About the appropriateness of Mahishasura's entry

One of the main attractions in watching Devi Mahathme during the childhood days was the fiery entry of demon Mahishasura. While the usual entry point for all the characters including demon characters is the rear left side of the stage, Mahishasura enters from the front, making his way amidst the audience, holding a torch and raising a din. This would scare the children. Elders would say that the weak-hearted and pregnant women should avoid watching Devi Mahatme for this reason.

Most of us enjoyed this. I felt that some artistes playing Mahishasura did overact at this point but I never worried about its appropriateness. Recently a member of the Orkut Yakshagana community, referring to a Youtube video clip of Mahishasura’s entry, wondered if this was Yakshagana or some acrobatics. Initially I thought it was a cynical reaction. Yet, it set me thinking if these elements contributed anything to the artistic quality of Yakshagana. The more I thought about it the more I was convinced that it was mere commotion and did not add anything valuable to the art. Over the years more extraneous elements have been added to Mahishasura’s entry. In some cases, fireworks and non-Yakshagana musical ensemble are also lavishly used to enhance the effect.

Noted Yakshagana singer and scholar, the Late Damodara Mandechcha raised objections as early as in 1980 to these 'extra-fittings'. In an article published in the festschrift of Polali Shankara Narayana Shastry ( Yakshagana Makaranda page 210) Mandechcha lists many unnecessary paraphernalia making their way into Yakshagana. He expressed his total helplessness as bhagavatha in arresting such trends.

I personally think that Mandechcha was right and such elements can be refined to enhance the stature of Yakshagana….

Read Mandechcha's artice: page 208-9; page 210-11