Heranje Krishna Bhat, Director of Yakshagana Kendra, said on Friday that Tulu Yakshagana could become an effective means of popularising Tulu language and literature.
He was speaking after inaugurating the three-day Malpe Ramdas Samaga Memorial Tulu Yakshagana Festival organised by the Tulukoota at Nutana Ravindra Mantapa on MGM College campus here.
The inaugural function was followed by the staging of the Yakshagana episode ‘Gadhayudha’ by Sri Lakshmi Janardhana Yakshagana Kalamandali, Ambalpady.
Prof. Bhat said that though Tulu was the lingua franca of Tulunadu comprising Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts, there were some people in this region who did not know Tulu or lacked fluency in it. Tulu was a sweet and a rich language. It was among the oldest Dravidian languages.
It was only when people heard people speaking Tulu that they would pick up the language faster, he said. Many people, especially women, had picked up Hindi after watching Hindi television soaps. It was necessary to have an exclusive Tulu television channel so that people would watch it, listen to the language and pick it up, Prof. Bhat said.
Yakshagana was a popular medium in the coastal districts. Tulu language could be popularized by organising more Tulu Yakshagana shows. Tulu Yakshagana festivals like the present one should be held throughout the year instead of being held for three or four days in a year, he said. The contribution of Yakshagana doyens such as late Shankaranarayana Samaga and late Malpe Ramdas Samaga was well known to all, Prof. Bhat said.
Ba. Samaga, senior journalist, said that late Ramdas Samaga always used to like new Yakshagana episodes or ‘prasangas’. More Tulu Yaskahgana episodes should be written. Prominent ‘melas’ such as the Kateel Mela should promote Tulu Yakshagana, he said.
