[3] Shivaram Karanth was born on 10 October 1902,[7] in Kota near Kundapura in the Udupi district of Karnataka to a Kannada-speaking Smartha Brahmin family.

[citation needed] The fifth child of his parents Shesha Karantha and Lakshmamma, he completed his primary education in Kundapura and Bangalore.

[citation needed]Shivaram Karanth was influenced by Gandhi's principles and took part in the Indian Independence movement when he was in college.

He canvassed for khadi and swadeshi in Karnataka led by Indian National Congress leader Karnad Sadashiva Rao,[8] for five years till 1927.

Subsequent works like Nirbhagya Janma ("Unfortunate Birth") and Sooleya Samsara ("Family of a Prostitute") mirrored the pathetic conditions of the poor.

His novels Marali Mannige, Bettada Jeeva, Alida Mele, Mookajjiya Kanasugalu, Mai Managala Suliyalli, Ade OOru Ade Mara, Shaneeshwarana Neralinalli, Kudiyara Koosu, Svapnada Hole, Sarsammana Samadhi, and Chomana Dudi are widely read and have received critical acclaim.

The couple subsequently attracted ridicule from people in the region over their inter-caste marriage; Karanth belonged to an orthodox Brahmin community, but had become an atheist after cutting his sacred thread at a young age.

On 9 December, his kidneys began to fail and he subsequently developed severe acidosis and sepsis, following which he was put on dialysis.

Marali Mannige got translated to English by Padma Ramachandra Sharma, has been conferred the State Sahitya Akademi award.