Veteran Yakshagana, Talamaddale artiste K Govinda Bhat passes away
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Theerthahalli: Veteran Yakshagana and Talamaddale artiste Surikumeru K Govinda Bhat, known for his versatility on stage, passed away at his son’s residence here late Friday night. He was 88.
He is survived by his three sons, while his wife Savithri, predeceased him during the Covid outbreak.
Bhat was born to Shankaranarayana Bhat and Lakshmamma in Kanila, Vitla, of Dakshina Kannada district. He is said to have joined Yakshagana at the age of 12 as a means of livelihood but later trained under senior artistes like Kuriya Vithala Shastri, Paramashivan, Madhava Menon and Rajan Aiyar.
Bhat, who was in the field of Yakshagana for seven decades, worked in various traveling troupes like Dharmasthala, Mulki, Koodlu, Surathkal and Ira Somanatheshwara melas. While his performance in the roles of Kaurava, Rakthabeeja, Bheeshma, Jarasandha, Narakasura, Tamraksha, Devendra, Arjuna, Hanuman, Vishwamitra, Bahubali and Indrajitu were highly popular, he is known to have presented almost all roles in Yakshagana prasangas (episodes) on stage. He was a professional artist of Tenku Thittu school of Yakshagana.
He was highly respected for his clarity in dialogue delivery, discipline in dancing technique and expressive performance. His variety and ability to present every role he played with panache is known to have earned him the title of ‘Dashavathari’.
The senior artiste also penned several episodes for Yakshagana, like Manimekhale, Kanakarekhe, Mooruvare Vajragalu, Kaveri Mahatma, Rajashekhara Vilasa, Mahaveera, Samrat Ashoka and Nahushendra.
He has received the Kendra Sangeeta Nataka Akademi Award, Karnataka Rajyotsava Award, Kannada Sahitya Parishad Award and Karnataka Janapada Academy Sadhana Award, among others.
He has shared his 70-year experience and work in Yakshagana and Talamaddale in the book ‘Yeppattu Thirugatagalu’, which was released in Mangaluru in 2021.
Post-retirement, he was living with his sons Prasanna Kumar and Shyam Prasad in Theerthahalli, while his youngest son Surya Bhat lived in Surikumeru near Kalladka.
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Odisha: BJD suspends 6 MLAs for cross-voting in RS polls
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Bhubaneswar (PTI): The Biju Janata Dal on Saturday suspended six of its MLAs for cross-voting during the recent election to four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha.
The suspended legislators were Chakramani Kanhar of Baliguda seat, Naba Kishor Mallick of Jayadev constituency, Souvic Biswal of Choudwar-Cuttack, Subasini Jena of Basta, Ramakanta Bhoi of Tirtol and Devi Ranjan Tripathy of Banki, an order by party chief Naveen Patnaik showed.
The suspension decision was taken at the opposition party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting presided over by Patnaik.
The six MLAs were issued a show-cause notice on March 17.
They submitted their replies on Friday evening, and those were found not satisfactory, said the BJD's chief whip in the Assembly, Pramila Mallik.
The ruling BJP won two of the four Rajya Sabha seats while the opposition BJD and a saffron party-backed Independent candidate bagged one seat each in the biennial polls held last Monday.
While the total number of BJP legislators and Independent MLAs supporting the ruling party was 82 in the 147-member House, the saffron party candidates secured 93 first preference votes, which was 11 more than its strength in the Assembly.
Of these 11 votes, eight were of BJD MLAs and three of Congress legislators, an official had said.
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