Eminent Yakshagana artist Mantapa presents 1000th show

Eminent Yakshagana artist Mantapa presents 1000th show

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Apr 3: The 1000th one-act show of Mantapa Prabhakar Upadhya was presented on April 2, Friday. This special event by the great Yakshagana artiste, adept at donning female roles, had attracted a huge audience. 

IAS officer, T Sham Bhat, inaugurated the event. An avid patron of Yakshagana, he said that Yakshagana deserves national recognition. Bringing the attention of the audience to the fact that the names of Yakshagana artistes are not considered for national awards such as Padma Shri, he said that Yakshagana has not yet received recognition as a complete form of art. However, Mangalore University’s selection of Yakshagana artistes for honorary doctorates is very encouraging; and this might help Yakshagana gain national recognition, he said. Lauding Mantapa Prabhakar Upadhya, he said that Upadhya is an exceptional person who is always ready to support other Yakshagana artistes. 

Shivaram, the cine actor, presided over the inauguration programme, and said that Yakshagana has always been his favourite form of art. He said that presenting the 1000th show is indeed a rare and great feat and expressed his appreciation of Mantapa for achieving the unachievable. 

Dr. M Prabhakar Joshi, the Yakshagana scholar, extended his wishes to the artiste, and said that there are different ways to develop art. He said that nobody can match Mantapa as far as contributions to Yakshagana are concerned. 

H B Rajeev Shetty, the president of the Bangalore Hotel Owners Association, and Ambatanaya Mudrady, the president of the Udupi District Kannada Sahitya Parishad, were guests. 

Vinitha Nedungadi of Kerala presented Varsha Mohini, a Mohini attam episode. Nandakumar Nair of Kerala presented Pootana Moksha in Kathakkali. Mantapa Prabhakar Upadhya, H Sridhar Hande, Dr. R Ganesh, and Dr. Mahesh Adakoli presented a programme of interaction. 

A felicitation programme was held in the evening, during which Pejawar Mutt Seer Shri Vishweshateertha Swamiji of Pejawar Mutt delivered the benedictory speech. B S Yeddyurappa, the chief minister of Karnataka, presided over the programme. Sadanand Maiya, the manager of Maiya Group of Hotels in Bangalore, released a 400-page Kannada book about Mantapa Prabhakar Upadhya called “Ananya Vyakti.” 

Pramod Hegde and Kabyady Jayaram Acharya delivered felicitation addresses, during which they lauded Mantapa for his great contributions to the field of Yakshagana. 

Kumble Sundar Rao, president of Yakshagana Academy; Sandhya S Pai, the executive editor of “Taranga” Kannada weekly; MLC Captain Ganesh Karnik; MLA Abhaychandra Jain; Amarnath Shetty, the former state minister; Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat; and other prominent personalities were also present. 

Senior Yakshagana artistes such as Hiriyadka Gopal Rao (92), Balipa Narayana Bhagwat, Hosthota Manjunath Bhagawath, and Patal Venkataramana Bhat, all aged 85, participated in the programme enthusiastically.