The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Workshop to revive Yakshagana

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 22, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Workshop to revive Yakshagana

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: The B.M. Shri Auditorium in Chamarajpet hosted "Vesha Kushala", a unique workshop on "Yakshagana Costume" on Sunday. The workshop was organised by Radhakrishna Urala K., noted Yakshagana artist who is committed to revival and propagation of the art in the city.

For starters, one of the major attractions of Yakshagana is its colourful and dazzling costumes. "It is not known to many how much skilled labour goes into the making of the attractive ornaments and costumes. Tiny wood pieces are picked up and cloth is cut to attractive shapes and both are gelled to give an artistic touch," says Mr. Radhakrishna.

Artificial necklaces, the wheel of Sri Krishna and headgears are prepared from the artisans' imagination and skills. Mr. Radhakrishna feels the expertise in this field is fast disappearing. "The present generation of artists lack even the basic knowledge of costumes and ornaments. The Yakshagana artist does not wish to know why a particular ornament or a type of costume is specified for a character," he says.

At Sunday's workshop, Bhaskara Bhandari, Vinayaka Bhandari, Santhosh and Raghavendra Devadiga, who had conducted an in-depth study on the ornaments, were the resource persons. There was no entry fee for the participants. To know more about such workshops, call 9448510582.

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