KASARGOD: When the pandemic confined people to their homes, the World Health Organization (WHO) coordinated efforts to update happenings around the world. And it was part of that activity that Prof Dale Fisher, chair of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) at WHO, noted the efforts of Kasaragod-based Siribagilu Venkappayya Samskrithika Prathishtana in using the traditional performing art form of yakshagana to spread awareness on Covid and precautionary measures.
The academy has come a long way since then. It developed a state-of-the-art facility at Shiribagilu village in Madhur panchayat, near Kasaragod town and runs its own publication house. It also maintains a library and museum centred on the dance-drama that is popular in coastal Karnataka, including the border regions of Kasaragod district.
The prathishtana was established by Ramakrishna Mayya in memory of his father Shiribagilu Venkappayya, a doyen of yakshagana.
Having lost his father at a very young age, Mayya followed in the family tradition to become a yakshagana artist and rose through the ranks to become a bhagavatha, the director of productions.
In 2008, after a show in Mysuru, renowned music critic G T Narayana Rao approached Mayya after the name Shiribagilu struck him. He explained to Mayya his father’s contributions to the art form, especially his adaptations of the works of Parthi Subba –– who is widely regarded as the father of yakshagana –– who hailed from Kasaragod, and suggested creating something in memory of his father. “It inspired me to create the foundation,” recounts Mayya.
But, it was a big ask for a family that depended on their small farmland for a living. They started looking for sponsors to realise the dream and set aside the 20-cent land for the academy.
After prolonged efforts, several philanthropists including Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade and Edneer Mutt backed Mayya’s efforts. The Karnataka government also pitched in. The prathishtana was registered in 2013.
“The family holds cultural programmes, including yakshagana performances, at the facility. Yakshagana is one of the art forms of our district and the family has richly contributed to its growth,” said Kasaragod MLA N A Nellikkunnu. Apart from performances, the academy has played a key role in research and documentation. During the pandemic, the foundation chronicled the lives of more than 250 yakshagana artists from Kerala and Karnataka, including Leelavathi Baipadithaya, a pioneering woman artist and bhagavatha. The work has been published in the book Mareyalagada Mahanubavaru, over four volumes.
“It was a significant achievement because documentation goes a long way,” points out Shreedhara D S, retired lecturer, author and writer of Yakshagana plays from Mangaluru.
“It needed a well-coordinated effort to collect details of artists by phone during the lockdown,” says Shyam Kunchinadka, a yakshagana lover associated with the foundation who worked on the project.
Yakshagana revolves around Hindu epics and scriptures. Though it’s the bhagavatha who directs plays, artists have to be well-versed in the rich literature to deliver dialogues spontaneously.
“We maintain many books to help budding artists,” explains Mayya. The library and exhibits at the museum have become essential guides for scholars researching the performance art.
Despite having constructed the Rs 1.80-crore facility, Mayya continues to live with his wife and two sons in a one-bedroom house near the academy. “We may need another Rs 1 crore to fully execute the academy. We are optimistic of receiving more help,”
he adds.
Meanwhile, a yakshagana academy established by the state government in Mujungavu, not far from Shiribagilu, remains a non-starter with a massive building in abandoned condition.
