H R Keshavamurthy

H. R. Keshavamurthy was a master of gamaka, the art of singing verses from the classical epics with meaning and melody. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2022 in the field of art, from Karnataka ^[1].

A village of gamaka

Keshavamurthy was born on 22 February 1934 to Vedabrahma Ramaswamy Shastry, who gave discourses on the epics, and Lakshmidevamma ^[2]. He learned language and scholarship from his father and trained in gamaka under Venkateshaiah, a senior gamaki ^[2]. His home, the small village of Hosahalli in Shivamogga district, came to be known across the state as the “Gamaka village”, largely because of him ^[2].

Seventy-five years of singing

Over 75 years he gave more than 5,000 performances, singing old and new compositions with other masters of the form ^[2]. He sang verses from Kumaravyasa’s Bharata, Jaimini’s Bharata, Pampa’s Bharata, Ranna’s Gadayuddha, vachanas and Sanskrit epics in the gamaka style ^[2].

In the early 1970s he and Lakshmi Keshava Sastry recorded the whole of Kumaravyasa’s Bharata on 135 cassettes, used by students of the epic at universities ^[2]. His Mahabharata recitals with commentary by Mathoor Krishnamurthy were released on more than 100 cassettes and broadcast every morning on Udaya TV for over 15 years ^[2]. He trained more than a hundred students at home without charge and helped build a Gamaka Bhavana at Hosahalli ^[2].

Keshavamurthy died at his home in December 2022, aged 88 ^[3].