Idagunji Mahaganapati Yakshagana Mandali

[4] Hegde was born in a Havyaka Brahmin family in Keremane in the Honnavar taluk of the Uttara Kannada district on 21 June 1908.

He could not complete his primary education because of poverty and to earn a living he had to do odd jobs like driving a bus and booking tickets.

His autobiography called as Nenapina Rangasthala was recorded on cassette by G S Bhat in 1981 and published as a book by the Akshara Prakashana, Heggodu in 1996.

He established a school in his native village of Gunavante, Honnavar Taluk, to systematize Yakshagana learning.

He has toured abroad with the troupe and was also invited to participate in the Asia-Pacific Performance Exchange workshop held in the University of California, Los Angeles.

He is the current director of the institution and guru at mandali's training centre- 'Srimaya Yakshagana Kalakendra, Gunavante'.

Under the sponsorship of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the troupe undertook a tour of South East Asia in August 2000, where they gave performances in Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos and Philippines.