Mangaluru : P. Dayananda Pai and P. Satish Pai Yakshagana Adhyayana Kendra of Mangalore University has announced its Yakshamangala Award for 2022-23 to artistes Sridhara Hande and M.K. Ramesh Acharya.
The award carries Rs.25,000 in cash, a citation and a memento.
The book titled ‘Peetika Prakarana’ written by Talamaddale artiste Radhakrishna Kalchar has been chosen for Yakshamangala Book Award which carries Rs.10,000 in purse, a citation and a memento.
An artiste of Badagu Thittu school of Yakshagana, Mr. Hande, who was also a teacher, had bagged the best teacher national award in 1991. He is probably the pioneer in forming a performing troupe of children in Yakshagana theatre. The troupe had performed in the U.S., London, Manchester, and Bahrain in addition to many places in India. His Saligrama Makkala Mela presented over 2,000 shows in the last 43 years. Mr. Hande is also a ‘gamaki’, Yakshagana ‘bhagavatha’, a poet and a director.
Mr. Acharya is a ‘stree veshadhari’ (one who performs the roles of women). He is well-versed in both Badagu Thittu and Tenku Thittu schools of Yakshagana. He is also a Yakshagana teacher and Talamaddale ‘arthadhari’. Mr. Acharya had performed in Mandarthi, Dharmasthala, Surathkal, Saligrama, Soukuru, Perdoor, and Mangaladevi Yakshagana melas. The roles of women such as Chandramathi, Droupadi, Rukmini, Shantale and Seetha, Menaka and Sairandri performed by him had won accolades from fans.
A committee which comprised K. Chinnappa Gowda, scholar and former Vice-Chancellor, Karnataka Folklore University, Padekal Vishnu Bhat, a scholar, Murali Kadekar, Secretary, Udupi Yakshagana Kalaranga and Dhananjya Kumble, Director of the Kendra selected the two and the book for the awards.
The awards will be presented in a programme to be held in the university later, a release from Raju Mogaveera, Registrar (administration) of the university said.