Three coastal Kannadigas receive ‘Karnataka Kalashree’ award

Team Udayavani, Jan 2, 2021, 11:55 AM IST

Udupi/Puttur: Madhuru Balasubramaniam, T Ranga Pai and Nayana Rai have won the Karnataka Sangeeta Nritya Akademi’s prestigious ‘Karnataka Kalashree’ award.

Udupi-based Madhuru Balasubramaniam, a senior music scholar, is originally from Madhuru in Kasaragod district. He studied music from Padubidri Subraya Mani Bhagavathar and Kanchan Venkatasubramaniam Iyer Madhur, and was a rank holder in Carnatic classical music.

Balasubramaniam has been working in Aakashvani Mangaluru from the past 25 years and has been teaching music to thousand of students from all over the world. He has also conducted thousands of concerts and performances in various places and has composed music for soundtracks and classical dance performances.

His published works include “Thyagaraja Ghanaragapancharatna Kritigalu,” “Sangeeta Prabhodini Malike-1” and “Ragalakshmani.”

T Ranga Pai is from the Tonse Pai family of renowned Hindustani musicians. A mechanical engineering graduate from Manipal’s MIT, he was ranked second in the State in the Hindustani percussion examination.

He earned the ‘Sangeeta Visharada’ and ‘Sangeeta Alanakar’ degrees at Mumbai and learned to play the Hindustani tabla and Carnatic violin at Udupi.

Pai has served as the secretary of the Music and Fine Arts Education Trust at Manipal and has been the honorary principal of the Academy Music School, Udupi.

Leading the Vishwa Kalaniketan Institute of Arts and Culture’s dance academy at Kudkadi in Paduvanuru village, Nayana V Rai Kudkadi has been practising Bharatanatyam for over 45 years.

Rai married Karnataka Kalashree awardee Vidhwan Kudkadi Vishwanath Rai in 1973 and under his guidance completed her Vidwat examination. The couple founded the dance academy in 1985 and have taught Bharatanatyam to thousands of students.

Vishwanath and Nayana Rai’s ‘Shiv Parvati’ performance earned them a phenomenal reputation. They also choreographed and performed in the street drama “Mote Kalagilisi.”

Rai retired as a government school teacher and headteacher after working for 33 years. She was the recipient of the 2002 Teacher of the Year Award and the District-level Best Physical Training Teacher.