MANGALURU: Karnataka Yakshagana Academy chairman M A Hegde passed away in Bengaluru on Sunday. He was 73.
The scholar is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
A native of Mandikoppa, near Siddapura in Uttara Kannada, Hegde was the principal of a college in Siddapura.
Sources said that Hegde passed away while he was being shifted to a hospital in Yelahanka after he suffered breathing difficulty.
A Sanskrit scholar he was also a noted ‘arthadari’ in Talamaddale and a Yakshagana artiste.
He had donned various roles in Yakshagana for the 80-year-old Idagunji Mahaganapathi Yakshagana Mandali of Uttara Kannada.
He had edited a Yakshagana prasanga (script) titled ‘Aadi Parva’ and written nearly 15 prasangas, including ‘Dharma Durantha’, ‘Chakragrahana’, ‘Jagruti, Trishanku Charitre’, ‘Seetha Viyoga’, ‘Shikhandi Vivaha’, ‘Prachanda Chankya’, ‘Vajra Kireeta’ and ‘Shabarimale Ayyappan’. His other works include ‘Alankara Tatva’, ‘Bhagavad Bhatki Rasayanam’ and ‘Bharatiya Tatvashastra’.
Recently, Hegde had participated in a workshop on ‘Yakshagana: Rethinking in the light of present’ held at St Aloysius College in Mangaluru. Later, he also had watched Yakshagana ballet ‘Macbeth’ on the college premises later.
Chief minister B S Yediyurappa expressed his deepest condolences on the death of Hegde.
“Hegde, who was a Yakshagana artiste and arthadari, has contributed immensely to make the artform more popular. Books written by the scholar on Sanskrit and Yakshagana are a valuable treasure for future generations. Let almighty give eternal peace to the departed soul and may his family get the strength to cope with the loss,” Yediyurappa said in his condolence message.