Mysuru’s Ganesh Bhat, Mandya’s Upasana Mohan and Srirangapatna’s Murali bag honours

Bengaluru: Karnataka Sangeeta Nritya Academy has announced ‘Karnataka Kalashri’ State Awards for the year 2020-21.

The awards were announced at a meeting presided over by Academy Chairman Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma recently. 

The Honorary Awards carry a cash prize of Rs.50,000 and Annual Awards carry a cash prize of Rs.25,000 and a citation. The awards will be conferred at a programme to take place at Bengaluru’s Ravindra Kalakshetra on Feb. 6, according to a press release.

The awardees are as follows:  Honorary Award: R.P. Asundi of Dharwad (Playback Singer/ Music) and Rama Hariharapura (Sugama Sangeetha).

Annual Awards: Karnatak Music – Madhoor P. Balasubramanyam of Udupi (Vocal), Sukanya Ramgopal of Bengaluru (Ghata), Suruli Ganeshmurthy of Chikkamagalur (mridanga) and Murali of Srirangapatna (nadaswara); Hindustani Music – Sripada Hegde of Dharwad (Vocal), Pandit Rajaprabhu Dhotre of Belagavi (Vocal) and T. Ranga Pai Thonse of Udupi (Tabla).

Dance – Nayana Rai of Puttur (Dance Teacher), Praveen Kumar of Bengaluru (Bharatanatyam), Madhu Nataraj of Bengaluru (Kathak) and G. Gurumurthy of Tumakuru (Dance – Mridanga).

The other awardees are – Ganesh Bhat of Mysuru (Keyboard), Upasana Mohan of Mandya (Sugama Sangeetha), Bhagavatar Vaikuntadatta Maharaja of Bidar (Katha Keertana), G.Somashekar Das of Tumakuru and H.S. Gopal of Shivamogga (Gamaka).

Ganesh Bhat, a resident of Gangothri Layout in Mysuru, is a B-Grade artiste of AIR. A renowned keyboard player, Bhat has scored music for four audio cassettes of Rajyotsava awardee singer Garthikere Raghanna. He has also composed music for over a hundred audio cassettes including that of noted singer S.K. Vasumati. Besides, he has scored music for a couple of films such as ‘Shambho Mahadeva’ and ‘Nanjangudu Srikanteshwara Mahatme.’ He has bagged many awards including Mysuru District Kannada Rajyotsava award.

Upasana Mohan of Mandya, who became a household name through his Upasana organisation, is a highly talented musician. Born in Mysuru to Jayaram and Bhagyalakshmi couple, Mohan grew up at his grandfather’s house at Mandya. After getting his Diploma in Electronics Engineering, Mohan moved to Bengaluru, where he learnt Karnatak Music from Srivatsa and Hindusthani Music from Govinda Rotti.

Working for Phillips Company at Bengaluru, Mohan got introduced to renowned Sugama Sangeetha Music Composer G.V. Atri and joined his (G.V. Atri) Sangeetha Ganga Music School, where he learnt Sugama Sangeetha and later went on to become a faculty and Principal of the School.

Mohan later started his own Music School Upasana in 1999, thus earning the nickname ‘Upasana Mohan.’ He has also brought out ‘Upasana’, a collection of poems of 365 well-known poets.