
BENGALURU: Violin maestro L Subramaniam (77), veteran Kannada actor Anant Nag (76), and music composer Ricky Kej (43) are among the nine Padma award winners from Karnataka announced by the Union Government on the eve of Republic Day on Saturday.
While Subramaniam was conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, Nag received the Padma Bhushan. Their awards are for their contributions in the field of art. Author and journalist A Surya Prakash was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contributions in the field of literature, education and journalism.
Martial arts coach Hassan Raghu (Art), business icon Prashanth Prakash (Trade and Industry), music composer Ricky Kej (Art), Oncologist Dr Vijayalakshmi Deshamane (Medicine), master puppeteer of Togalu Gombeyaata (leather puppetry) Bhimavva Shillekyatar (Art) and Gondhali folk maestro Venkappa Ambaji Sugatekar (Art) are the six Padma Shri award winners from Karnataka.
Indumati Deshmani, sister of Dr Vijayalakshmi, told The New Sunday Express, “Our mother used to sell vegetables by visiting houses while our father was a freedom fighter and labourer in MSK Mills.
Dr Vijayalakshmi used to assist my mother in selling vegetables.” Indumati is a lecturer at PDA College of Engineering in Kalaburagi.
Recalling their childhood days, Indumati said, “Though our parents were not educated and were poor, they took all efforts to give us a good education. Dr Vijayalakshmi is an oncologist and was the former director of Kidwai Cancer Hospital. Now she runs an orphanage in Bengaluru. She did not marry to serve the people more. We five sisters are PhD holders, and our brother is an advocate in Kalaburagi.”
Bhimavva Shillekyatar (96) has been conferred the Padma Shri for preserving and nurturing the rural art form of Togalu Gombeyaata. Bhimavva, though not educated, has preserved the art form that has been passed down through generations. This is the only family in the entire Koppal district that has been performing leather puppetry for hundreds of years.
Bhimavva, who mastered puppetry at the age of 14, primarily performs shows based on mythological stories of the Ramayana and Mahabharata and has been active for the last 70 years. Apart from performing across the country, she has taken the art to 12 other countries, including Japan, Germany, USA, France and Saudi Arabia.
To keep the art alive, Bhimavva continues to train the youth in this art form through workshops. A proud Bhimavva said that the award was due to blessings of the God and that the honour is not for any one individual but to puppetry and to all the artistes involved in keeping it alive.
Venkappa Ambaji Sugatekar (84), a folk artiste of Bagalkot district, has received the Padma Shri. He is one of the few artistes who is still preserving the folk art of ‘Gondhali’. Sugatekar has been involved in this folk art since his childhood.
“He was only 17 when he started learning Gondhali. He became so fascinated by it that he turned it into a passion and profession. It has continued till date with the same intensity,” said Sachin Sugatekar, the veteran artiste’s grandson.
Known as the ‘Bhishma’ of Gondhali music and storytelling, the artiste has reportedly sung more than 1,000 Gondhali songs and narrated over 150 stories. He has also trained more than 1,000 students.