Balappa Hukkeri ( kn, ಬಾಳಪ್ಪ ಹುಕ್ಕೇರಿ) (1911–1992) was a singer of

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

s and

Bhavageete ''Bhaavageete'' or ''Bhavageeth'' (literally 'emotion poetry') is a form of poetry and pop music in India. Most of the poetry sung in this genre pertain to subjects like love, nature and philosophy, and the genre itself is not much different from ...

s in

Kannada language Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native sp ...

and a freedom fighter in his early years. He is mainly credited for popularizing

Sugama Sangeetha Sugama Sangeetha, a variety of Bhavageethe, is an Indian musical genre in which poetry in the Kannada language is set to music. It gained recognition with the work of P. Kalinga Rao in the mid -20th century. Mysore Ananthaswamy and C. Aswath ...

in North Karnataka, just like P. Kalinga Rao who popularized the art form in South Karnataka. Several prestigious awards have been conferred to him including Sangeet Natak Academy award and ''"Karnataka Sangeeta Nataka Academy Award"''. Balappa was fondly called as ''‛Saavira Haadugala Saradara''’ (Eng: 'The champion/custodian of thousand songs').

Early life

Balappa was born in ''Murgod'', a small village in savadatti of Belagavi district. He was named after his musician uncle. Balappa was drawn to theater at an early age due to family influence and started participating in local drama companies as an actor-singer. Even though he started training in Hindustani music by ''Shivalingiah Gavai'', his interests were inclined towards lighter form of the music such as theater songs,

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

abhangs,

vachana Vachana sahitya is a form of rhythmic writing in Kannada (see also Kannada poetry) that evolved in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th century, as a part of the Sharana movement. Madara Chennaiah, an 11th-century cobbler-saint who lived ...

s and folk songs.

Singing career

In his thirties, Balappa participated in Indian freedom movement. He was going from village to village singing patriotic songs for which he was arrested and jailed for six months. He gave away family's gold and silver to the National security fund during India's war with China. He also worked as a field worker in the Department of Agriculture, travelling from village to village, singing songs on farming methods and family planning. During this time Balappa was drawn towards the writing of Navodaya writers in Kannada such as D.R. Bendre, Betageri Krishnasharma and Anandakanda and started singing

s based on their poems. Balappa's singing style was unique mainly because of the way he wove both the elements of classical and folk traditions into it. He used to travel to remote villages in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

to collect folk songs. He never wrote down folk songs and knew hundreds of them by rote. During his singing career Balappa never used anything but a

Tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

and Harmonium for accompaniment.

Awards and honours

* Sangeet Natak Academy award – 1980

References

1911 births 1992 deaths Indian male folk singers People from Belgaum Kannada people Singers from Karnataka 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian male singers {{India-singer-stub

Early life

Singing career

Awards and honours

Further reading

References