UDUPI: Sudhakar Acharya, a lover of art and organiser of ‘talamaddale’, has a deep respect for India’s freedom struggle. Acharya (62) has organised ‘talamaddale’ with the plots revolving around the freedom struggle, Independence, accession of Hyderabad in 1948 and even contemporary developments like abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, that had bestowed special status on Jammu and Kashmir.
Talamaddale is a form of art where impromptu debates take place between characters, and where oratory skills alone help story narration. Generally, the plots are woven around characters drawn from mythology, and there about 100 such plots.
But Acharya’s journey has been different. His love for talamaddale began a few decades ago, and he organised the first one on August 15, 1990. It was the year of his marriage with Amitha Acharya. The ‘Magadha Vadhe’ plot was narrated with eminent artistes. Since 1990, he has been organising talamaddale every year, except in the pandemic year.
Acharya, who is into advertising and real estate business in Udupi, was by chance drawn to organise a plot that revolved around freedom and Independence, in 2016. He has felicitated many senior Yakshagana artistes and family members of freedom fighters.
How he came to incorporate historical events into talamaddale is an interesting tale. The owner of an Ayurvedic medicine shop -- Sudheendra Theertha Oushadha Bhandara in Car Street, Udupi -- brought to Acharya’s notice that a talamaddale was organised on August 14, 1947 (from 8pm to 12am) in front of the historic Sri Anantheshwara Temple in Car Street, Udupi. The plot narrated then was ‘Swarajya Vijaya’, for which the script was written by M V Hegde, a newspaper editor.
With this information, Acharya contacted U Vinith Rao, coordinator at Gandhian Study Centre (GSC), MGM College, Udupi, for more details from the archives. When he got all the material in 2015, he decided to organise ‘Swarajya Vijaya’ talamaddale on August 14, 2016, the 70th year of Independence and silver jubilee of his talamaddale journey. Acharya also got ‘Prasanga Pusthaka’, a reference book containing the script of ‘Swarajya Vijaya’ plot, for which he had approached Prof M L Samaga, former president of the Karnataka Yakshagana Bayalata Academy.
Pejavar Mutt seer Sri Vishwesha Theertha Swami’s fifth paryaya stint had begun in January 2016 and Acharya had approached the senior pontiff to know how the historic event of ‘Swarajya Vijaya’ talamaddale can be recreated. The senior pontiff was present during the ‘Swarajya Vijaya’ talamaddale in front of Sri Anantheshwara Temple on the night of August 14, 1947, and the recreated version on August 14, 2016. Around 2,000 people participated and understood the importance of the historic event of India gaining freedom, and the struggle behind it.
During this event, late Sri Vishwesha Theertha Swami revealed that the ‘Hyderabad Vijaya’ talamaddale plot was presented in the ‘Bhojana Shala’ (dining hall) of Sri Krishna Mutt in 1948, and asked Sudhakar Acharya if could organise the ‘Hyderabad Vijaya’ talamaddale focusing on the accession of Hyderabad to the Indian Union. Acharya followed the seer’s instruction and organised ‘Hyderabad Vijaya’ in Udupi in 2017. After Article 370 was abrogated on August 5, 2019, Acharya decided to organise ‘Kashmira Vijaya’. Prof Pavan Kirankere wrote the script for ‘Kashmira Vijaya’ and Acharya organised it in Udupi and Mangaluru in January this year.
Acharya said he is happy that with the support of his family members and Yakshagana art lovers, he has rekindled patriotism among the people through talamaddale. M L Samaga told TNSE that presenting historical events through talamaddale is challenging, as the artistes need to study the historical background and facts.
“Several characters like that of Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Lord Mountbatten, Nizam of Hyderabad, Satya Pal Malik, former governor of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state and Centre’s special representative for Kashmir Dineshwar Sharma are portrayed in these three plots of talamaddale,’’ he added.
Prof Pavan Kirankere told TNSE that in ‘Kashmira Vijaya’ talamaddale, both aspects are presented to the audience -- those in support of abrogation of Article 370 and those who seek to restore special status to Jammu and Kashmir, while the theme centres around the fact that Kashmir is an integral part of India.
MARK THESE DATES
‘Kashmira Vijaya’ talamaddale will be organised in Udupi on August 15, in Puttur (Dakshina Kannada district) on August 19, and at Kumbhashi Sri Vinayaka Temple on September 18