Dinakara Desai (ದಿನಕರ ದೇಸಾಯಿ) was a poet, writer, educationist, and political activist. He was famous for his poetry form called chutuka (also known as Chutuka Brahma). Chutuka or chutuku is a quadraplet poem. This format was later adopted by other poets. He made major contributions towards the literary development of the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka.