MANGALURU: Many Muslim artistes who don the Yakshagana grease paint are proving that art holds the power to transcend all barriers. Prior to the start of a Yakshagana show, puja is offered to the Hindu deity Ganesha. That is one reason some Muslims don’t allow their children to participate in the grand folk theatre, all the rage on the Karnataka coast. However, quite a few Muslims see no problem with the prayer, and are passionate about the art.
Mohammed Ghouse, a resident of Kavradi near Nellikatte in Kundapur, has been a Yakshagana practitioner for five decades. His parents sent him to Saudi Arabia for work, hoping that would dampen his passion for Yakshagana. He worked for seven years in that country, but Yakshagana beckoned, and he returned.
Other problems cropped up. His relatives refused to mix with him. They wouldn’t offer grooms for his sisters. “Call it providence or Allah’s will, all my sisters were eventually married into good families,” he says.
As an artiste of the Madamakki Veerabhadreshwara Yakshagana troupe, and also his own Yaksha Saurabha Pravasi Mela, he performs lead roles, like Veeramani in Veeramani Kalaga, Bhasmasura in Bhasmasura-Mohini, Jayanta in Vidyunmathi Kalyana, and Arjuna in Krishna Garudi.
Ghouse performs in both styles of Yakshagana—Thenku Thittu and Badagu Thittu— and has shared the stage with stalwarts like Chittani Ramachandra Hegde, Lakshminarayana Samaga, Govinda Bhat, and Siddakatte Chennappa Shetty.
“Caste and religion are man-made. As I have the blessings of Allah and the Hindu deities, I am able to perform Yakshagana. I will be in Yakshagana till my last breath,” Ghouse told The Sunday Standard.
Jabbar Samo is another name to reckon with. He hails from Sampaje in Sullia taluk, and has been a Yakshagana artiste for four decades. When Jabbar was studying in Kallugundi Primary School in Sampaje, many Yakshagana troupes visited the area, and instilled in him an awe of the art.
Jabbar has won the appreciation of Yakshagana heavyweights such as Sheni Gopalakrishna Bhat, Malpe Ramadasa Samaga, Kumble Sundar Rao, and Siddakatte Chennappa Shetty.
Mohammed Ashfaq Hussain (22) is prominent among the younger crop. He scored 90 per cent marks in his SSLC exams and joined Alva’s College in Moodbidri after he came to know it gave importance for the study of Yakshagana.
Ashfaq excels at female roles and has won an award for best female actor in an inter-collegiate competition. He performs Lakshmi in Sudarshana Vijaya, and Malini in Devi Mahatme. Ashfaq has studied both Thenku and Badagu styles of Yakshagana. Ashfaq says caste and religion should not pose a hurdle to anyone inspired by an art. On the communally sensitive coast, these much-loved Muslim artistes are paving the way to greater understanding.