Yakshagana Kalaranga awards to 16 artistes

Yakshagana Kalaranga has announced its annual awards for 16 artistes who have contributed immensely for the art.

Speaking to media persons, Yakshagana Kalaranga President K Ganesh Rao said that the award distribution ceremony will be held on November 25 at Rajangana in Udupi.

Palimaru mutt seer Sri Vidhyadheesha Theertha Swami will preside over the programme. The awards carry a cash of Rs 20,000 each and a citation is given in memory of various Yakshagana legends who contributed towards the art. The Vishwesha Theertha Award will be given to Durga Makkala Mela, Kateelu. There will be a cash prize will be Rs 50,000 and a citation, he added.

The artistes who receive the awards are Pattalagutthu Mahabala Shetty (Dr B B Shetty Award), Jayanth Naik (Prof B V Acharya Memorial Award), Subraya Patali (Nittur Sunder Shetty- Mahesh D Shetty Award), Rajaratnam Devadiga (B Jagjeevandas Shetty Award), Seetharam Hegde Ulavi (K Vishwajna Shetty B Memorial Award), Ubaradka Umesh Shetty (Kutpadi Anand Ganiga Memorial Award), H Sridhar Hande (Bagavatha Naranappa Uppuru Memorial Award), Naradi Bhojaraja Shetty (Dashavatari Marvi Ramakrishna Hebbar-Bagavata Vadiraj Hebbar Memorial Award), Putthige Raghuram Holla (Malpe Narayana Samaga Memorial Award), Kokkudthi Krishamurthy (Shiriyara Manjunath Naik Memorial Award), Bhaskar Joshi Shiralagi (Kota Vaikunta Memorial Award), Balehadda Krishna Bhagavatha (Irodi Rama Ganiga Memorial Award), Bantwal Jayaram Acharya (Padaru Narasimha Shastri Memorial Award) and D Santhosh Kumar (Kadiyali Subbraya Acharya Award).

The other recepients of the award are Haluvalli Ganesh Bhat (Kolyuru Ramachandra Rao Memorial) and Sri Rama Devadiga Kocchadi (Prabhavati Shenoy-U Vishwanath Shenoy Memorial) and Prof Narayan Hedge (Yakshachethana Prashasthi).