Biography
Naranappa Uppoor (1918–1984) was a famous bhagavath of Yakshagana art during the 20th century. He was much known for his voice, knowledge of tradition and heritage of Yakshagana. Dr. Shivarama Karanth, writer and his contemporary opined that Naranappa Uppoor is one person who is very familiar with the rich heritage of stage traditions. Only he can tell us what we had in the past and what we are losing. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naranappa_Uppoor Early life: Narnappa Uppoor was born at Marvi, near Thattuvattu, a small village in Udupi Taluk, India; his father name is Marvi Srinivasa Uppoor. His father was his guru in Yakshagana. Marvi Srinivasa Uppoor was himself a bhagavath or Yakshagana singer for forty years and he was known for a distinct style of singing called "Marvi Style" and his brother Vasudeva uppoor was a maddale player for Yakshagana. Naranappa Uppoor leart singing as well as other aspects of Yakshagana from his father and family circle. Career: He has trained several students in yakshagana background singing and several such students have become good bhagavaths. Most famous of his student was Kalinga Navada, who was said to have inherited Narnappa Uppoor's style of singing. Subrahmanya Dhareshwar, Raghavendra mayya, another famous bhagavath of coastal Karnatak learnt bhagavathike(singing) from Naranappa Uppoor. He also encouraged other background artists like Maddale beaters. Kalinga Navada, famous Yakshagana singer was trained as bhagavatha by Uppoor. Some other students are G. Sadananda Aithala, K.G. Rama Rao, K.P. Hegade, Narayana Shabaraya, S. Suresh Shetty, Halady Raghavendra Mayya etc. References: Category:1918 births Category:1984 deaths Category:Yakshagana Category:Singers from Karnataka Category:Indian male folk singers Category:People from Udupi district Category:20th-century Indian male singers