The green room is vibrant with a flood of colours — reds, yellows, blacks and whites — as the actors paint their faces or put on their costumes.Watching the transformation of these actors from ordinary mortals into epic characters such as Rama, Sita, Ravana or Soorpanakha is a fascinating experience for me. Sitting in the auditorium as the curtains go up, I watch the magic unfold, as the actors bring their dramatic talent to the fore in ‘Sita Apaharan’ from Ramayana in the Yakshagana style of theatre from Karnataka.The play, organised by Carnatica and Sri Parthasarathy Swamy Sabha at the ‘Bharat Sangeet Utsav’ festival, presented Keeramane Shivananda Hegde and his co-actors of the Sri Idagunji Mahaganapati Yakshagana Mandali.
The booming but melodious voice of Ananta Hegde, accompanied by Parameshwar Hegde on Maddale and Prasanna Bhat on ganjira, resonated through the auditorium as the actors entered behind a thiraiseelai to perform the poorvanga, a prayer to the remover of obstacles.
The introductory scene of Rama and Lakshmana in the forest is followed by a shift to Ravana’s darbar and Soorpanaka’s entry after she has been mutiliated by Lakshmana, which leads to Sita’s apaharan and finally Jatayu’s vadam.
The actors, in colourful costumes, elaborate make-up and head dress, enacted the story with an interplay of dance, dialogue and music. The dramatic portrayal of the actors Eshwar Bhat in the role of Ravana and Vigneshwar Havagudi as Soorpanakha held the attention of the audience. With a little twist of the head or a graceful shift of posture, the nuances and body movements of a deer came alive vividly, as the golden deer Maaricha, played by tribal artist Ananta Kunabi, was enacted.
Shivananda Hegde as Rama infused a touch of humour to romance, as he reacted to Sita’s entreaties on sighting the golden deer in the idyllic forest setting. Sadashiv Bhat’s playing of Sita was noteworthy, for it was a performance which did not have any of the awkward or crude moments that normally arise when men don women’s roles.
This show of Yakshagana reaffirms the faith that the traditional art forms of our country continue to play an important role in keeping alive our rich legacy of storytelling, of epics, of maintaining the traditional form even as they are adapted to new ideas more suited to the contemporary milieu. That these folk forms can reach out to urban audiences speaks volumes of the communicative skill of the art.
Show goes on
Born in a family of traditional Yakshagana artists with an 80-year-old history behind them, it was but natural for young Shivananda to be initiated into the art. Slowly, he realised that his heart was in it, and chose to devote his life to pursuing his legacy. After a degree in Economics, Shivananda went on to learn choreography from guru Maya Rao and also to learn other forms such as Kathak and Chhau. He then returned to his roots and began exploring the art at Shri Idaunji Mahaganapati Yakshagana Mandali in Keremane. Yakshagana continues to be a popular theatre art form performed at all major temple festivals in Karnataka. The rich colourful costume drama has also gained stature within the country and internationally. Speaking about the training process, Shivananda says, “Starting with basic steps and movements, the student is initiated to taala patterns and raga before learning complete dance sequences, along with the learning of textual content. It takes nearly five years for students to master the art.’’ Asked if youngsters come forward to learn the art, he says, “The interest is there and they do come to learn, but because there are many troupes performing, they join up even before they complete their course.”
An attractive feature of Yakshagana is the colourful and extensively painted faces. “The colours used in my grandfather’s time came from natural material, but we use zinc powder and other chemicals because of convenience. All the colours are mixed using coconut oil and each character has a colour code. Actors are trained to apply the make-up themselves. There are many costumers to create the costumes and the wooden jewellery. The head gear, which used to be fashioned of natural material as well, is now made of thermocol,” says Shivananda. “But,” he adds, “I consciously try and maintain the rules, so that new adaptations also work within the aesthetic parameters of the art.”
The dance form can communicate easily with viewers across India as the stories are based on myths and epics, but how do they communicate with foreign audiences? Says the dancer, “Yakshagana predominantly uses dance movements and expressions, which transcends language barriers. Even if audiences don’t know the story, the visual appeal and the communicative skill of the dancers always gets responses.’’
As can be imagined, sustaining the art form and maintaining a troupe is tough. Money from shows during temple festivals is the main source of income, besides some government grants and scholarships. “More consistent patronage would motivate more youngsters to pursue the art,” says the dancer.
VVR
