Mandaara Ratna Award

An Award conferred by NEKK on notable personalities from Karnataka for their lifetime of distinguished service in various fields like Music, Literature, Arts etc to Karnataka. Following is the list of awardees. They were felicitated with the award when they visited us.

 

Mandaara Ratna Awardees

Year/NEKK President	Awardee		Felicitation
2012/Praveena Naduthota	Vidwan R.K. Srikantan Padma Bhushana, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr. R.K. Srikantan was one of the greatest carnatic musicians hailing from Karnataka. He had been particularly instrumental in giving wide popularity to the Devaranamas of all Haridasas and especially of Purandaradasa throughout the country by his accurate rendering of the songs investing them with depth of tone and continuity of flow. Srikantan performed for over six decades throughout the length and breadth of the country in all leading sabhas and festival series until he passed away in 2014. It was our privilege to honor such a proud son of Karnataka with Mandaara Kala Ratna in 2012.		Presented Mandaara Kala Ratna award to Vidwan R.K. Srikantan at Kala Tarangini concert.
2016/Sudhakara Rao	Prof. Nissar Ahmed Among the many talented voices in contemporary Kannada poetry, one that shines like a beacon, over more than half a century of work, is that of K.S. Nissar Ahmed. A Navya Kannada poet, he became a household name in late 70's for his poem Nityotsava (ನಿತ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ) which was loved by all not only because of the tune, but also because of the lyrics. His poetry ranges over eclectic concerns, flavoured by his wonderfully conversational, very insightful, observations on wide verity of topics. Nissar has been conferred with Rajyotsava award, Nadoja award, Padma Shri as well as prestigious Pampa Award. It was our privilege to have him over at Boston in 2016 and honor him with Mandaara Ratna award.		NEKK arranged an event for members to meet with Prof. Nissar Ahmed and also to enjoy his poems along with him. He was felicitated with Mandaara Ratna award on this occasion.
2017/Madhu Mattihalli	Anant Nag Anant Nag is an actor and politician from coastal Karnataka. He is considered to be one of the all-time greatest actors in the Kannada film industry with a vast number of commercially successful movies. The versatile natural acting coupled with the style of speaking (accent of fluent Kannada with a tint of coastal touch) made him one of the most successful actors in Kannada cinema. Known for his natural acting, he began his career as an actor in Art movies, then later became most popular in Comedy movies ( greatest hit films- Ganeshana Maduve, Gauri Ganesha, Yareegoo Helbedi etc). NEKK is proud to honor Anant Nag with Mandaara Ratna for the exceptional impact he made on Kannada film industry.		Invited Anant Nag and Gayatri Nag to NEKK annual picnic and felicitated him with Mandaara Ratna award on this occasion.