What were previously all-night performances are now shortened to two-three hour episodes for the Bangalore audience.
At a time when societies in the East are making their presence felt elsewhere in the world, there is no reason why highly evolved performing art forms such as Yakshagana should be confined to small pockets in coastal parts of the state like Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. Yakshagana is now fast becoming popular in Bangalore — the land of Bayalata and Karaga, making it more popular here than in its birthplace, Mangalore.
Yakshagana ballets now play regularly at venues like Ravindra Kalakshetra, Town hall, Max Muller Bhavan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Jnana Jyoti Auditorium and for the last three years at Ranga Shankara.
A Yakshagana performance usually is an all-night affair, but in the city it is restricted to two-hour episodes, understandably for want of time among Bangaloreans. "To come from Rajarajeshwarinagar to Town Hall to watch a Yakshagana episode takes up an entire day for us," says Kaveriappa. "I got introduced to it in 1991 by my neighbour Hebbar who is from Udupi. Now, 19 years later, he and I do not miss even a single episode in Bangalore."
H Sridhar Hande and Karkada Srinivas Udupa played a pivotal role in popularising Yakshagana in the city and have found a new cache of Yakshagana lovers. "They love Yakshagana ballets on themes taken from Ramayana and Mahabharata. Some of the most popular ones were Bheeshmarjuna Kalaga, Sudhanwarjuna in Mahabharata and other episodes including Narakasura Vadhe, Devi Mahatme and Shivarathri Mahatme. All the shows we held in Bangalore so far have been full. The one episode we organised at Ranga Shankara on February 11 on Veera Vrishasena saw a hall that was filled half an hour before the show began."
"The storyline has to be laced with Bhagavathike (singing), Arthagarike (interpretation), Lasya and Thandava. To edit or write a short episode is extremely difficult but we have done so to suit the convenience of the Bangalore audience," says Hande.
The groups from Mangalore, Udupi and Sirsi that regularly play in Bangalore say they are pleasantly surprised when well-known personalities like UR Ananthamurthy, Girish Karnad and, Arundati Nag, Girish Kasarvalli, Nagathihalli Chandrashekar and Chandrashekar Patil are seen among the audience. Theatre personalities Ashwath and Chindodi Leela also used to be regulars at Yakshgana performances.
The art form is gaining prominence at the national level with the Academy of Thenku Thittu Yakshagana (ATTY), started by a small group of Kannadigas settled in New Delhi. Earlier, the Academy of General Education in Manipal had set up `Yaksharanga' under MGM College, Udupi.
The IT professionals in the city too have developed an interest in the artform. Yakshagana troupes are now invited at least once every year to IT campuses for a performance. Sudha Murthy, wife of Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy is said to be a fan of Yakshagana.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}