The Kanara region of Karnataka, comprises three coastal districts, namely Dakshina Kannada, Udupi district and Uttara Kannada. Kanara forms the southern part of the Konkan coast. The length of this region from north to south is around 300 kilometres (190 mi) while the width varies from 30 to 110 kilometres. The region is characterized by swaying palms and swift brooks running towards the Arabian Sea.
Yakshagana is a traditional theatre form, developed in Udupi,in the state of Karnataka (India), 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 theater during the period of the Bhakti movement. It is sometimes simply called "the play" (ಆಟ) in Tulu Language. Yakshagana is strongly influenced by the Vaishnava Bhakti movement. This theatre style is mainly found in most parts of Karnataka in various forms. 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.
Gamaka, also known as kaavya vaachana, is a form of storytelling by singing that originated in Karnataka, India. One person reads a stanza of a poem with highest emphasis on meaning, applying suitable raga or a dhaati, usually matching the emotion of the poem; the song generally has no established rhythm. Another person then explains the meaning of the stanza with examples and anecdotes. Gamaka draws ragas from traditional Kannada folktunes and Carnatic music. The singing itself is called gamaka and the singer a gamaki. The explanation of the rendering is called vyakyana. The emphasis in kaavya vaachana is on literature (Saahithya) and not on music where singer splits compounds words in poems to make it easier to understand.
Kodavooru is a small town belonging to the temple city of Udupi in Karnataka, India. Home to Lord Shankaranarayana Temple and many other small sacred Hindu temples, it has a long history of its own.
Ganesha is a Hindu deity of intellect and wisdom.
Neelavara or Nilavara is a village in Udupi district of Karnataka, India. Neelavara is situated about 7 km from Brahmavar that lies on NH-17 and around 3 km from Kunjal that lies on the road from Brahmavar to Hebri. Neelavar lies roughly between the river Sita in the north and the village Kunjal to the south. Originally it was Neeravara, but later it became as Neelavara.
Mysore literature in Kannada is a body of literature composed in the Kannada language in the historical Kingdom of Mysore in Southern India and written in the Kannada script. The writings date from the Kingdom of Mysore, which existed from around 1600 CE until the establishment of modern India in 1947. Many of the works of this literature written on religious themes are labeled Veerashaiva or Vaishnava in acknowledgment of the two faiths that gave form to the literature and fostered it until the advent of the modern era. Despite a gradual decline in the popularity of Jainism, authors devoted to the faith produced some works of merit. Secular themes dealing with a wide range of subjects were also written on. Kannada literature flourished for a short while in the court of the neighbouring kingdom of the Nayakas of Keladi whose territory was annexed by Mysore in 1763.
Idagunji Mahaganapati Yakshagana Mandali(Kannada: ಇಡಗುಂಜಿ ಮಹಾಗಣಪತಿ ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನ ಮಂಡಳಿ)Keremane Troupe is a Yakshagana troupe based in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India. It was started by Keremane Shivarama Hegde in the year 1934. He is an exponent of this art form and is the first Yakshagana artist to win the Rashtrapati Award, an award handed out by the President of India to people who excel in various fields. The troupe has survived three generations, with his children Shambu Hegde, Mahabala Hegde and Gajanana Hegde and his grand son Shivananda Hegde also being exponents of Yakshagana. Keremane Shivananda Hegde is the current director of the troupe and the institution.
Gaalipata is a 2008 Indian romantic comedy film written and directed by Yogaraj Bhat. It features an ensemble cast consisting of Ganesh, Anant Nag, Rajesh Krishnan, Diganth, Daisy Bopanna, Neethu and Bhavana Rao. The plot revolves around three friends who, debilitated of city life, decide to spend some time in the paternal house of one of them, at a picturesque location atop a hill station. Spending a gala time there, they become romantically involved with the daughters of an army veteran.
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.
Yakshagana Tala, is a rhythmical pattern in Yakshagana that is determined by a composition called Yakshagana Padya. Tala also decides how a composition is enacted by dancers. It is similar to Tala in other forms of Indian music, but is structurally different from them. Each composition is set to one or more talas, and as a composition is rendered by Himmela, the percussion artist(s) play supporting the dance performance. Tala is maintained by the singer using a pair of finger bells.
Punacha is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India. It is located in the Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka.
The Maddale is a percussion instrument from Karnataka, India. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Yakshagana ensemble along with Chande. Maddale also represents a remarkable progress in percusive instruments as it produces the perfectly hormonic tonic when played anywhere on the surface compared to Mrudangam, Pakwaj or Tabla that can not produce the tonic (shruti) on all parts of the drum surface. The traditional variety of Maddale was 30 cm long, had 8 inch drum head for right and produced the louder sound. These days 6 - 6.5 inch wide right side maddale is used with only a few using 7 inch wide. Left bass side is about an inch bigger than right. Maddale is available in more than three different variations. Maddale used in Yakshagana looks similar to mridangam but is markedly different in structure, acoustics, playing techniques and the rhythm system.
Shatavadhani R. Ganesh is a practitioner of the art of avadhana, a polyglot, an author in Sanskrit and Kannada and an extempore poet in multiple languages. He has performed more than 1000 avadhanas, in Kannada, Sanskrit, Telugu and Prakrit. He is known for extempore composition of poetry (āśukavita) during these performances, and even of chitrakavya. He is the only Śatāvadhāni from Karnataka. He once set a record by composing poetry for twenty-four hours continuously. From 30 November 2012 to 2 December 2012, he performed the first ever Shatavadhana entirely in Kannada. On 16 February 2014, in Bangalore, he performed his 1000th avadhāna.
Mundaje is on the Mangalore-Tumkur National Highway, which is 14 km far from the Taluk headquarters Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada of Karnataka. The village spreads nearly 3608 acres.
Chittani Ramachandra Hegde was a Yakshagana artist from Honnavara, Uttara Kannada, Karnataka. He was the first Yakshagana artist to be awarded the Padma Shri Award by the Government of India.
Siddakatte Chennappa Shetty was a Yakshagana artist from Siddakatte, Bantwal Mangalore, Karnataka. Siddakatte was well known for his oratory skills in Yakshagana and Tala-Maddale(Form of Yakshagana).
