This blog documents my random thoughts on Karnataka's theatre of Yakshagana which has been my passion since childhood.....
Rangasthala is how we call the stage on which yakshagana is performed.....
Yet another Yakshagana group was launched in Bangalore on last Sunday: Yakshasinchana. There are around 10 already in the city, most of them in Badagu tradition including this latest one. I am not very sure if there is any need for the proliferation of such groups in the capital especially since they, barring a couple of them, pay little attention to maintaining even minimum standards when they perform. That said Rangasthala wishes all the best to Yakshasinchana.
As part of the inaugural members of Yakshasinchana performend Shamanthakopakhyana. Most of the artistes were amateurs. Overall the show did not meet my expectations to say the least...One who played Satrajita was heard listing out all the populist programmes of Karnataka Government such as taliyabhagya, raita sanjeevini, yashaswini, janaspandana etc., on the pretext of making his dialogues contemporary! The hasyagara used terms such as 'sammishra sarakaara'. The artistes obviously need to be told that making the dialogues contemporary does not mean blurting out newspaper headlines on the stage...
These apart, I think two issues merit attention. First, the hall was packed despite very minimum publicity for the event. Second, it is heartening to note that there are people who are ready to spend their time, money and energy to keep the art of Yakshagana alive in the metro by organising amateur artistes...
The New Indian Express in its Sunday magazine on June 21 carried an article on Yakshagana titled Headgears Get a Fresh Breeze. It is not a very well-researched piece nor does it say anything refreshingly new. However, it briefly touches the disturbing trend of the so-called innovations in Yakshagana, all as part of the efforts of 'poor Yakshagana artistes' in order to survive the odds that the 'centuries-old art form is facing in an era of increasing modernity.'!? Really? If you have missed it on Sunday, please read it below and leave your views...
The only commonality one may figure out is longitudinal. But for the fact that both Goa and Canara belong the Konkan stretch, how do you relate Remo Fernandes with Yakshagana? Whatever, the popular rock and fusion singer from the erstwhile Portugese colony has of late begun lending his aesthetics to the traditional dance-drama that has roots in southern Karnataka.
So, no dropping your jaws next time you stumble upon a show of this pre-classical Dravidian theatre and sense that its background score has an unmistakable outlandish touch to it. It’s just one of the several new ways the poor Yakshagana artiste is trying in order to survive the odds his centuries-old art form is facing in an era of increasing modernity.
Well, to hear from the man who sought to find a new-age Yaksha in the gana part of his art, let us turn to K Krishnamurthy Thunga. “Remo’s musical scores from a Goan tribal song has been a successful experiment. It has widened the platform of the theatre, and added to its vocabulary,” says Thunga, who runs Yaksha Kala Academy.
Clearly, the social mapping at cultural events is changing. Today, you have Yakshagana troupes not just in Canara; the state capital Bangalore itself has half-a-dozen of them. Closer to its moorings, in and around Udupi, 30-odd troupes keep this art alive. Plus those in the districts of Shimoga, Uttara and Dakshina Kannada, and even northern Kerala’s Kasargod.
True, these may total a decent number, but the precariousness of their existence is evident. A chunk of the artistes are semi-literate, paid paltry sums and are made to carry forth the legacy for reasons that are anything by inspiring. Its seasonal nature is another deterrent, as Yakshagana is hosted outdoors between November and May. The shows come to a grinding halt by the onset of monsoons in the coastal towns of Uttara and Dakshina Kannada, where Yakshagana is a way of life.
All these have prompted many among them to innovate and tune their presentations to present-day tastes. That way, the experiments in Yakshagana these days are not confined to corporate shows held in star hotels. They are even breaking barriers beyond: even the all-night shows held outdoors have become part of the trend.
It’s lately that the art form has witnessed a flurry of changes. “This art,” notes Srinivas Sasthan, a member of the Yakshagana Academy, “should have a certified degree course complete with scholarships. It would help the students learn the form and maintain a uniform standard. After the course, they can maybe teach in schools.” The academy is planning to send a draft proposal to the state government.
The art form is no more the male bastion it used to be. If it was men who performed female roles in the days of yore, the gender equations have changed: today, even women do male roles. Of late, there are females who don roles of demons like the Lankan king Ravana. Sasthan himself has been instrumental in this reversal of roles. He believes in providing equal opportunities for women in his All Women’s Troupe, headed by his wife Gowri. Women have brought out the essence of vibrant characters like Dushasana, Drona, Bhishma, Kamsa and Bhima in full grandeur.
What’s more, the troupe is into creating awareness among villagers on social issues — of course, using their art as the medium. They have for a while now been staging shows on AIDS, girl child and literacy. “The remuneration depends on whether it’s a solo or group performance, but on an average the troupe earns Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 per show,” he reveals.
These days, recession has affected, well, Yakshagana too. Rues Thunga: “I generally get invitations for quite a few solo corporate shows in five-star ambience, but this year the demand has reduced.” He points out that presentations at such elitist venues have encouraged Thunga to encapsulate some shows to as short as five minutes. Arguably, not ideal for the aesthetics of the art, but a challenging task nonetheless.
It’s just not the stage conduct that’s challenging about Yakshagana. The attractiveness of the costumes apart, their maintenance is a difficult undertaking. For one, each costumes has four to five parts to it — each of them made of wood, on which the zari costume is stitched. None of these go well with the hot humid conditions where they have to survive. “Transporting them to the venues without insurance or security is a big risk,” points out K Mohan who trains his daughters and students under his Yakshadegula banner.
There are of course ticketed shows, ones that are held in tent theatres whose artistes travel along Karnataka’s coastal belt to perform during as many as 180 to 200 nights spread across six months. They rake in some moolah, but off-season the artistes have still to take to occupations like agriculture for a living. “The only saving grace,” shrugs Mohan, “is that artistes are sought after when devotees fulfil a vow. Temple authorities bring artistes to mark the devotee’s thanksgiving gesture. They are booked in advance and sometimes, the waiting period is for ten years.”
Perhaps therein lies the irony. The Yakshagana artistes are seen as vehicles to appease gods — but that’s only when there’s a personal profit behind it. As a community that unveils certain aesthetics in narrating mythological stories, they still fail to command respect.
Recently I listened to the recorded version of a talamaddale held in Bangalore last year. The episode was Karnavasana. A famous artiste was Karna. He portrayed the role pretty well but I was thoroughly amused when he referred to the Malthusian Theory of Population in his what seemed a little irrelevant prologue.
This was what he said:
An economist had said that the population of the world would double every 25 years. In the absence of human efforts to check this, the nature itself would bring disasters to reduce population. (Listen to it here)
How could Karna of the Mahabharatha times refer to Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus of the 18th/19th Century? Of course, our artiste did not mention Malthus's name but it was obvious. We know for sure that no other economist had given such a theory of population, certainly not before the Mahabharatha battle in any case.
The artiste's reasoning went like this: According to the theory, the nature would control population by causing drought, disease, famine and floods. However, this was never possible under the rule of Duryodhana for he was an able administrator and was capable of taking effective relief measures. The only way possible then to reduce population was a war. Hence the battle of Kurukshetra. He linked this to a song in Krishna Sandhana episode in which Duryodhana says to Krishna:
Let us appreciate the artiste's knowledge but in his eagerness to display it he made a mess of the time line. Where was the Mahabharatha battle believed to have been fought some 7000 years ago and where was the Malthusian Theory of Population first published in 1798?
Reading obituaries of Chipparu Krishnayya Ballal in blogs and today's newspapers, I found many interesting things about him. That he belonged to the Vitla Royal family; that his entry into the Dharmasthala troupe marked the end of a long-standing disharmony between the Dharamasthala Heggades and the Vitla Royal family; that he was instrumental in getting Kadathoka Manjunatha Bhagavatha from badabadagutittu to Tenkutittu and he formed a great pair with this Bhagavatha to experiment with new styles of background music in Dharmasthala troupe; that he gave a great maddale support to the lilting tunes of the Late Damodarama Mandechcha; that he excelled in jodata (two simultaneous competitive performances); that he had highly independent views about the tradition of Yakshagana music; that his chende (drum) beats pleased a visiting Russian President in the 1950s; that he was one of the very few who had to their credit awards from both Kerala and Karnataka governments and so on.
I also heard from a friend that Chipparu's innovation, along with those of a few of his contemporaries, blurred the distinction between mrudangam and maddale beats. My friend sounded a bit unhappy about it. Of course, I am not an expert in understanding these tenchicalities of Yakshagana music but I kept wondering how all these interesting things about this artiste remained unknown to many of us when he was alive. I had been searching for a good profile of Chipparu for a long time but I found none - no festschrift, no book chapter; not even a comprehensive newspaper article. I think, however, Chipparu's is the most widely used picture in newspaper articles. I clearly remember when Udayavani carried a full page article on Yakshagana on its Sunday supplement a few years ago, Chipparu's full-size picture was positioned along the left side of the page, and it appeared so much like his posture on a rangasthala...
Of the various personal accounts written about him today, I found interesting Raj Kumar's discription of Chipparu in response to Subramahmanya Bhat's post in Ballirenayya. Raj Kumar describes the left rear corner (where chende player stands in Tenkutittu) of Dharamathala troupe's stage as 'Chipparu corner.' Yes, as long as Chipparu was in the troupe it was a great sight to see his towering personality occupying that corner with his hands deftly moving on chende. I distinctly remember how he sometimes used to play chende with his eyes closed.
As several people have mentioned, just as his tall figure Chipparu's stoic face was another distinct aspect of his personality. I have never seen emotions on his face change no matter what was happening on the stage. That was a great stage discipline and there is a lesson for some of the contemporary background musicians who keep chatting among themselves or gesturing to friends in the audience when a serious plot unfolds on the stage.
More than anything else, it was a great feat to be active on the stage till the ripe age of 81...
Listen to a very short audio clip in which Sheni Gopala Krishna Bhat describes Chipparu as a carrier of the legacy of some of the great himmela (background music) artistes of Tenkutittu Yakshagana
Read a profile of Chipparu by Dr Purushothama Bilimale
Rangasthala regrets to announce the death of Yakshagana artiste, chende/maddale player Chippaaru Krishnayya Ballal, at a performance in Bangalore today (April 27). He was 80. Ballal is the second yakshagana artiste to have breathed his last during a performance this year, after Keremane Shambhu Hegde. The show was subsequently cancelled in Ballal's honour.
Ballal, who came to Bangalore on April 24 as a member of the Edaneeru troupe for a week-long programme in various parts of the city, performed till yesterday. When today's performance (Jambavathi Kalyana-Veera Abhimanyu) was to begin this evening (at the time of chowki pooje to be precise) at Edneer Mutt, Koramangala, Ballal complained of chest pain, collapsed and breathed his last.
Ballal, who had been a prominent chende/maddale player for more than six decades, was active till the end. He worked for various troupes including Dharmasthala troupe. One of his sons is an artiste in Kateel troupe.
When it comes to felicitating achievers in Yakshagana, increasingly Bangalore is the venue. I had been to many such programmes, generally sandwiched between one or two Yakshagana shows, over the last decade. On Sunday last week at Town Hall it was felicitation for Shankara Bhagavatha, who according to some commentators, is one of the four all-time great maddale players of Badagutittu (the other three being the Late Bellanje Thimmappa Naik; the Late Durgappa Gudigara and Hiriyadaka Gopala Rao). The felicitation programme was held in between two prasangas: Thaamradwaja Kaalaga and Ugrasena Prathapa.
In a curtain raiser to the event, Bhavya Bolar writes in Deccan Herald: Choosing your destiny at a very young age can be quite challenging. But this maddale artiste did it at a young age of 12; worked hard to achieve what he aspired to with perseverance, and what’s more, he excelled at it. Shankar Bhagawat, 55, a native of Sirsi, is the only artiste at present to play seven maddales at a time.....
Read here the full article in Deccan Herald Read here a profile of Shankara Bhagavatha in Nagaraj Mattigar's blog Oddolaga
Yet another Yakshagana group was launched in Bangalore on last Sunday: Yakshasinchana. There are around 10 already in the city, most of them in Badagu tradition including this latest one. I am not very sure if there is any need for the proliferation of such groups in the capital especially since they, barring a couple of them, pay little attention to maintaining even minimum standards when they perform. That said Rangasthala wishes all the best to Yakshasinchana.
