The two-day folk festival concluded here on Tuesday with the officials concerned changing the programme venue in the last minute to accommodate ‘Basava Jayanti’ celebrations.
Lack of planning and coordination by the officials of the departments concerned was attributed to the confusion that caused severe disappointment among the artistes.
To promote the rich folk culture of the State, Mandya unit of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat had organised the carnival at Sri Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Kala Mandir. Many teams had performed on Monday, while the remaining teams were told to perform at the same venue on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, before the artistes could reach the programme venue, the Department of Kannada and Culture had made arrangements there for ‘Basava Jayanti’ celebrations.
“We were totally disappointed. When we questioned it, we were requested to leave the place and perform at an open place next to the Kala Mandir,” an artiste said.
The height of the stage erected at the new venue was not sufficient to perform ‘Veeragase’, ‘Pooja Kunitha’ and ‘Kamsale’, he said.
Whilst ‘Pooja Kunitha’ team had to get off the stage to perform, some women of ‘Kamsale’ team were finding it difficult to perform.
“We had decided to cancel our performance. However, the officials requested us to perform,” a female member of a team, who wished to remain anonymous, said. When contacted, an officer at the Department of Kannada and Culture said: “Deputy Commissioner M.N. Ajay nagabhushan had allotted Kala Mandir for folk festival and ‘Raitha Sabhangana’ for Basava Jayanti programmes.”
The department had already paid [Rs. 4,044] to Raitha Sabhangana. However, even after the fixation of venues, some organisations had forced the Deputy Commissioner to celebrate Basava Jayanti at Kala Mandir, K.N. Annegowda, Assistant Director of the Department of Kannada and Culture, said. Puttamallegowda and troupe from Chamarajanagar enthralled the audience with their pulsating performance of ‘Goravara Kunitha’.
