Hemmige, a small cultural village near T. Narasipur, has produced a number of musicians like K. Vageesh, Hemmige Prashanth, K. Varadarangan, Vamshidhar  among many others.

On Dec. 9, 2023, at Rotary West Auditorium, the Sabha felicitated eight of its achievers from Hemmige in recognition of their service in various fields. 

Mysuru City and District Brahmins Association President D.T. Prakash, Noted orator, researcher and scholar Vid. Dr. T.V. Satyanarayana and  Income Tax (Bengaluru) Commissioner Sowmya Achar were present.

Dr K. Ramasheshu (Kannada Literature), Dr. Bhargavi Hemmige (Journalism and Education), Dr. Padmavathi Narasimhan (Music and Gamaka), Vamshidhar (Flute), Nagaratna Hemmige (Kannada Literature), Ramaprasad, K.R. Nagara (Education) and Hemmige Prashanth (Music) were honoured.

 Several copies of ‘Alwar Acharyarugalu Kanda Srirangaraja,’ published by Hemmige Sri Vaishnava Sabha, were distributed for free after the programme.

A vocal concert by Hemmige S. Prashanth followed accompanied by Vaibhav Ramani on violin and Aniruddha Bhat on mridanga.

Hemmige Prashanth belongs to the Ariyakudi K.V. Narayanaswamy  School of Music. Prashanth is a disciple of Padma Shri, Sangeetha Kalanidhi, Palghat  K.V. Narayanaswamy for over 7 years and later has been learning under Padma Narayanaswamy for 17 years.

Prashanth has also studied under Sugandha Raman, who belongs to the direct lineage of Sri Tyagaraja. He has performed in almost all the prestigious music Sabhas in the country.

Prashanth started the concert impressively with the varnam ‘Saami nine’ varna in Shankarabharanam set to Adi tala by Veena Kuppaiyer. The varied permutations in swarakalpana for ‘Vidulaku mrokkeda’ in Mayamalavagowla by Tyagaraja were commendable. ‘Evarura,’ a popular composition in Mohana, was enchanting. A brisk filler ‘Orajoopuju’ by Tyagaraja was also suffixed by crisp swaras.

The ragam, Tanam and pallavi in Kambhoji was the highlight of the concert. The alapana of Kambhoji, adorned with powerful gamakas, was steeped in unalloyed classicism. Tanam was brilliant with Vaibhav who replied intellectually to the vocalist. The pallavi ‘Hemmige varadanai kaaNa ennaai puNNiyam saideno’ was a welcome choice. The pallavi was well essayed with creative combinations.

The scintillating alapana, neraval  and the subsequent kalpanaswaras bore testimony to his creative talents. Taniyavartanam by Anirudh Bhat was highly enjoyed both by the musicians and the audience.

A shloka on Krishna from the Mukundamala of Kulashekharalwar followed by ‘Anrivulagam’ (Tiruppavai) was the only song Prashanth could sing in his miscellaneous session, which too was appealing.

—Dr. Padmavathi Narasimhan