Master Hirannaiah's bond with coffee land remembered

Celebrated theatreperson Master Hirannaiah, who passed away in Bengaluru on Thursday, shared a special bond with coffee land Chikkamagaluru.

His fans and admirers recollected fond memories with pride following his death.

Retired lecturer Chandramouli and writer-orator Hiremagaluru Kannan said Master Hirannaiah’s popular plays ‘Lanchavatara’, ‘Nadubeedi Narayana’, ‘Makmal Topi’ and others were staged in the coffee land and they were hugely popular among the masses.

His plays, along with being humorous, were thought provoking, they recalled.

Chandramouli said, “Hirannaiah’s mother Sharadamma hailed from Sakharayapatna. Therefore, the thespian had a special bond with his grandfather’s native village. Sharadamma’s father was a Shanubhog of Sakharayapatna.”

“Hirannaiah’s father K Hirannaiah was an artiste in (theatre legend) Gubbi Veeranna’s company. When the Gubbi company camped in Kadur, Sharadamma’s hand was sought in marriage for K Hirannaiah. Though marrying off a girl to a drama artiste was considered as a taboo then, the Shanubhog went ahead and fixed the marriage of his daughter with K Hirannaiah,” he explained.

Chandramouli, one of Hirannaiah’s close friends, recollected that Harmonium artiste Shamanna (92) of Sakharayapatna was part of Master Hirannaiah’s team. “Shamanna was one of the many artistes encouraged by Hirannaiah. Another artiste Basavaraju, who was popularly known as Raju Sakharayapatna too, was groomed by Hirannaiah. Raju passed away some years ago,” Chandramouli added.

Going down the memory lane, an emotional Chandramouli said that Hirannaiah’s famous play ‘Bhrasthachara’ was staged by the troupe in Chikkamagaluru 18 years ago. The play was also staged at Chatnalli and Birur.

“Whenever he came to Sakharayapatna which was his grandfather’s native village, he would drop in at our house. He would send greeting cards to me often,” Chandramouli recollected.

Kannan remembered inviting Hirannaiah to Sri Kodandaramaswamy temple where daily puja is performed in Kannada, instead of the usual Sanskrit.

“Hirannaiah obliged and came to Purandara Jayantyutsava in 2015. He admired the ‘Sringeri Saraswathi Stotra’ composed by Kuvempu,” Kannan said.