Veteran Yakshagana artiste Bottikere Purushotham Poonja passes away
Mangaluru (PTI): Veteran Yakshagana artiste Bottikere Purushotham Poonja, who worked as 'Bhagavath' for 45 years in several Melas, died late Saturday night, family sources said.
Poonja was 68. He is survived by his wife and two sons.
Poonja, who had been ailing for some time, was undergoing treatment at a hospital.
He had served the first Mela of Kateel as chief Bhagavath. Poonja worked as chief Bhagavath for 45 years in Uppala Mela, Geetambika Mela of Mumbai, Puttur Mela, Karnataka Mela and served in Kateel Mela for the past 30 years.
Poonja has written 32 'prasangas' in Kannada and Tulu languages. His prasangas Ma Nishada, Ubhayakula Billoja, Nalinakshi Nandini, Megha Mayuri and Swarnanupura, are very popular in the Yakshagana field.
He has received several honours including Muddana award, Yaksha Manasa award of Mumbai, Academy book literature award, Asranna award and Karnoor award.
Poonja had converted his home into Gurukula and used to teach hundreds of students about Bhagavathike and Yakshagana literature.
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Barber held for beating man to death over 'bidi' in east Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): A 32-year-old barber was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly beating a man to death following an altercation over a 'bidi' in east Delhi's Pandav Nagar area, police said.
A call regarding the incident that occurred near the bus stand road in Shashi Garden was received at 1.24 am, they said.
The victim was identified as Deepak (28), while the accused was Manoj, he added.
According to the police, during an argument, the accused picked up a wooden stick lying nearby and struck the victim repeatedly on the head. Multiple injuries and bruise marks were also found on the victim's forehead.
"Deepak was taken to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead," an officer said.
An FIR has been registered and further investigation is underway, the officer added.
