Kayyara Kinhanna Rai was an Indian freedom fighter, author on Kannada literature, poet, journalist, teacher and farmer. He was a versatile genius and he was famous for many social activisms in the post independent India.

Early Life of Kayyara Kinhanna Rai
Kayyara Kinhanna Rai was born on 8th June in the year 1915. His parent"s names were Duggappa and Deyyakka Rai.

Career of Kayyara Kinhanna Rai
Kayyara Kinhanna Rai published his first handwritten journal, Susheela, at the age of 12. He was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and also participated in the freedom movement of India. Kayyara Kinhanna Rai started his career as a secondary school teacher. He also delved into journalism and contributed his writings to newspapers like Swabhimana, Madras Mail and The Hindu.

Awards Received by Kayyara Kinhanna Rai
Kayyara Kinhanna Rai received the National Award for Best Teacher in 1969.

Literary Career of Kayyara Kinhanna Rai
Kayyara Kinhanna Rai is a writer and poet who had written books on theatre, grammar and children. Some of his famous poems are Shreemukha, Aikyagana, Punarnava, Chethana and Koraga. Kayyara Kinhanna Rai has written a biography of Govinda Pai, the Kannada poet from whom he was highly influenced. His other important works are Malayala Sahitya Charithre (History of Malayalam literature), which is a translation of an original work by P. K. Parameshwaran Nair and Sahithya Drushti. Some of the poems of Kayyara Kinhanna Rai that have been used as songs for the Kannada film, Paduvaaralli Pandavaru which was directed by Puttanna Kanagal. In 1980 he also stood for elections in Kasargod District to the Kerala Legislative Assembly but was unsuccessful.

Honours Received by Kayyara Kinhanna Rai
Kayyara Kinhanna Rai was conferred an honorary doctorate by Mangalore University in 2005. He also chaired the 66th Akhila Kannada Sahitya Sammelana (Kannada Literature Conference), which was held at Mangalore.

Other Career of Kayyara Kinhanna Rai
Kayyara Kinhanna Rai was also an avid agriculturist and was active in cultivation of Areca, Rubber and Rice crop in his own field.

Social Career of Kayyara Kinhanna Rai
Kayyara Kinhanna Rai was a campaigner for the merger of Kasaragod district into Karnataka. One of his main goals was to seek the implementation of the Mahajan Committee Report, which urged the inclusion of the northern part of Kasaragod district into Karnataka. He founded the Kasargod Merger Action Council (Kasaragod Vileeneekarana Kriya Samithi) in 2002 to work towards his goal. Kayyara Kinhanna Rai also lent his hands for the demand of a separate "Tulu Nadu" state for the Tulu speaking population of India.

Personal Life of Kayyara Kinhanna Rai
While he was in Non Co Operation Movement along with Mahatma Gandhi, Kayyara Kinhanna Rai married Unyakka and was a father to eight children. Kayyara Kinhanna Rai died in a natural death from old age at his residence at Kallakalia near Badiyadka, Kasaragod, Kerala at the age of 100 on 9th August 2015.