World's only Sanskrit daily editor Sampath Kumar no more

Mysuru: Editor of the world's only Sankrit newspaper and Padma Shri awardee K V Sampath Kumar (64) passed away on Wednesday due to a cardiac arrest. Sudharma was the world's oldest and only Sanskrit newspaper published from the city.

Sampath Kumar's father Varadaraja Iyengar started Sudharma in 1945, first printing question papers in Kannada and Sanskrit and a gazette. In 1963, he started first girls' school in Mysuru and organised Sanskrit workshops.

In 1970, he started Sudharma daily. After Varadaraja Iyengr's death, his son Sampath took over the daily. Sampath Kumar carried forward his father's tradition with unflagging determination and grit in spite of lack of proper patronage from readers. His sole aim was to popularize the India's classical language. The Union government in 2020 conferred Padma Shri on Sampath and his wife Jayalakshmi for their untiring efforts to keep the publication of the daily going for five decades.

But before receiving the award, Sampath passed away.

At a function recently, he said that Sudharma had readers from Kashmir to Kanyakumri to whom he would send the daily by post. He also started online edition of the paper. Though the Sanskrit daily lacks good readership, it commands respect from all across the country. Amitabh Bachchan, in his 10th session of Kaun Banega Crorepati, had asked a participant: "What is the name of the world's only Sanskrit daily published since 1970?"

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned Sudharma in his weekly Mann Ki Baat programme, where he addresses people of the nation on All India Radio (AIR), DD National and DD News.

On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee last year, Sudharma had brought out a souvenir edition.