Sukri Bommanagowda is a folk singer belonging to the

Halakki Vokkaliga The Halakki-Vokkalu (, also transliterated as Halwakki-Wakkal and Halakki-Vokkaliga) are an indigenous tribe of Karnataka, India.:Halwakki Wakkal is an agricultural class, who are relatively poor. Gam Vokkalu, Kare Vokkalu and Atte Vokkalu are g ...

tribe in Ankola , Karnataka ,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. She has received several awards, including the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, one of India's highest civilian honours, for her contributions to the arts, and her work in preserving traditional tribal music.

Life

Bommagowda was born into the

tribe, in Badigeri, in

Uttara Kannada Uttara Kannada is a district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Uttara Kannada District is a major coastal district of Karnataka, and currently holding the title of the largest district in Karnataka. It is bordered by the state of Goa and Bela ...

, and was married at the age of 16. She and her husband had two children, and adopted another child.

Career

Bommagowda was taught to sing as a child by her mother, and has worked to preserve the traditional music and songs of the Halakki Vokkaliga tribe. Following the death of her husband, she began performing traditional music of the

tribe in Karnataka. She teaches traditional music and songs to members of her tribe. She has been described as the "nightingale of Halakki". Bommagowda has been publicly recognised for her work in preserving a large corpus of tribal songs as part of an oral tradition.

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

, India's national broadcast radio, and the Karnataka Janapada Academy have been working with Bommagowda to record, translate, and preserve these songs. In 1988 her work was recognised by the Karnataka State government, and she has since been the recipient of multiple state awards and honours for her contributions to arts and music, including the Nadoja Award, and the Janapada Shri Award. In 2017, her work gained national recognition when she was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honours, for her contributions to music. In addition to her work in music, Bommagowda became a member of the

gram panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

, a

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

body, in Badigeri, Karnataka. Although illiterate herself, she has campaigned for literacy, especially among girls, and also has campaigned for a ban against alcohol in her area, following the deaths of her adopted son from

alcohol poisoning Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ps ...

Awards

In popular culture

Bommagowda is featured in a Karnataka middle school textbook, in relation to her contributions to music.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bommagiwda, Sukri Living people People from Karnataka People from Uttara Kannada Indian musicians Recipients of the Padma Shri Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Year of birth missing (living people)