The Kannada Sahitya Sammelana is the premier gathering of writers, poets and Kannadigas. It is held with the aim of preserving and developing the Kannada language, its literature, art, culture and music. It was started in 1915 by H. V. Nanjundaiah and held at Bangalore. It used to be inaugurated by prominent writers and poets from 1915 to 1948. Since then it has been inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Karnataka. The Kannada Sahitya Parishat is responsible for holding the gathering.

Hebbalalu Velpanur Nanjundaiah was the acting Diwan of Mysore, founder and first Vice Chancellor of the University of Mysore, senior judge of the Mysore State High Court and founding president of the Kannada Sahitya Sammelana. He presided over Kannada Sahitya Sammelana from 1915 to 1917 held in Bangalore and Mysore. He was one of the first documented ethnographers in the world, having authored a seminal book Mysore tribes and Castes in 1906, among other books on legal matters.