Yakshagana art form breaking new ground, reaching wider audiences
Mangaluru (PTI): The recent state-level Yakshagana Sammelana established the fact that the rich folk art is thriving in coastal Karnataka and charting a new course for its future with more participation of women performers apart from reaching out to new audiences.
The two-day Sammelana held in Udupi on February 12 and 13 which had exhibitions, seminars and shows related to the traditional art form was successful in its intent.
The idea was to create a space for the art form in the entire state and spread the message of Yakshagana across the globe, with efforts made by the state department of Kannada and Culture and Sammelana president M Prabhakara Joshi.
Joshi, a Yakshagana scholar, said at the event that the government should pursue attempts to get UNESCO intangible cultural heritage recognition for the art form, and demanded that a task force be constituted to find a space for performances at national and international level cultural platforms.
On reconstructing Yakshagana in its entirety, he said the dance-drama art form should move from 'noise culture' towards 'voice culture'.
A matured theatre does not accept 'loud noise' and bright lighting system used during Yakshagana performances of late, which is not good for performers and the audience, Joshi added.
Tulu language and culture should be given due credit to the growth of Yakshagana. The performing troupes should think seriously on maintaining quality in performance and not push Yakshagana into deformity, he asserted during the event.
The traditional elements of Yakshagana, if lost, will be a 'permanent cultural loss', the scholar pointed out.
Yakshagana continues to be a popular art form in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru and parts of Shivamogga district of the state and Kasaragod in Kerala.
Around 40 Yakshagana Melas are being held this season also.
Yakshagana is said to have originated between the 11th and 16th centuries, remaining a predominantly male practice until recently. Many new influences from theatre, temple arts, folk and rural arts, cinema and the artists' own imaginations, have all been interwoven over a period of several hundred years.
Initially, the medium of narration was in Sanskrit, but Tulu and Kannada, the local languages of coastal Karnataka, are more popular now. The dance drama has evolved to become a year-round show performed by professional troupes, which means the audience now require tickets to watch them.
As it stands today, Yakshagana is progressively becoming more inclusive, not merely with regard to its content, form or audience but also in terms of who the performers are.
"The performances on stage are different in the southern regions of Karnataka from that of the northern regions of the state," veteran Yakshagana scholar and artiste Bellige Narayana Maniyani told PTI.
The southern form of Yakshagana had assimilated certain aspects of the classical art form of Kathakali in Kerala. Though voice is essential for the artiste's performance on the Yakshagana stage, the shows beyond Kundapur in Udupi in the north are different, he said.
The Yakshagana theatre style is mainly found in coastal regions of Karnataka in various forms. Towards the south from Dakshina Kannada to Kasaragod, the form of Yakshagana is called 'Thenku thittu' and towards the north from Kundapura up to Uttara Kannada it is called 'Badaga thittu', he said.
Both these forms are equally played all over the region. Yakshagana is traditionally presented from dusk to dawn. Its stories are drawn from puranas (ancient Hindu texts) like Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavata and other epics of Hindu, Jain and other ancient traditions.
Maniyani also echoes Joshi's views on maintaining the traditional form of Yakshagana. "Kathakali was maintained in its traditional grandeur in Kerala. Though Yakshagana is still popular and attracts a good audience in Karnataka and Kerala's Kasaragod district, no meaningful effort was made to protect its traditional form," Maniyani said.
The art form of Yakshagana, which combines dance, music, dialogue, costume, make-up, and stage techniques with a unique style and form, originated in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka and Kasaragod in Kerala.
Parthisubha, one of the pioneers of Yakshagana, hails from Kasaragod district, he said. Like all art forms in India, its themes are related to the worship of God.
A Yakshagana performance begins in the twilight hours with an initial beating of the drums of several fixed compositions. This may last for up to an hour before the actors finally arrive on the stage. The actors wear resplendent costumes, head-dresses and face paints.
A performance usually depicts a story from the Kavya, (epic poems) and the puranas. It consists of a story teller (bhagawatha) who narrates the story by singing (which includes prepared character dialogues) as the actors dance to the music, portraying elements of the story as it is being narrated.
Besides the need for protecting the traditional form, one of the topics that came up for discussion at the Yakshagana Sammelana in Udupi was the entry of young women to Yakshagana stages, which has drawn more audience to the performances in the last few years.
"The young women who enter the field are very enthusiastic and some of them have come up with very good performances," Maniyani, who still follows all the melas in the region, said.
Richa Bhavanam, a freelance photographer who toured the coastal district a few years back, had encountered women who were into Yakshagana.
She quotes in her photo essay a woman Yakshagana artiste Sai Suma as saying, "We don't remain ourselves, we completely drown in the character. The more we perform, the more Yakshagana changes our personalities. Our voice becomes louder, our walks more masculine and people say why you are walking like that."
The first all-women's troupe was put together in 1989 by Poornima Rai, one of the pioneers of 'Mahila Yakshagana'. "At that time, there was not much opportunity for growth in Yakshagana. The situation is a lot better now as parents today are much more supportive," says Poornima, who currently teaches around 200 students at her home in Surathkal on the outskirts of Mangaluru city.
At a session on women's contribution to Yakshagana in the Udupi Sammelana, Shobha Maravanthe, assistant professor at a college in Shivamogga, said: "To tell our history, we need to create a stage".
Maravathe, who comes from a family of Yakshagana artistes, said a different yardstick is necessary to recognise the work of women Yakshagana troupes.
Women bhagawata (singer and director of Yakshagana) have their own constraints and cannot sing in the tone that a male bhagawata sings. Though it is a sense of liberty for women artistes to discharge male roles, the women artistes face constraints in being in the male roles for a long time, she said.
Senior Yakshagana artiste Vidya Kolyur said women artistes should come out of the inferiority complex and work towards enriching the art form.
The women artistes outperform their male artistes while donning female roles like Damayanti and Shakuntala. "In certain scenes, the womanhood in us brings out the right expression which our male counterparts cannot do," she asserted.
Yakshagana performances, which had suffered a setback due to the pandemic in the last two years, have restarted their Melas afresh. The district administrations of the coastal region have also relaxed restrictions for performances during night.
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2nd WT20I: Shafali, spin trio do star turns in India''s seven-wicket win
Visakhapatnam (PTI): Shafali Verma hit a blistering unbeaten 69 as India made short work of a paltry target to outclass Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Women’s T20 International here on Tuesday.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0 after another one-sided victory, having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 128 for 9 through a collective display of disciplined bowling from the spin trio of seasoned Sneh Rana, ably complemented by young spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
During the chase, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (14) fell cheaply but Shafali, enjoying new found confidence after a stellar show in the World Cup final, sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt during her 34-ball knock, winning it for her team in just 11.5 overs.
The hosts have now completed back-to-back successful chases within 15 overs which speaks volumes about the unit's sky-high confidence.
Shafali's innings had 11 punchy boundaries apart from a maximum.
The floodgates opened when left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera bowled a few flighted deliveries and Shafali would step out everytime to hit her over extra cover. Her footwork against slow bowlers was immaculate whether stepping out to loft the ball or rocking back to punch or pull.
Seeing her confidence, the newly appointed Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 15 balls) also attacked as the duo added 58 runs in just 4.3 overs.
By the time Rodrigues was out trying to hit one six too many, the match as a contest was over. Shafali completed her half-century off just 27 balls and completed the formalities in a jiffy.
Earlier, off-spinner Rana, who got a look-in after Deepti Sharma was ruled out due to fever, showed her utility keeping the Lankan batters under tight leash with figures of 1 for 11 in 4 overs, including a maiden which certainly is a rarity in T20 cricket.
Charani, who made an impression during India's ODI World Cup triumph, took 2 for 23 in her quota of overs, while Vaishnavi after an impressive debut in the opening encounter, finished with 2 for 32, not letting the Islanders get easy runs in her second spell.
The last six wickets fell for just 24 runs, but what stood out during India’s bowling effort was their superb ground fielding. After a patchy show in the previous game, the improved sharpness in the field resulted in three run-outs.
Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu (31 off 24 balls) looked in good nick as she deposited length deliveries from seamers Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy over the ropes but it was Rana, who kept her quiet by repeatedly pitching on good length.
Unable to manoeuvre the strike and with the big hits suddenly drying up, Athapaththu chanced her arm at another delivery in which Rana had shortened the length slightly.
Not having transferred the weight into the lofted shot, Athapaththu's hoick was pouched cleanly by Amanjot Kaur at long-off.
This was after Athapaththu's opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne (1) had offered a simple return catch to Gaud.
Hasini Perera (22 off 28 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (33 off 32 balls) did stitch a stand of 44 but they could never set the tempo against the Indian spin troika.
Once Hasini offered a tame return catch off a Charani full-toss, Sri Lankans never recovered and lost wickets in a heap towards the end.
