KASARAGOD: At a stone’s throw away from the Sri Parthasarathi Temple at Mujangavu in Kasaragod district lies a massive structure, decaying with time, roof tiles broken and ripped apart, and the monsoon rains engulfing it in moss and vegetation. Providing evidence that it has become a den of anti-social elements, the floor is strewn with numerous liquor bottles and cigarette butts.
The Parthi Subba Yakshagana Kalakshetram, the structure in question, has been left to rot despite 90% of civil work being completed back in 2013. Social activists and performers urge the state government to finish the remaining work and open the academy, so it could help rejuvenate the art form.
C H Kunhambu, during his tenure as the Manjeshwar MLA between 2006 and 2011, had attempted to establish some facilities for the culturally diverse region. The yakshagana academy at Mujangavu is one such venture. The plan was to build an academy for yakshagana at a cost of Rs 44.5 lakh, of which Rs 20 lakh would be contributed by the cultural affairs department while the rest would come from MLA funds.
CPM leader Kunhambu was to contribute Rs 10 lakh and an additional Rs 10 lakh was slated to come from the nominated Anglo-Indian MLA, the late Simon Britto Rodrigues, and other sources.
“Unfortunately, the academy couldn’t be completed or inaugurated during my tenure. Now, the project is for the current elected representatives to pursue,” Kunhambu told TNIE.
The partially completed yakashagana academy has a massive stage, dressing rooms on either side, office rooms on the first floor, and other rooms. It has the potential to serve as not just a performing arts centre but also as a facility to train aspiring yakshagana artists.
The convener of the Parthi Subba Yakshagana Kalakshetram Committee, Ananda Pai, who passed away due to a heart ailment in 2013, was among those who strove to see the project through, but in vain, remembered his son Sudhir. He said the family had to sell a six-cent plot to pay off the bills as his father died while the project was under way.
On their petition for compensation, the High Court — in 2019 — had ordered that Rs 5 lakh be given to Ananda Pai’s widow Vinodhini after valuing the structure at Rs 25 lakh, with the cultural affairs department having paid Rs 19.90 lakh already.
“But we are yet to get the money because the district administration is asking for expenditure vouchers which was not mandatory when the work commenced in 2008,” Sudhir said.
Others too had taken a keen interest in getting the academy completed, said Shankar Rai, the founding president of the committee. Rai claimed that he had given Rs 5 lakh so the academy could be inaugurated around 2019.
“However, it remains incomplete despite the academy account still having the money allotted by the government. The government should take measures to inaugurate the academy,” Rai said.
For social activists like Moosa Mogral, the yakshagana academy could have been another attraction for Kumbla given the fact that Parthi Subba is hailed as the father of yakshagana and the art form is quite popular in the neighbouring coastal Karnataka. Sadly, the structure has become a den of drunkards who indulge in vandalism, said Mogral.
“Yakshagana is part and parcel of Kasaragod culture. It is high time the government acted to complete the project,” he added.
Yakshagana roots in Kasaragod
One of the tile images on the Kasaragod district administration’s official website is yakshagana, the popular art form of erstwhile South Canara district that included the present-day Kasaragod. Though the theatre art evolved as early as the 11th century, the current established form evolved during the time of renowned yakshagana artist Parthi Subba in the 17th century. Hailed as the ‘Father of Yakshagana’, he was from Kumbla.
“Though present-day yakshagana is a popular theatre art in coastal Karnataka, it originated in Kasaragod district,” said historian C Balan, author of ‘Kasaragod Charithravum Samoohavum’ (History and Society of Kasaragod). The yakshagana academy in Mujangavu is named after Parthi Subba and it would be a fitting tribute if the academy is opened at his birthplace to nurture the art form he created.