The Kannadigas or Kannaḍigaru, often referred to as Kannada people, are a Dravidian ethno-linguistic group who natively speak Kannada South Indian state of Karnataka in India and its surrounding regions. The Kannada language belongs to the Dravidian family of languages. Kannada stands among 30 of the most widely spoken languages of the world as of 2001.
Yakshagana is a traditional theatre, developed in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Kerala that combines dance, music, dialogue, costume, make-up, and stage techniques with a unique style and form. It is believed to have evolved from pre-classical music and theatre during the period of the Bhakti movement. It is sometimes simply called "Aata" or āṭa. This theatre style is mainly found in coastal regions of Karnataka in various forms. Towards the south from Dakshina Kannada to Kasaragod of Tulu Nadu region, the form of Yakshagana is called Thenku thittu and towards the north from Udupi up to Uttara Kannada it is called Badaga thittu. Both of these forms are equally played all over the region. Yakshagana is traditionally presented from dusk to dawn. Its stories are drawn from Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata and other epics from both Hindu and Jain and other ancient Indic traditions.
Raas or Dandiya Raas is the socio-religious folk dance originating from Indian state of Gujarat and popularly performed in the festival of Navaratri. The dance is performed in the Marwar region of Rajasthan too. The etymology of Dandiya-Raas is in Sanskrit. Dandiya-raas exists in the different forms, including the collegiate competitive form. The dance style is now in a competitive format and a traditional format.
Indian folk music is diverse because of India's enormous cultural and traditional diversity. It is sung in various languages and dialects throughout the length and breadth of this vast nation and exported to different parts of the world owing to migration.
Karnataka Rajyotsava, also known as Karnataka State Day, is a public holiday celebrated annually on 1 November in the Indian state of Karnataka. It commemorates the merger in 1956 of the Kannada-speaking regions of southwestern India under the States Reorganisation Act to form the state.
Kamsale is a unique folk art performed by the devotees of God Mahadeshwara. Kamsale is a brass made musical instrument. Its origin is traced to the Mythological period.
Gair dance is one of the popular, famous folk dances from Rajasthan in India which is mostly performed by the Bhil community but found in all over Rajasthan.
Moodubidire is a town and taluk in Dakshina Kannada district. It lies 34 km northeast of the district headquarters, Mangalore, in Karnataka, India.
Tala-Maddale is an ancient form of performance dialogue or debate performance in Southern India in the Karavali and Malnad regions of Karnataka and Kerala. The plot and content of the conversation is drawn from popular mythology but the performance mainly consists of an impromptu debate between characters involving sarcasm, puns, philosophy positions and humour. The main plot is sung from the same oral texts used for the Yakshgana form of dance- drama. Performers claim that this was a more intellectual rendition of the dance during the monsoon season.
Banakal is a Malnad town in Mudigere Taluk, Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka, India. This town is situated atop the Charmadi hills in the Western Ghats section. The Western Ghats is one amongst twenty-five identified hot spots for biodiversity conservation in the world. Banakal is surrounded by coffee estates and paddy fields and known for its pleasant weather throughout the year. Banakal town is the headquarters of Banakal Hobli.
Karnataka has a variety of traditional arts, including folk dance and puppetry.
Gaarudi Gombe is a folk dance prevalent in the state of Karnataka, India. Dancers adorn themselves with giant doll-suits made of bamboo sticks. The term Gaarudi-Gombe means magical-doll in the native language, Kannada. This dance is performed during major festivals and also in the procession held during the festivities of Mysore Dasara. This dance is also known as Tattiraya in the coastal districts of Karnataka. The term Tattiraya means a person carrying a doll made of bamboo sticks.
The chande is a drum used in the traditional and classical music of South India and particularly in Yakshagana theatre art of Karnataka. It follows the Yakshagana Tala system. The rhythms are based on pre-classical music forms that Karnataka Sangeta and Hindustani Sangeetha are based on. There are different varieties of this instrument; two major varieties being the Badagu Thittu Chande and the Thenku Thittu Chande. The latter can also be spelled chenda and is used exclusively in the art forms of southern coastal Karnataka and Kerala. This article deals with Badagu Thittu Chande, used exclusively in Yakshagana of Karnataka. The chande used in Badagu Thittu is structurally and acoustically different from the chenda used in Kerala.
Kolattam is an ancient folk dance practiced mainly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is usually performed by women using two short wooden sticks, one in each hand. The dancers generally stand in a circular formation and crisscross the sticks to make specific rhythms while singing folk songs. The dance is usually dedicated to Hindu gods or goddesses and performed during harvest season and village festivities.
Mangaloreans are a collection of diverse ethnic groups that hail from the historical locales of South Canara (Tulunaad) on the south western coast of Karnataka, India, particularly the residents native to Mangaluru.
The Mising people are a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group inhabiting mostly in the Northeast Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. They are part of the greater Tani group of people of India and Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
Janapada Loka, is a folk museum that has an exclusive display of the village folk arts of Karnataka. It is under the aegis of the Karnataka Janapada Parishat. Loka Mahal, a wing in the museum has a display of 5,000 folk artifacts. It is situated in Ramanagara, Ramanagara district in the Indian state of Karnataka, on the Bangalore-Mysore highway, 53 kilometres (33 mi) to the south of Bangalore.
Manjamma Jogathii, is an Indian theatre actress, singer and dancer of Jogathi Nritya, a folk dance form of North Karnataka. In 2019, she became the first transgender women to be the president of Karnataka Janapada Academy, state's top institution for folk arts. In January 2021, Government of India announced Padma Shri award for her contribution to the field of folk arts.
