are placed on the so that the smoke can prevent moisture from destroying these items. Another room contains a lot of photographs taken of Kuvempu's childhood and also of important events in his lifetime. A small room serves a shop where one can purchase books authored by Kuvempu and cassettes and CDs based on his work. A 10% discount is provided over the actual price of the items purchased here. First floor: The first floor can be reached by a wooden staircase and consists of a room that contains the various articles used by Kuvempu during his lifetime like his pen, razor, comb, walking stick, umbrella etc. Various awards and citations conferred to him are also present; the prominent among which are the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and the huge Karnataka Ratna awards. Some of the other articles that can be seen here are a (writings on palm leaf) and , which is a huge wooden stick like item given to the groom as a gift during his wedding. Second floor: The second floor houses the entire collection of books written by Kuvempu, including one of Sri Ramayana Darshanam, probably his most famous book, which he reverently dedicated to Shri TS Venkannaiah, his teacher, published in his own handwriting. Laminated doctorate certificates conferred by various universities to Kuvempu can also be seen here. Getting there By road Kuppali is around 18 km from the taluk headquarters, Thirthahalli and 80 km. from the district headquarters, Shivamogga. From , one has to take the National Highway NH-13 (Shivamogga - Thirthahalli road) to reach Kuppali. From Bengaluru, one has to take the National Highway NH-206 to reach Shivamogga and then take the above mentioned route. There is an overnight bus run by KSRTC from Bangalore to Kuppali. The total distance from Bengaluru to Kuppali is around 350 km. From Mangalore, one can take NH-169 to reach Kuppali. The distance from Mangalore to Kuppali is 153 km. Kuppali is around 10 km from Koppa town. By rail The nearest railway station is in Shimoga. Numerous trains run from Bengaluru and Mysore to Shimoga. By air The nearest airport is Mangalore International Airport. References External links Official site dedicated to Kuvempu Villages in Shimoga district