Bannanje Sanjeeva Suvarna ‘maverick’ of art world

Yakshagana artist Mr. Suvarna awarded for his exceptional contributions to the art form globally.

Yakshagana performer and ‘guru’ Bannanje Sanjeeva Suvarna of Udupi who has been chosen for the prestigious Parthi Subba Award of Karnataka Yakshagana Academy for 2023 has performed in over 30 countries.

The 69-year-old performer was presented with the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 2010. He was also presented with the Honorary Award of the Yakshagana Academy in 2020.

Mr. Suvarna, who presently manages Yaksha Sanjeeva Yakshagana Kendra in Udupi, recently trained a team of amateur Yakshagana artists from Udupi in performing Yakshagana in Marathi. The team presented Marathi Yakshagana shows in Maharashtra in May 2024.

According to the academy, Mr. Suvarna had trained students of 42 schools in London in ‘abhinaya’ and ‘nritya’ for about two-and-half months. In addition to Yakshagana, Mr. Suvarna has also learned Bharatanatyam and Koodiyattam.

He did dance direction with the theatre personality late B.V. Karanth for William Shakespeare’s drama Macbeth. He was behind Yakshagana performance in Sanskrit staged in 1983. He had trained students of the National School of Drama in Yakshagana.

Mr. Suvarna was a student of Udupi Yakshagana Kendra from 1971 to 1974. He was also a professional artist in Saligrama, Hiriyadkka, and Goligaradi Yakshagana melas. He had performed Yakshagana in the teams directed by Jnanapith awardee late Kota Shivarama Karanth.

M. Jabbar Samo, who is among five artists selected for the academy’s Honorary Award for 2023, is a noted Talamaddale artist. He is in demand at Tamalamaddale ‘kootas’ since past over three decades. He has studied Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Bhagavatha deeply.