Ullal Srinivas Mallya Honorary Award to Kadri Gopalnath

Mangaluru City Corporation will confer the Ullal Srinivasa Mallya Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement on saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath.

Three other awards, named after the former MP of Dakshina Kannada, will be conferred on Yakshagana Bhagavat Agari Raghurama Rao, retired teacher K A Rohini and sportsperson M R Poovamma, for their contribution in the field of Yakshagana, Education and sports respectively.

Addressing reporters at the Mangaluru City Corporation on Tuesday, Mayor Kavitha Sanil said that the selection committee, headed by her and with Prof B A Viveka Rai, Abdul Rehman, M P Tingalaya, Prof Rita Noronha and Manohar Prasad as its members, has selected Kadri Gopalnath and the three others for the maiden award instituted by the Mangaluru City Corporation and presented in the memory of former MP late Ullal Srinivasa Mallya.

The Ullal Srinivasa Mallya Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement will include Rs 1 lakh cash award, a citation and a memento. The other three awards will consist of Rs 50,000 cash each, along with mementos.

The award function will be a part of the Mangaluru City Corporation Day 2017, which will be held at Town Hall at 6.30 pm on December 8. Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade will inaugurate the programme. Sanil will preside, District In-charge minister B Ramanath Rai, Food and Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and others will be the guests.

The awardees

Kadri Gopalnath

The Ullal Srinivasa Mallya Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement will be presented to Kadri Gopalnath, the saxophonist of world fame.

Kadri is known for his exceptional rendering of Carnatic classical music through saxophone, a Western musical instrument. He has been a recipient of Padma Shree, Kalaimamani (title by Tamil Nadu state government) and the Karnataka Rajyotsava award, to name a few awards.

Agari Raghurama Rao

Agari Raghurama Rao has served as Bhagawat in the Surathkal Yakshagana mela for four decades. He quit his post in the Education Department to join the field of art.

Rao is known for his traditional style of Yakshagana song rendering. He will be conferred with Ullal Srinivasa Mallya Honorary Award for his achievement to the field of Yakshagana.

He has been awarded with a number of awards, including Padyana Yakshagana Award and Padavidhara Yakshagana Award.

K A Rohini

K A Rohini, who is a retired teacher, served for 38 years in various schools in Katipalla, Kottara and Urwa. She is presently the honorary president of Urwa Soujanya Mahila Mandala.

She holds the credit of actively taking part in the literacy movements in Dakshina Kannada. Rohini is a former member of Dakshina Kannada District Children's Welfare Committee. She continues to serve as a resource person in the field of education.

She will receive Ullal Srinivasa Mallya Honorary Award for her contributions to the field of education.

M R Poovamma

M R Poovamma will be conferred with the Ullal Srinivasa Mallya Honorary Award for her achievement in sports field.

She has represented the nation in Beijing Olympics in 2008. Poovamma has bagged silver in 400 metre race and gold in relay of the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2008, gold and silver in the relay and 400 metre race events respectively in Asian Championship held in South Korea in 2014 and gold medal in Asian Games held in Bhubaneshwar in 2017.