A new Yakshagana mela (troupe), Shri Jnanashakti Subrahmanya Swami Krupaposhita Yakshagana Mandali, Pavanje near Halayangadi with Patla Satish Shetty as Bhagawata (singer and director of Yakshagana), will start its activities from Vijayadashami (October 26), when the first Yakshagana will be staged.
The troupe will start its tour from November 27, said M. Shasheendra Kumar, managing trustee of the temple on Saturday. Talking to reporters, Mr. Kumar said the temple will have overall administrative control of the new troupe, while the Mr. Shetty will look after staging of shows. He will look at grievances of Yakshagana players, distribution of roles and other issues related to the shows. More than 100 devotees have already booked the shows to be staged as ‘seva’ and there was demand for more ‘seva’ shows, he said. The troupe will be touring different parts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, and Kasaragod districts, he said.
Mr. Shetty said owing to the pandemic, the troupe will not stage overnight shows but will perform between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. The troupe members will follow all COVID-19 safety protocol and render ‘seva’ shows even during monsoon, he said.
The troupe includes Prafullachandra Nellyadi, Padmanabha Upadhyaya, Guruprasad Bolimjadka, Prashant Vagenadu, Poornesh Acharya, Ujire Narayana, and Sandesh Mandara.
