mangaluru minister for kannada and culture umashree on thursday conferred karnataka rajyotsava award on veteran dance teacher k muraleedhara rao 93 who was not able to attend the awards function in bengaluru on november 1shanthala awardee rao who was born in kasaragod district of kerala is currently living in mangaluru after several years of service to the field of classical dance in mysuru due to agerelated illness rao could not make it to the function following this the minister conferred the award on the veteran at sanathana natyalaya in the city umashree said rao who taught classical dance to innumerable disciples is a treasure of knowledge on indian dances born as a member of a yakshagana family rao made his entry into classical dance and is successful in various experiments in the field he has dedicated his entire life for classical dance and also wrote books so that knowledge he acquired is passed on to the next generation she said on raos stint as a kathakali artist umashree said it is not easy for a person born in karnataka to learn an art form of kerala lauding raos achievements that earned him thousands of disciples across the world umashree said he should have been conferred rajyotsava award long back there are people who criticise the government for choosing veterans for rajyotsava award we are not choosing veterans for the award but at the same time we are honouring the achievers who are left out of the awardees list in previous years she said