Chairman of Karnataka Yakshagana Academy and a scholar M.A. Hegde passed away in Bengaluru on April 18. He was 73 and is survived by wife, a son and a daughter.
Reports reaching here said that Mr. Hegde breathed his last while being shifted to a hospital in Yelahanka after he had difficulty in breathing while at home.
He was a native of Mandikoppa, near Siddapura in Uttara Kannada, and retired as the principal of a college in Siddapura.
Mr. Hegde, who was also a Talamaddale ‘arthadari’ and Yakshagana artiste, had written at least 15 Yakshagana ‘prasangas’ (scripts) like ‘Dharma Durantha’, ‘Seetha Viyoga’, ‘Chakragrahana’, ‘Jagruti, Trishanku Charitre’, ‘Shikhandi Vivaha’, ‘Vajra Kireeta’, ‘Prachanda Chankya’, ‘Shabarimale Ayyappan’.
He was a Sanskrit scholar and had edited Yakshagana prasanga ‘Aadi Parva’. In addition Mr. Hegde had written other works like ‘Alankara Tatva’, ‘Bhagavad Bhatki Rasayanam’, ‘Bharatiya Tatvashastra’.
Mr. Hegde had performed many a roles in the more than 80-year-old Idagunji Mahaganapathi Yakshagana Mandali, near Honnavara in Uttara Kannada.
Senior Yakshagana artiste Keremane Shivananda Hegde, who leads the mandali, said that the death of Mr. Hegde was not only a loss to Yakshagana but to the scholarly world. He was a scholar both in Kannada and English.
Mr. Hegde participated in a workshop on ‘Yakshagana: Rethinking in the light of present’ organised by St. Aloysius College in Mangaluru on April 10. He watched Yakshagana ballet ‘Macbeth’ on the college premises later. That was the last public programme which he had attended.
CM’s condolence
In his condolence message, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said that as the chairman of the academy Mr. Hedge had strived for the welfare of artistes and to popularise the art form. His works were a great contribution to Yakshagana, he said.