Kannada Bharati established in 1973 is the oldest Department of Kuvempu University. It has so for conducted 32 Seminars, 10 folk performing Art Festivals and 4 UGC Sponsored Refresher Courses. It has published 30 books. It has also constructed Kailasam Rangamandira for the benefit of the public. All the four faculty members of the department are Doctorate degree holders, and have successfully guided 50 Ph.D.. and 30 M.Phil Students and they have published books papers. successfully completed Research Projects, and are engaged in teaching and extension activities. They are members of State and National Level Professional bodies and received honors and distinctions.

Kannda Bharati has an established Folklore Museum which is developed with the Grant of 8 Lakhs from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. There is a Kannada Computer Centre sponsored by the Infosys Foundation with a grant of Rs. 5 Lakhs. Sahitya Sangha and Janapada Kala Koota have organized many programmes for the past 32 years. There is a Department Library consisting of 3,000 books donated by Kannada scholars. Institute of Kannada Studies has also received a Grant Rs. 14 Lakhs to conduct Research on Modern Kannada literature from UGC under Special Assistance Programme during 2004-2005.