Balappa Hukkeri () (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 ca ...

s and Bhavageetes in

Kannada language Kannada () is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, an ...

and a

freedom fighter A freedom fighter is a person engaged in a struggle to achieve political freedom, particularly against an established government. The term is typically reserved for those who are actively involved in armed or otherwise violent rebellion. Termi ...

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. Aswa ...

North Karnataka North Karnataka (kannada: ಉತ್ತರ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ''Transliteration: Uttara Karnataka'') is a geographical region in Deccan plateau from elevation that constitutes the region of the Karnataka state in India and the region consi ...

, just like

P. Kalinga Rao Pandeshwara Kalinga Rao (1914 – 21 September 1981) was an Indian Bhavageete and Sugama Sangeetha singer and composer in the Kannada language. Biography Kalinga Rao was married to Meenakshamma (d. 2015). They had four children together: ...

who popularized the art form in South Karnataka. Several prestigious awards have been conferred to him including

Sangeet Natak Academy Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

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 Belagavi district, formerly also known as Belgaum district, is a district in the state of Karnataka, India. The district is known as the sugar bowl of Karnataka with hectares being used for commercial production. It has overtaken Mandya distri ...

. 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 Hindustani classical music is the Indian classical music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent's northern regions. It may also be called North Indian classical music or ''Uttar Bhartiya shastriya sangeet''. The term ''shastriya sangeet'' ...

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 people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

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. The word "vachanas" literally means "(that which is) sa ...

s and folk songs.

Singing career

In his thirties, Balappa participated in

Indian freedom movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic movement to ...

. 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 Dattātreya Rāmachandra Bēndre (31 January 1896 – 26 October 1981), popularly known as Da Rā Bēndre, is generally considered the greatest Kannada lyric poet of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the history of Kannad ...

, Betageri Krishnasharma and Anandakanda and started singing Bhavageetes 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 ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

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'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

and

Harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

for accompaniment.

Awards and honours

award – 1980

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hukkeri, Balappa 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

Early life

Singing career

Awards and honours

Further reading

References