Padma Vibhushan for Ambani, Shri Shri, Rajini; Bhushan for Anupam Kher, Sania

Mangaluru, Feb 26: The 'Yakshagana' stage in Karnataka is witnessing a curious spectacle with a Muslim woman artiste creating waves with her performances.

Arshiya, the artiste from Vittal in Dakshina Kannada district, is the first woman from the Muslim community to venture into the popular traditional theatre art form.

At one time, women were barred from Yakshagana stages.

A Muslim woman exponent on stage has attracted the attention of 'Yakshagana' lovers in the state.

Arshiya is now getting advanced training in her skills at the Kadali Kala Kendra under Ramesh Bhat here.

Arshiya, who is fond of 'Bannada Vesha' (villain roles), is now known in her stage name 'Tanu Vitla.'

She has already performed various episodes on stage and gained popularity.

Arshiya, currently working in an automobile showroom at Padil, said she was attracted to the art form from a very young age.

The initial enchantment with the art form came as she saw the role of Mahishasura in 'Sri Devi Mahatme Yakshagana Prasanga' (episode) performed near her home town.

She was attracted to all the elements of the art form, which combines music, percussion, dance, dialogues, stage techniques, make-up and costume.

Arshiya said she was also inspired by a teacher in her school at Vittal who trained her for a performance on stage during the school's annual day celebration.

She started performing on local stages at Vittal at the very young age of 10.

Arshiya now performs prominent roles on stage including Mahishasura in Sri Devi Mahatme Prasanga, the role which enamoured her in her childhood.

She also has donned the roles of Nishambhasura, Rakthabeejasura, Srinivas Kalyana, Sudarshanopakyana, Kadamba Kaushike and Shambavi Vijaya.

Her performances at Udupi and Karwar besides Mangaluru have earned her a lot of admirers, who love her 'Asura' roles, thanks to her loud voice.

Arshiya now wants to learn the 'Chende' (percussion instrument), which is an important element in Yakshagana performances.

Arshiya revealed that there was a bit of resistance from her community about her passion for the art form, but she had staunch backing of her family.

Mysuru, May 1: Four people who brought a dead man’s body from Mumbai for cremation in his native place in Mandya district in Karnataka have tested positive for Covid-19 virus, and now the administration is trying to find out if the man himself had been an undetected positive.

According to Mandya district deputy commissioner M V Venkatesh, the deceased man was a 53-year-old native of B Kodagalli of Pandavapura taluk, Melkote hobli in Mandya district. He died after suffering a heart attack at the U N Desai government hospital in Mumbai on April 23.

The cremation took place outside the man's native village after the local administration refused to allow it inside the village.

Wanting the final rites performed in his native place, the man’s family got the body embalmed and procured all the medical records and certificates from the hospital and brought it in an ambulance belonging to the Desai government hospital.

When they reached Pandavapura taluk in Karnataka on the evening of April 24, the local administration did not allow the body to enter the village but allowed the relatives to cremate it outside the village.

And since the family had come from Mumbai, the district administration quarantined all seven of the man’s relatives, and their samples were sent for testing on 28 April.

The results showed that the deceased man’s 25-year-old son, daughter-in-law, daughter, and two-year-old grandchild are positive for Covid 19. All of them have been admitted at the Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences although they have no symptoms.

Deputy commissioner Venkatesh said that in the Desai hospital records in Mumbai there was no mention whether or not the man had been tested for Covid-19. “We are writing to Desai hospital to clarify if the deceased person was tested for Covid 19. It is also possible that the family got infected by the man’s son who works in the loan department of ICICI Bank in Mumbai and visits several offices in different areas of Mumbai,” he said.

The man’s ancestral B Kodagalli village now has been sealed off. Though tests done on other members of the family have come back negative, the Mandya administartions plans to repeat their tests.

So far 26 people have tested positive for Covid 19 in Mandya district.

Bengaluru, Mar 27: Karnataka has so far witnessed 62 Covid-19 positive cases including 3 deaths and five discharges, according to mid-day bulletin released by the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

The state on Friday witnessed a sudden spike in the number of Covid-19 cases with the officials confirming seven new positive cases overnight (26 March 5:00 pm to 27 March 8:00 am) across the state including a 10-month-old baby boy becoming the youngest Covid-19 patient in Karnataka and second youngest patient in India after 8-month-old baby in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to mid-day bulletin released by the Department of Health and Family Welfare on Friday, Karnataka witnessed 62 Covid-19 positive cases including 3 deaths and five discharges. The 10-month-old baby (P56) even though had no travel history to any of the Covid-19 affected countries, officials revealed that the family members had taken the baby to Kerala and six primary contacts have been established and put under home quarantine.

This apart, a 20-year-old male (P57) who returned from Colombo, a 25-year-old female (P58) who returned from London have also been tested positive for Covid-19. Further, a 35-year-old female (P59) and 33-year-old female (P61) said to be the primary contacts of P25 (House Maid) have also been tested positive according to the officials

Besides, a 60-year-old male (P60) who returned to Sira in Tumakuru by train from New Delhi died on Friday morning also tested positive. His primary contacts, including health care professionals have been put under house quarantine. According to officials a 22-year-old male (P62) from Uttara Kannada with travel history to Dubai has also been tested positive for Covid 19 on Friday.

According to bulletin, all the patients barring P60 are being treated at designated isolation hospitals in Mangaluru, Bengaluru and Uttara Kannada. In the meantime, P1 and P3 from Bengaluru have been discharged from RGICD, according to officials.