Yakshagana Bayalata (Open-air Field Drama) “Mahishasura Mardhini” – A true physical sensation!!
First ever Yakshagana Bayalata in USA enthralls audience
Yakshagana Performance in its original form is truly a mesmerising experience. Through the night air there come the tense high-pitched drumming beats of the chande, mellower rhythm of the maddale and the tinkling brass peal of the tala accompanying the melodious singing of the story-teller the “Bagawatha”. Yakshagana is a rare and unique traditional theatre of Coastal region of Karnataka state in India and has a recorded history of more than five centuries. It is a rich artistic blend of loud music, forceful dance, extempore speech and gorgeous costumes, this art combines the features of opera as well as drama, the characteristics of moral education and mass entertainment.
Vasu Aithala and a team of Yakshagana enthusiast from Houston brought this unique mind blowing experience to Houstonians on Saturday, July 28th. Under the auspices of Shri Krishna Vrundavana and Houston Kannada Vrinda, for the first time in USA, Yakshagana Bayalata (Open-air Field Drama) was presented in the parking ground in front of Krishna Vrundavana, Sugar Land, Texas by professional artists from “Sri Yakshadeva Mithra Kalamandali, Belvai, India touring US.
The Episode (Referred to as “Prasanga”) presented was “Mahisha Mardhini” from “Sri Devi Mahatme of Sri Durga Saptashati of Markandeya Purana. The everlasting conflict between good and evil, the fight between Gods and demons, depicting the supremacy of Mother Goddess Durga.
Beautifully set up open air stage imitating the traditional look referred to as “Rangasthala”, casual seating of the young audience on the floor fully captivated with the show, Vibrant entry of Demon Mahishasura (buffalo headed demon) playing with fire from the crackle and flash of resin powder thrown into fiery torches, grand entry of Goddess Durga with 8 arms, excitement of a tiger walking on to the stage from the audience as vehicle for Goddess Durga, fierce battle between Mahishasura and Goddess Durga ending with killing of Mahisha, celebrated with magnificent fireworks made this entire performance into a spectacular show. The excitement became the true physical sensation.
More than 500 people both Kannada speaking and non-Kannada speaking including a significant number of children enjoyed the performance. Keeping up with the tradition hot snacks were distributed to the audience during the show. Depicting the street stalls, ladies prepared churmuri -chilli puffed rice.
Well known Bagavatha Patla Sathish Shetty was accompanied on Maddale by Padmanabha Upadhya and on Chende by the team leader Devananda Bhat. Prof. M.L.Samaga as Lord Vishnu, Chandrashekara Dharmasthala as Shurpashaka and Devendra, Prashant Nelyadi as Malini and Devi, Mohana Bellippady as Mahishusara and Mahesh Maniyani as Dootha were aptly supported by local artists Meena Aithala as AadiMaye, Sharath Akirekadu as Lord Brahma and Suhas Aithal as Lord Maheshwara.
In their own words:
Satish Rao of Udipi Café said “What a fantastic weekend! felt like I was back home in Hiriyadaka, Coastal town of Karnataka watching Yakshagana bayalata. One of a kind event to remember for a long time to come, it was an awesome show!!
Dinesh Pejavar said “Having it out door was a brilliant idea and brought back fond memories of the bayalata performance in Pejaver some 60+ years ago!
Tara Narasimhan said “It was like watching in the paddy fields of India as the weather too was just about the same...The fireworks in between – was added bonus to the Superb group of dancer’s musician and dramatists combined- a tiger walked on to the stage from the audience as vehicle for Mahishasuramardhini- spectacular...and Mahisha’s atrocious behavior was simply outstanding”
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
