Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Yakshagana was a vehicle for epics: scholar

Photo: K.R. Deepak

Tracing the roots: Noted scholar Bethavolu Ramabrahmam delivering a lecture on ‘Telugu Yakshaganalu Mulyankanam' at a programme organised by Visakha Music and Dance Academy at Kalabharathi in Visakhapatnam on Thursday —

VISAKHAPATNAM: Yakshagana, a musical dance drama, served as a vehicle for several centuries for carrying the essence of the epics to people and conveying their spiritual significance and other aspects of life including those relating to science, scholar Bethavolu Ramabrahmam has said.

Delivering a talk on evaluation of Telugu yakshaganas organised by Visakha Music and Dance Academy here on Thursday, Prof. Ramabrahmam described it as an all-encompassing (samahara) art form that portrayed all the rasas.

He said he had taken up a UGC project on their mirroring social conditions of that time with the help of two scholars. For eight years he had worked on it and a book would soon be brought out. The study collected the maximum, 400 yakshaganas, from Telangana region and 260 and 200 respectively from Rayalaseema and Andhra regions. There was duplication of themes and content as well.

The credit for authoring and patronising 800-year-old yakshaganas mainly belonged to Raghunatha Nayaka of the Nayaka kings and Shahaji maharaja of Tanajavuru.

Prof. Ramabrahmam, a Central Sahitya Academy-award winner for his translation into Telugu of Sri Devi Bhagavatham, said the only thesis on yakshagana was that of renowned academic S.V. Joga Rao of Andhra University.

Prof. Ramabrahmam took up two particular yakshaganas to illustrate their features and his views on them. One of them is Sitakalyanam by Vatapuri Ramanujacharyulu of Warangal, published in 1936. He was a scholar but chose to write mostly in people's language to take the epics close to them. They also showcased their scholarship in a few poems. Paying tributes to the innovation of the author, he made a particular mention of seeking Kausalya's consent by sage Viswamitra for taking Lord Rama for saving his yaga and turning Tataki, a demon, into a beautiful women after she was killed by Rama to steer him clear of stree hatya (killing a woman considered a sin).

Gummaluri Indira who presided said yakshagana could be described as a forerunner of drama and first found mention in Palkuriki Somanadha's Panditaradhya Charitra. The word ‘yakshagana' was first used by poet Srinadha and Oruganti Channa Suri was credited with the first work. Simhachalam Devasthanam Executive Officer Ch. Narasimha Rao participated.

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