Yakshagana

Yakshagana

Subject – Art and Culture

Context – A Yakshagana play with an artist performing all the roles of a ‘prasanga’ (episode) is on the verge of making it to the over-the-top (OTT) platform for the first time.

Concept –

• Yakshagana is a traditional theatre form of
• It is a temple artform that depicts mythological stories and Puranas.
• It is performed with massive headgears, elaborate facial make-up and vibrant costumes and ornaments.
• Usually recited in Kannada, it is also performed in Malayalamas well as Tulu (the dialect of south Karnataka).
• It is performed with percussion instruments like chenda, maddalam, jagatta or chengila (cymbals) and chakratala or elathalam (small cymbals).
• The most popular episodes are from the Mahabharatae. Draupadi swayamvar, Subhadra vivah, etc. and from Ramayanai.e. Rajyabhishek, Lav-Kush yuddh, etc.
• Yakshagana is performed in open-air theatres.
• It is usually performed in the village paddy fields after the winter crop has been harvested.
• Yakshagana is traditionally presented from dusk to dawn.
• Earlier days, the Yakshagana theatre was known as Bhagavatara attar, which revolved round the stories of Lord Krishna and Vishnu