Daatu is a powerful portrayal of turbulences and troubles caste system causes in Indian society. A unique novel, it was chosen for Sahitya Akademi award in 1975. Its problem is relevant even today and it seems it continues to be relevant for many decades to come. The author deftly uses myths and mystical images to connect the present with the past. Set in Thirumalapura and through the tales of a daughter of a Brahmin priest who chooses to marry a non-Brahmin, son of a powerful minister, the novel vividly illustrates in depth the horror that caste system wrecks on individuals and societal structures. It is a stunning saga of courageous forthright and intelligent women of tremendous will power.

                     S.L.Bhyrappa is one of the foremost Indian novelists writing in Kannada. Born in 1931 in Santeshivara, a village in Hassan district of Karnataka, he took Ph.D in Aesthetics from M.S. University of Baroda and then taught Philosophy at NCERT Delhi and Regional College of Education, Mysore for 24 years.

                     Author of more than 25 novels, four volumes of literary criticism and an autobiography, Bhyrappa is a major voice. VanshaVriksha, Daatu, Saakshi, Parva, Sartha, Tanthu, Mandra which won the most prestigious award Saraswati Samman and Avarana which has gone into 55 reprints, he represented India on several literary assignments in various parts of the world. Recipient of Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award (twice), Sahitya Akademi Award (1975), he is Fellow of Sahitya Akademi, National professor, recipient of honorary doctorate from seven universities. Most of his books are best sellers in their transmissions also in almost all Indian languages including English and Sanskrit. His magnum opus Parva is translated into Chinese and Russian.