Latest news with #Koodiyattam
The Hindu
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Yakshagana Kalaranga of Udupi honours 50 artists above 70 years with Suvarna Puraskar
Chairman of Karnataka Yakshagana Academy Talluru Shivarama Shetty on Saturday asked Yakshagana artists to ensure that there were no aberrations in the performances. The artists should uphold the tradition of the art form, he said. He was addressing the artists at a programme organised by Yakshagana Kalaranga of Udupi to felicitate 50 Yakshagana artists who were aged above 70, on the occasion of the Kalaranga celebrating its golden jubilee. Mr. Shetty said that the academy has been receiving letters from Yakshagana fans that the academy should intervene as the trend of many artists deviating from the tradition, especially by going out of context in the delivery of dialogues, is increasing. Yakshagana's tradition should be maintained within its framework. The chairman said that artists have the responsibility of saving Yakshagana in its true form and pass on the tradition to future generations. The Kalaranga honoured each of the 50 senior artists with its Yakshagana Kalaranga Suvarna Puraskar with a purse of ₹50,000 to each. At a session on the topic 'Whether Yakshagana should continue as a full-time profession or a part-time job' organised on the occasion, senior Yakshagana artist Kondadakuli Ramachandra Hegde said that none can stop amateur and part-time performers from performing in Yakshagana. Many debates held on the topic at various platforms earlier did not arrive at any conclusion, Mr. Hegde said. He said that a day might come when there may not be any full-time performers. Another senior artiste Permude Jayaprakash Shetty said that part-time performers can not do justice to the art form in its true sense. If Yakshagana is to sustain in its true form an artist will have to be a full-time performer, he said. Artists of Madhava Matru Gramam Koodiyattam Gurukulam, Thrissur, Kerala presented a Koodiyattam show. Kasturba Medical College, Manipal conducted a free health check up for Yakshagana artists. Seer of Puthige Mutt Sugunendra Tirtha, seer of Pejawar Mutt Vishwaprasanna Tirtha, Yashpal Suvarna, Kiran Kumar Kodgi, MLAs, secretary of the Kalaranga Murali Kadekar and president of the Kalaranga M. Gangadhar Rao participated.
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
At Margi, women take up male roles in Koodiyattam
T'puram: Three women artists took centre stage at Margi Natyagriham on Tuesday evening with their Koodiyattam performance. The show was unique as the women performed the roles of male characters in the play, unlike the usual practice of women staging the roles of female characters and men that of male characters. A lack of enough male artists forced them to take on the roles of male characters, said the artists. The play, titled ' Shoorpanakhankam ', is about demoness Shoorpanakha from the Hindu epic Ramayana. The role of Rama was played by Margi Amrutha, 29, of Karamana, Lakshmana and Sita by Margi Parvathy Pradeep, 18, of Mukkolakkal and Shoorpanakha by Margi Anjana Chakiar, 21, of Valiyasala. "Playing a male character was difficult as it required much effort to rise to the character. Rendering the slogans in male voices and adjusting the body language required utmost rehearsed extra days to stage the play with utmost perfection," said Anjana. Sajeev Narayana Chakiar, head of the Koodiyattam department at Margi, said the art form faces a shortage of male artists as not many men are coming forward to learn it. "In Kerala Kalamandalam, only one male student is learning Koodiyattam and in Margi, there is not even a single male student. The shortage of male artists forces us to go ahead with women to play male roles and it is going to be a trendsetter now," Sajeev said.
