Kundeshwara Samman for Ramachandra Bhat

Yakshagana teacher Kadri Ramachandra Bhat Yelluru will be presented with ‘Kundeshwara Samman’ award, instituted by Shri Kundeshwara Kshetra at Hirgana in Karkala taluk, on January 21, according to a press release issued by Cultural Programme Convenor Jitendra Kundeshwara.

The award will be presented during a cultural programme. A Yakshagana, ‘Bhargava Vijaya’, with Yakshadhruva Patla Sateesh Shetty will be held on the same day. A Tulu drama, ‘Panoditthundu’, will be staged by Sindhura team.

The annual temple festival will be held on January 22, the press release stated.

Ramachandra Bhat is not only known for getting children in Kadri interested in Yakshagana but also credited for grooming them into artists of repute. As a member of Bala Mahila Yakshakoota, Bhat had presented Yakshagana on the premises of Rashtrapati Bhavan recently. “He is among the few gurus who believe that success of his students is his own success,’’ the release stated.

Bhat’s daughter and student Ranjitha Yelluru has already lost count of the awards she has received from different associations. Both Ranjitha and her sister Rakshitha Yelluru have drawn praises from senior artists like Kumeru Govinda Bhat.

Bhat has also conducted classes outside the state. His students said their guru differed from others by emphasizing on traditional style and creativity. Today, his students are journalists, corporate heads, Parish priests among others.

His wife Vanitha is a talented Yakshagana artist. Bhat’s students like Prakruthi, Nisha, Durga and Rashika Kundeshwara are so versatile that they excel in any role.

He had permitted Krishnaraja Nandalike to use his house to conduct free classes in Yakshagana instrument, classical singing, mrudanga and Bhagavathike (background singing in Yakshagana).