First published in 1973, Bharathipura is about the practice of untouchability in a traditional society that is evolving into modernity through new economic forces brought in by a certain class of people. The story revolves around the life of an 'enlightened' modern Indian, Jagannatha. Violent and unexpected events follow Jagannatha's attempts to revolutionize everyone and everything by linking his own transformation to the changes he wishes to orchestrate. With its display of literary discipline in handling intertwining themes, the novel exposes the complexities of the caste system and the myth of social justice in modern India.

Perhaps the most significant work in caste literature since Premchand's Godan (1936), Bharathipura reveals U.R. Ananthamurthy's lifelong preoccupation with moving beyond caste and class interests in a modern society.