Girish Karnad died at the age of 81.

The renowned playwright and actor Girish Karnad died at the age of 81 at his residence in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
He was a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India.
The Jnanpith Award presented to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian writers writing in Indian languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and English.