Senior Yakshagana bhagavatha Subrahmanya Dhareshwara passes away

Veteran and renowned Yakshagana ‘bhagavatha’ Subrahmanya Dhareshwara, who won hundreds and thousands of fans with his melodious and rich voice, passed away in the early hours of Thursday, April 25, in Bengaluru.

He was 66 years old and survived by his wife and two children.

Born on September 5, 1957, Dhareshwara hailed from Kirimanjeshwara in Kundapura taluk in Udupi district.

Sources said that Dhareshwara’s body will be brought to Kirimanjeshwara on the evening of April 25.

A late disciple of the legendary Yakshagana ‘bhagavatha’ (background singer) Narnappa Uppura, Dhareshwara entered Yakshagana theater as a professional singer at the age of 21. His father, Lakshminarayana Bhat from Dhareshwar near Gokarna in Uttara Kannada, was an amateur Yakshagana artist. Thus the son developed the taste for Yakshagana at an early age.

Dhareshwara was a professional ‘bhagavatha’ for almost four decades. After retiring from Perdoor Yakshagana mela as ‘pradhana bhagavatha’, he was singing in different Yakshagana shows and Talamaddales until recently.

He filled the void created in the Badagu Thittu (South) school of Yakshagana following the death of the legendary Yakshagana ‘bhagavatha’ Kalinga Navada, who passed away in May 1990 at the age of 32.

The Karnataka Rajyotsava award winner Dhareshwara was a professional ‘bhagavatha’ in Yakshagana melas (touring performing groups) like Amrutheswari, Hiremahalingeshwara, Panchalinga and Perdoor.