Yakshagana
Folk Dance Drama of Karnataka

Yakshagana (Kannada:, pronounced as yaksha-gaana) is a classical folk art form of the state of Karnataka in India mostly popular in the districts of Uttara Kannada, Shimoga, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kasaragod district of Kerala. This would be considered to be a form of opera in western eyes. Actors wear costumes and enact the various roles. Traditionally, Yakshaganas would go on all night. It is sometimes simply called as Aataa in both Kannada and Tulu (meaning play). Yaksha-gana literally means the song (gana) of a Yaksha. Yakshas were an exotic tribe mentioned in the Sanskrit literature of ancient India.

Shri Keremane Shivananda Hegdde and his troupe of 15 artists will display their versatility in abhinaya, dance and movement.

A Yakshagana performance begins at the twilight hours with the beating of drums for up to a couple of hours before the 'actors' get on the stage. The actors wear resplendent costumes, head-dresses, and painted faces which they paint themselves. A performance usually depicts a story from the Hindu epics and puranas. It consists of a narrator who narrates the story in a song-like fashion, backed by musicians playing on traditional musical instruments as the actors dance to the tune, with actions that portray the story as it is being narrated. The actors have a limited dialogue during the course of the performance.

Yakshagana the translation of which goes " the music of celestials" is a form of a dance drama performed predominantly in South Kanara, Malnad region and certain parts of North Kanara Districts of the State of Karnataka has a 400 hundred-year-old tradition. It is a combination of dance, music, spoken word and costume-makeup and stage technique. It is a typical folk form of drama , commonly performed at night on a platform-like stage in the open air with themes based on Hindu Epics like the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and mythological tales from the Puranas. The dance-drama is similar to Kathakali of Kerala. The themes of all the dramas of Yakshagana are fights, warfare, and stories of 'veera' and 'raudra' rasas from legends; it is remarkable for its pure dance. Though described as folk it has strong classical connections. The night long event with gorgeous costumes, elaborate make-up, quick movements, beating of drums and the narration of songs by the Bhagavatas put the audience in a trance.... the total effect is spell binding. Yakshagana a mixture of dance & drama has its soul in its .As prescribed in the Natya Shastra, it has the Suthra Dhara (conductor) & the vidushaka (the Jester).

The real richness of this art is seen in predominately rural areas where even with the lack of proper transportation the villagers attend the performances in sizeable strengths. Yakshagana enjoys immense popularity and its exponents are honoured. The stage is set in the open air in paddy fields or public maidaans. As the night wanes away one feels that there is an amalgam of the sky and the earth as the singing and drumming merge with the dances of the performers clad in costumes of striking colour and contours. A visit to this region is incomplete without witnessing a Yakshagana performance. To sum it up it is a cherished cultural possession of the coastal districts of Karnataka.