Yakshamangala Award conferred on senior Yakshagana artiste K. Govinda Bhat

Yakshamangala Award conferred on senior Yakshagana artiste K. Govinda Bhat

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, April 13, 2012 : The second annual Yakshamangala Award, instituted by the P. Dayananda Pai and P. Sathish Pai Yakshagana Adhyayana Kendra, was conferred on K. Govinda Bhat (75), the senior Yakshagana artiste, at a special award ceremony held in the premises of Mangalore University on Thursday.

 

T. C. Shivashankar Murthy, the vice chancellor of Mangalore University, presented the award, which comprises a citation, Rs. 25,000, and a shawl. Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Murthy said that the Mangalore University, through the Kendra, was mulling over the idea of training school children in Yakshagana during the vacations in a bid to form a university performing troupe.

Speaking on the occasion, P. Dayananda Pai of Bangalore, who has endowed a sum of Rs. 1 crore with the university to start the Kendra, announced that he will donate Rs. 2.50 lakh to the Kendra soon. The interest obtained from it could be used to present the annual Yakshamangala Award, he said.

He also presented a cheque for Rs. 10,000 to the vice chancellor to meet the medical expenses of Puttur Shridhara Bhandary, a senior Yakshagana artiste.

Yakshagana artiste Taranath Varkady spoke on the contributions of Mr. Bhat to Yakshagana.

Responding to the honor bestowed on him, Mr. Bhat said that he is happy that Yakshagana is finding a number of patrons these days.

K. Chinnappa Gowda, the director of the Kendra and the registrar (administration) of the university, said that the section on the Yakshagana Badaguthittu School at the museum inaugurated on Thursday by Mr. Samaga, the chairman of the Karnataka Yakshagana Bayalata Academy, has 7 models.

The designer of these models, Shiva Kumar of Ujire, was honored on this occasion.