Chakravyooha - Gadha Yuddha; A Kannada Yakshagana: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR CHAKRAVYOOHA - GADHA YUDDHA;...

The well-known touring troupe of Kannada artists, Shri Mahaganapathi Yakshagana Mandali of Nidle-Dharmasthala, is organising a Yakshagana Dasharathriyothsava, from 5th to 14th October, at various cultural venues of the city. As part of the utsav, Chakravyooha - Gadha Yuddha will be staged at the Sundarayya Vignana Kendra, on 5th October.

Chakravyooha was a war game played during the Mahabharata battle in which Arjuna's son Abhimanyu was slain by the army of the Kauravas, while Gadha Yuddha happened between Bheema and Duryodhana at the end of the battle. This ballet is being sponsored by the Hyderabad Havyaka Sangha. The artists participating in this Yaksha Utsava are Vidushaka Mahesh Maniyani, Gangadhara Puthuru, Eshwara Prasad Dharmasthala, Pookala Lakshmi Narayana Bhat, Nidle Govinda Bhat, Kumble Shridhara Rao, Subraya Holla Kasaragod, Vasantha Gowda, Sadashiva Kulal, Shiva Prasad Bhat, Ammunje Mohan, Radha Krishna and Naveen Kumar.

The utsav starts with the ballets of Chakravyooha - Gadha Yuddha and Bhishma Parva - Babruvahana on 5th and 6th October respectively at the Sundarayya Vignana Kendra, Sri Krishna Leele on 7th October at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan auditorium, Hanuman Janana-Garuda Garva Bhanga on 8th October at the Sundarayya Vignana Kendra, Rathi Kalyana on 9th at the Raghavendra Swamy Math, Sri Krishna Vivaha on 10th at the Sri Krishna Math in Mahendra Hills, Bhakta Prahalada on 11th at the TTD Balaji Bhavan in Himayathnagar, Seetha Kalyana on 12th at the Shringeri Shankar Math, Shrinivasa Kalyana on 13th at the Karnataka Sahitya Mandira, and Lakshmi Swayamvara on 14th October at the Ashtalakshmi Devalayam in Dilsukhnagar.

Yakshagana is a classical folk art form of Karnataka, mostly popular in the districts of Uttara Kannada, Shimoga, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kasargod. This would be considered a form of opera by Western eyes.

Traditionally, Yakshaganas go on for whole of the night. The actors wear resplendent costumes, head-dresses and painted faces, which they paint themselves with natural colors and dyes, and enact the various roles that usually depict a story from the Hindu epics and puranas. A vocalist narrates the story in a song-like fashion, and is backed by musicians playing traditional musical instruments, as the actors dance to the tune, with actions that portray the story as it is being narrated.

Please contact K N Somayaji of Kannada Natya Ranga at 94907-50988/2700-5783 for further details.