Daroji Eramma, popularly known as Burrakatha Eeramma, (1930–12 August 2014) was a folk singer and performer of the

Burrakatha Burra Katha, also spelled Burrakatha, is an oral storytelling technique in the Jangam Katha tradition, performed in villages of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The troupe consists of one main performer and two co-performers. It is a narrative ent ...

, a folk art form of epic storytelling from

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

. She was awarded several awards including the

Rajyotsava Prashasti The Rajyotsava Prashasti or Rajyotsava Awards, the second highest civilian honor of the Karnataka state of India are conferred annually by the Karnataka Government on the occasion of the establishment of the state on 1 November celebrated as t ...

in 1999.

Life

Eramma was born in 1930 in a family from the semi-nomadic Buduga Janagama community, a scheduled caste tribe. She learnt the Burrakatha from her father Lalappa as a young adolescent, and had taught this folk art form to the members of her family and community. Though illiterate, Eramma could perform twelve folk epics from memory, which amounts to 200,000 sentences and 7,000 pages in print. These folk epics include ''Kumararama'', ''Babbuli Nagireddi'', ''Baala Nagamma'', ''Jaisingaraaja Kavya'' and ''Bali Chakravarthi Kavya''. Her performances often lasted for days, accompanied by her sister, Shivamma, and her sister-in-law, Parvathamma on percussion, while Eramma herself would play a stringed instrument with one hand and bells with the other. She had participated in the awareness campaigns on and polio vaccination. She died on 12 August 2014 at

Bellary Bellary, officially Ballari, in the eponymous Bellary district, is a city in the state of Karnataka, India. History Bellary was a part of Rayalaseema (Ceded Districts) which was part of Madras Presidency till 1 November 1956. The Ballari ...

in Karnataka. Her last rites were performed at her native village Daroji in Sandur Taluka of Bellary district.

Recognition

Daroji Eramma received the

in 1999 as well as Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Award instituted by

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

. She was awarded the Sandesha Arts Award in 2003 for her contribution to arts and folklore. The Department of Tribal Studies,

Kannada University Kannada University, also called Hampi Kannada University or Hampi University or Kannada University, Hampi, is a research-oriented public university in Hampi, Karnataka, founded in 1991 by the Government of Karnataka through the Kannada Universit ...

, Hampi felicitated her with the Nadoja Award in 2003.

Prasar Bharati Prasar Bharati (abbreviated as PB; Hindi: ''Praśar Bharati'', lit. Indian Broadcaster) is India's state-owned public broadcaster, headquartered in New Delhi. It is a statutory autonomous body set up by an Act of Parliament and comprises the ...

awarded her the Best Folk Artiste Award in 2010. She received the Janapada Shri for 2010 in 2012. A student of Hampi University, L. Sarikadevi, wrote her 2006 doctoral thesis on Eramma, which helped to popularise Eramma and her practice. Some of her performances have been recorded and published by Chalavaraju, a scholar of intangible heritage based at the Kannada University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eramma, Daroji 1930 births 2014 deaths Indian women folk singers Indian storytellers Women storytellers People from Bellary Indian folk musicians Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 1999 Women musicians from Karnataka Singers from Karnataka 20th-century Indian women singers 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers