium school (1989–90), a nursery school (1996–97), an engineering college at Somanahalli (1997–98) and postgraduate computer courses (1998–99).[3] A Platinum Jubilee building and an open-air theatre named for his wife, Narmada Bai Ananthachar, were opened in 1996, and a Prof. N. Ananthachar Computer Laboratory was established in his memory around 2000. Acharya Pathashala observes his birthday, 5 September — shared with the former president and teacher Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and with Teachers' Day — as Founders' Day.
Notable alumni of Acharya Pathashala
- C. N. R. Rao, chemist
- Roddam Narasimha, aerospace scientist
- Rajinikanth, film actor, who attended APS High School for his secondary education[4]
- Kalyan Kumar, Kannada film actor
See also
- Acharya Pathasala Public School
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Founder of APS Institutions – Prof. N. Ananthachar (1910–1976)". APS College of Arts and Science. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "About – APS Educational Trust". APS Educational Trust. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Sharma, S. C. Anantachar: a biography of the founder of Acharya Pathashala (commemorative biography (affiliated source)). Acharya Pathashala. Search this book on
- ↑ "'I was a topper in Bengaluru school': Rajinikanth's Kannada message goes viral". The Federal. 19 January 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
Category:1910 births
Category:1976 deaths
Category:Indian educational theorists
Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges
Category:Educators from Karnataka
Category:People from Tumakuru district
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