Dakshina Kannada gets a ‘Padma’ hat-trick

The Centre’s list of Padma awardees has delighted the coastal people, as three of the awardees from the state—Dr Devi Shetty of Narayana Hrudayalaya, veteran Yakshagana artiste Ramachandra Hegde Chittani and wildlife expert Dr Ullas Karanth—belong to the coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada.
“It was long due. All the three awardees are eminent in their fields,” said Pradeep Kumar Kalkura, president of the Dakshina Kannada Kannada Sahitya Parishat.
People in the coastal areas are particularly happy that Chittani has been selected for the honour.
President of the State Yakshagana and Bayalata Academy, Prof ML Samaga told DNA that in terms of innovation and creativity, Chittani is the most important Yakshagana exponent of these times.
“During the 30 years of my co-acting with him, I realised he was the only Yakshagana artiste who had star value attached to his name. His on-stage innovation and creative changes in performing a ballet were extraordinary. Sometimes we felt he was getting carried away and was deviating from the original course of performance, but every time he did that, it became the highlight of the performance,” he said.
Samaga recounted one such instance. “In a ballet, Gadayayuddha, he played Duryodhana and in the scene when Duryodhana defeats Bhima, Chittani climbed the ratha (an elevated platform meant for the Bhagavata-singer) and enacted the rest of the scene there, which was totally out of course,” he said.
“It stunned us, but the applause of the audience put an end to our apprehensions about the innovation,” he said.
Kumble Sundar Rao, former president of the Yakshagana Academy, said Chittani was a patriarch of Yakshagana. He said Chittani’s USP was that he did not restrict his role but improved it with interpretation and make-up.
His innovations in both the fields won Yakshagana many students and audience.