Udupi: Mundaje Sadashiva Shetty (67), one of the leading impersonators of Tenkuthitta, passed away due to a heart attack.
After training at the Dharmasthala Yakshagana Centre, he toured the Dharmasthala Mela for the first ten years and then worked at Kadri, Kumbale, Bappanadu, Madhur, Sasihitlu Melas and the last twenty years at Kateel, serving for a total of five and a half decades. He worked as the manager at the Kateel Mela for two decades.
He was loved by art lovers for portraying all kinds of mythological characters with great skill. He was an accomplished artist who could do everything from Pundu Vesha, Royal Vesha, Dramatic and Female Vesha.
He was honored with the Yakshagana Kalaranga Award in 2017. He is survived by his wife, daughter and two sons. The organization's president M. Gangadhara Rao and secretary Murali Kadekar have expressed condolences over his death.