We had been to a Yakshagana concert recently held at ‘Taralabalu Kendra’ in Bangalore. It was the first time I was going to be a spectator to a unique folk performance that I had heard so much about from my father in law, that I went prepared with my camera.

‘Yakshagana’ is Karnataka’s folk theatre form with a long history of close to 400 years. It is a harmony of musical tradition, eye-catching costumes, authentic styles of dance and acting with its extemporaneous dialogue appealing to a wide range of the community. When you witness it in person, it is a vibrant and a vigorous form of theatre art. It is unique to the Malenadu or the coastal regions of Karnataka, India.

Costume: Male artists wear kireeTa while the female artists wear pagaDe (headgears) that are very unique and artistic.

Stage setup: The play has a narator who either narrates the story by singing or through character dialogues backed by musicians on the traditional music instruments.

Theme: More often than not, small stories from the Indian epics such as Mahabharata and Ramayana are enacted.

Here are some glimses from the concert.

Abhimanyu

Krishna & Subhadra

I was completely engrossed by the performance and got to learn more Mahabharata. Appears that the concerts take place all through the night and the audience are kept entertained throughout. I now know why my father in law likes Yakshagana so much

With Yakshagana’s gaining popularity, it has begun to be compared to the opera of the west!

It is wonderful how people have their own creative ways of exhibiting their artistic skills. A good friend of mine gave me a sketch of my portrait this morning and I was completely flabbergasted. I kept glaring at the sketch wide eyed before realization dawned on me to thank the artist

Thanks a ton for the sketch! You made my day!!