Aavarana stirred a major controversy in
Karnataka. There has been accusations that Bhyrappa is a Hindu fundamentalist who wants to divide society on the basis of history, an allegation which Bhyrappa himself anticipates and tries to refute in the novel.
U.R. Ananthamurthy, well known in
Kannada literature, has criticised Bhyrappa and his works, terming
Aavarana as dangerous. He said that Bhyrappa was a debater who "doesn't know what Hindu religion stands for" and "does not know how to write novels".
Kannada Sahitya Parishat president Prof
Chandrashekhar Patil has referred to
Aavarana as the textbook of Chaddi (a slang for RSS cadres). Booker Prize-winning Indian author
Aravind Adiga wrote an article in
Outlook S.L. Bhyrappa has reiterated that something was written in his novel. According to the author, the book is the result of his search for true history. He stated: "I have referred to hundreds of history books before writing the novel. However, if anyone has doubts about the facts can refer to the books I have listed in my book. Out of my interest, I have studied history and my findings have resulted in a creative piece of work. I am fed up with debates and discussions on
Aavarana. Allow me to think on something else". The novel reiterates "if we don't study history, it repeats". ==References==