The Ritual) is a 1977 Indian Kannada language film directed by Girish Kasaravalli starring Meena Kuttappa, Narayana Bhat and Ajith Kumar in lead roles.

It won the award for Best Feature Film, Best Music Direction (B. V. Karanth) and Best Child Artist (Ajith Kumar).

In 2002, Ghatashraddha became the only Indian film to be chosen by the National Archive of Paris among 100 others, during the centenary celebrations of cinema.

Apart from his uncontrollable and unruly students, he lives with his young daughter, Yamuna (Meena Kuttappa), already a widow.

Ananthamurthy, who was in the US at the time, gave his go-ahead on hearing the screenplay from Kasaravalli, on his return to India.