Lesson on Bannanje Suvarna in M'lore varsity textbook

Yakshagana artiste Bannanje Sanjeeva Suvarna has another acclaim to his feather.

The saga of veteran Yakshagana artiste's life, who studied only till the second standard, has been included by Mangalore University in the curriculum for the third semester in the Kannada textbook for BA and BSW courses.

Suvarna has imparted the art to countless people, right from small children to elders, who also include doctors from KMC.

The write-up by Prithviraj Kavathar on the art teacher has been selected for the curriculum. The 63-year-old veteran has achieved excellence despite utter poverty.

The series of articles on the expert would also be brought out in the form of a book.

Suvarna is an expert in Tenkuthittu Yakshagana. He learned the art from renowned artistes such as Dr Shivaram Karanth.

He imparts the art free of cost and currently trains around 50 children, by offering food and accommodation free of cost as well. The children are from different places in Karnataka.

A major credit to the veteran artiste’s work is that National School of Drama (NSD) students come to Udupi to learn Yakshagana from him. There are also students from abroad, among whom Catherine, from Germany, is a favourite.