RR Nagar Brings Back Bylata

by Sanvidha Rajesh

On the evening of the harvest festival, Sankranthi, the area of Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Bangalore took a nostalgic trip to the state’s old folk theatrical practice of Bylata.

Bylata, since the 19th century, was organized by villages at the end of the harvest season to celebrate the outcomes of their hard work through the year. It was usually set up in an open ground, or as the natives call them ‘bayalu’, where the entire village could gather and participate in the celebrations.

Following a similar tradition, the Sri Rajarajeshwari Kreeda matthu Samskruthika Sangha (Sri Rajarajeshwari Sports and Cultural Association) organized a performance of Yakshagana in Balakrishna Bayalu Rangamandira,an open ground situated in the heart of the area. Yakshagana, one of the forms of Bylata,comes from the coastal region of Karnataka and is an integral part of the state’s cultural identity.

The little artists from the Yaksha Vruksha Kala Vaibhava performing Abhimanyu Kalaga.

The president of the Women’s Wing of Rajarajeshwari Nagar Residents’ Association, Aparna Basavraj, said, “When the meeting with the Sports and Cultural Association happened, we discussed about this new Yakshagana class, Yaksha Vruksha Kala Vaibhava, that had opened in our area. We wanted to provide an opportunity to these children and also let our residents reconnect to our cultural art form through this performance.”

The troupe of dancers from the Yaksha Vruksha Kala Vaibhava included children ranging from the age of 8 to 15 years. The performance that lasted for two hours included two items — Abhimanyu Kalaga and Krishnarjuna Kalaga.

“Very rarely do you see people trying to bring back the art form that existed years ago. Today’s children find it very interesting to watch the Yakshagana or any other art works. They hardly know that it existed from a long time," said Nithya Mandyam, a journalist, "these forms of Byalata must be taught in schools and children should learn about it from a young age."

Bhargav Adiga, the brother of one of the performers, Bharadwaj Adiga as Arjuna, mentioned that the kids took almost two months to learn the item.These children have performed it over 4–5 times in the past few years all around the city.

The performers await their entrance. Ideally, a Vidhushaka, the comedian of the play, enters first followed by a Sutradhara, who is the narrator of the play.

Shashank CR Shetty, a 20-year-old resident from Rajarajeshwari Nagar as well as a native of Mangalore (a coastal city of Karnataka), was delighted to watch the local kids perform Yakshagana. He said that the little snippet of the performance in 2 hours was quite good, although traditional Yakshaganas run through the night in Mangalore.

“Barring the fact that the dancers were kids and their naive interpretations of the emotion in the dance, the storytelling felt very similar to the other performances I’ve seen before.”

Aparna Basavraj mentioned that while she was preparing her compering notes, she learnt that there were different styles of Yakshagana. Upon checking with the Yaksha Guru of the troupe, she discovered that there are majorly two types of Yakshagana practise. A badagutittu style that was majorly practiced by Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Shivmoga District that lie on the Northern Part of the costal belt of Karnataka, and a tenkutittu style practiced by Dakshina Kannada, Kasaragod District, Sampaje (western part of Coorg), and a few areas of Udupi district.

The residents of Rajarajeshwari Nagar crowd behind the rows of occupied chairs. to view the performance.

This performance was a part of a bigger celebration called ‘Sankranthi Santhe’ (Harvest Festival) that lasted for three days. On the 13th of January, a ‘Sangeetha Sanje’ (an evening of music) was organized with a troupe of Janapada Geethe, yet another local art form, singers. On the 14th, a series of classical dance performances was arranged. Finally, on the 15th, the day of the Sankranthi festival, the Yakshagana performance took place.

The himmela (background artists) singers set their instruments while the performance is being introduced to the audience. Instruments like maddale and chande, both local percussion instruments, harmonium and pungi (pipe instrument) are usually used.

While these happened on the main stage, a host of eatery and game stalls surrounded the venue. There were rituals like Kicchu Haisodu (a ritual of oxen running over burning haystacks) and Govina Pooje (a prayer worshipping cows) that were a part of this santhe.

“Although the crowd and waste management wasn’t that great, the place looked quite attractive. I went there with my grandmother and my younger sister and both of them absolutely loved the feel of the place,” said Varsha Ravi, a 21-year-old resident from RR Nagar.