Karanth married Leela Alva, a student in the school that Karanth taught dance and directed plays in. Leela belonged to the
Bunt community and was the daughter of a businessman, K. D. Alva. They married on 6 May 1936. 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. Leela, who had her early education in
Marathi language, re-learnt Kannada after marriage and translated the Marathi novel
Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto into Kannada. As a dancer, she participated in Karanth's operas. The Karanths had four children together: sons, Harsha and
Ullas, a conservationist; and daughters, Malavika and Kshama. His mother's influence on Karanth was described by Ullas as: "It was our mother who shaped Karanth's life... She was the backbone of all his endeavours. She was also quite well-read, and she dedicated all of her talents to her husband. She took care of all household responsibilities." The family lived in the
Puttur, Karnataka town of
Dakshina Kannada, a district in the South Karnataka region, before moving to
Saligrama, a town from Karanth's birthplace Kota, in 1974. A few years prior to this, their eldest son Harsha died leaving Leela suffer from "depression and hallucinations". Leela died in September 1986. It was also the year that Karanth's final novel was published. The
government of Karnataka declared a two-day
mourning in the State as a mark of respect. ==Popularity==