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Home , Kannada, Yakshagana, Yakshagana raga

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Relationship Of Dance And , Study Of Rupaka And Uparupaka, Traditional Of

Module 15 – 1

INTRODUCTION:

Today the finest traditions of Yakshagana continue to survive with all their rich variety only in the coastal and the hill-tracts of , in the two districts of South and North Kanara. It is in this area that the largest numbers of “Prasanga-s / प्रसंग” (written texts) have been discovered and it is this area that can offer us today the largest number of temple troupes and performers. Some of these temple troupes have had a continuous existence of one or two centuries or more.

During a season, (November till the start of the monsoon around May), each troupe generally performs about 150 shows, almost one performance every day. These Yakshagana also go by the name Dasavatara Ata / दशावतार अट or Bhagavata Ata / भागवत अट. Ata in means ‘play’.

YAKSHAGANA TEXT / PLAY – PRASANGA:

Lord , one of the three legendary gods of the , is called Bhagavan. His exploits are detailed in the Bhagavata. The person conducting the Yakshagana concerned with Bhagavan is called the Bhagavata. To him the performance is an act of devotion to Bhagavan. The reason why the name Bhagavatara Ata stuck to this type of Yakshagana is perhaps that its earliest themes were taken

1 from the Bhagavata. This ancient work is in , but its Kannada rendering, composed during A.D. 1530, is equally well known.

Almost all the early prasangas drew their material from various Kannada versions of our ancient epics and mythologies such as the . These versions were well known at the time.

Among them were:

Gadugina by Kumara Torave by Kumara Ramayana (Kausika) by Battalesvara Bhagavata by Chatu Vitthalanatha Bharata by Laksmisa.

A few hundred Yakshagana prasangas are available in Kannada, and most of them have been written during the last few centuries. Over a hundred of them have been printed; the rest are still in manuscript form. Of this rich store, probably not more than fifty or so have been staged, and gained popularity. Though in recent decades, new authors have composed and produced a dozen or more new prasangas, the old ones have not lost either their appeal or popularity. That is because their themes were drawn from our ancient epics and mythologies which our people still cherish with religious zeal.

Going through the texts of old prasangas, we discover that each consists of a large number of songs and verses, but very little of prose. Songs dominate the plays, as their patterns are excellently suited for dance rendering. A play may consist of anything between 300 to 600 stanzas. A full-fledged play may take seven to eight hours for its performance, and shorter ones may require half that time.

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Here are the names of a few of such source materials available to the Kannada writers for composing their plays. During this period some of these playwrights often incorporated a good number of verses from such writings, often along with their own songs.

Mahabharata by Kumara Vyasa of Gadag Ramayana, Torave Ramayana by Battalesvara (Kausika) Vashistha Ramayana Uttara Ramayana (Tirumalesvara) Ramayana, Venkamatya Jaimini Bharata Bhagavata Bharata—Pauloma and Svargarohaa Parva Airavata tale Rukmini Svayamvara tale Bharata Mahatme Krisnarjuna Kalaga

Many of such works are to be found in the Malnad / मा쥍नद homes of Karnataka, as well as in its hinterland, in the form of handwritten palm-leaf scripts. The intrinsic beauty and merit of a prasanga would mainly rest on the song patterns used and their and talas. Verse forms are secondary. They are mostly used as narrative links, the dialogues being covered by songs sung in duets. Quite a number of authors have clearly distinguished the third-person narrative from the first and second person duet, because everything has to be sung or narrated by the Bhagavata.

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The nature of the verses that form an essential part of these plays, are composed in metrical forms familiar to readers of . They consist of pure Kannada meters like dvipadi / 饍ववपदी (couplet), chaupadi / चौपदी (four-footed verse), sangatya / संगा配य (another four-footed type) and three or four types of six-footed meters called Papadi-s / पपड़ी. These have grown and evolved with the , and are quite easy-flowing, flexible and excellently suited for singing. Their lines are composed of short and long , often repetitive, and so lend themselves easily to tala beats and hence to dance rhythms.

The language spoken is rather florid and pedantic, but befitting the dignity of such roles. Ordinary characters like servants, , guards, and Hanumanayaka / हनुमानयक use simple language, often the folk dialect of the region. It is only Hanumanayaka who exceeds the bounds of the background songs. He is there to cut jokes, cause mirth and entertain the audience in season and out of season.

Sensitive artists, who have had a good knowledge of the ancient Indian epics and Puranas as well as the gift of the gab, conduct the Talamaddale / ताऱमद्दऱे performances. These are popular during the rainy season when open-air costumed plays cannot be staged. In the hands of sensible artists such plays could be lively, witty as well as entertaining. Talamaddale itself is to this day a popular form of Yakshagana staged indoors by artists sitting around a Bhagavata. There are no costumes and no dances, and the dialogues are spoken extempore.

The term gana/गान signifies music and as such Yakshagana means a particular style of music with characteristics of its own, distinct from

4 the two other systems of Indian music, Hindustani and Carnatic. In course of time, plays written in this style of music came to be known as Yakshagana Prasangas. Prasanga here means a theme, or a story. Though from earlier works we can gather an impressive list of over 150 ragas, today many of them remain only in name.

The charm of the song patterns owes as much to the ragas as to the tala, the song’s rhythmic structures. They were sure of this tala structure, as the dance footwork is thoroughly dependent on the rhythmic time-cycles.

The Bhagavata plies a pair of tiny cymbals while singing, and a usually accompanies him. In battle scenes and on joyous occasions another high-pitched drum called is added. The Bhagavata may be supported by a junior called sangitagara / संगीतगार, who often lends his voice to his senior’s alaap-s / आऱाप, takes them up and continues them, in order to give him some respite. The Bhagavata has to sing all through the night, which may mean singing of four to five hundred stanzas in various ragas and talas. Nowadays the gourd pipe, sruti / श्रुतत or pungi / पुंगी as it is called, has been replaced by a small box with bellows and a few metallic reeds that produce the necessary note.

The singing is done mostly at a high pitch. The lower octave is completely left out. As most of the songs are accompanied by dance, the tala element becomes a very important part of the performance. The Bhagavata’s playing of the tiny cymbals and his recitation of the elaborate maddale syllables dictate the entire gamut of footwork. To lend variety and charm to the songs, tala structures of different stanzas of a particular song may vary; the tempo of the singing too may vary according to the need of the dance.

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Some of the ehe ragas whose names we get from ancient prasanga scripts are as follows:

Nati, Kaphi, Mohana, Khamacu, Kambodhi, Dhanyasi, Yerakalakambodhi, Dhanasri, , Todi, Saurastra, Suruti, Vasanta Nilambari and many more.

Unearthing the nature of a number of these ragas is a very difficult task, for many of them have been forgotten long ago. But since a number of them are still found in Carnatic or Hindustani style of music, it may not be so difficult to render them in Yakshagana style; only the modulations would be different. In the case of combined ragas, i.e. combinations of ragas like Mecu Gaula / मेचु गौऱ , Todi Gaula / तोड़ी गौऱ, Punnaga Todi / पुꅍनग तोड़ी, if both the components are known, then some attempt can be made to resurrect them. For example, in Mecu Gaula, Mecu has yet to be discovered, whereas Gaula is in vogue in Carnatic.

In case of such ragas like Mecu, Kore / कोरे, Koravi / कोरावव, Mecali / मेचऱी, Gopanite / गोपतनते and Pancagati / पंचगतत, the names sound native to this style. Names like Huvu and Kannada are native to the Kannada language itself and it is doubtful if old musical works would be of help in ascertaining their nature. But if such ragas occur quite often in prasangas it is quite possible that we may still discover them. Old Bhagavatas, who know such old prasangas by heart, would be able to sing them as they were taught by their . Someone among them might still sing it in the correct manner, without being conscious of the name of the he may be singing.

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Whenever the names of Yakshagana ragas correspond to those of common Carnatic ragas like Bilahari, Kambhoji, Kedaragaula and Athana, the former are almost similar to the Carnatic ragas. But it need not always be so. Some Yakshagana ragas have a greater resemblance to like named ragas of the Hindustani style. Raga Pahadi is akin to the Pahadi of Hindustani. Raga Dvijavanti is akin to the Jayajayavanti of Hindustani. Raga Husen bears a definitely Hindustani name, though the is like the Husseni or Carnatic Raga Kannada of Yakshagana is after all Hamir of Hindustani.

The talas that Yakshagana music has been employing are only seven in number and are called dhruva, mathya, rupaka, jhampe, tripua, asta, eka. The first one is rarely used but a new bit called kore is in vogue.

Yakshagana’s dance form consists mostly of the nritta aspects of footwork and rhythmical body movements—including those of the neck, arms and palms. It contains some fine postures, body flexion, as well as a few squatting, jumping and reeling movements. What it lacks is a stylized gesture language employing symbolic mudras to depict parts of speech. The few gestures and symbols used are the ones that one normally uses in day to day conversation. Yakshagana actors too use these and similar gestures during dance sequences to express the meaning of the songs which the Bhagavata has sung. Normal gestures like these combined with facial expressions, when rhythmically synchronized with one’s footwork and body flexion, can fully express all human feelings. What Yakshagana employs in its dance is the rhythmic nature of the dance language, as distinct from the thought or idea-content of the spoken language.

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Some of the charms, as well as defects can be best studied with profit, from the stri-vesha / स्त्री-वेश dances of the Sabhalakshana / सभाऱऺण. The female roles fortunately demand simpler dress and fewer ornaments, and so their body lines can appear more meaningful during dance. The stri-vesha display many or sringara movements. Charms of the female personality are revealed through various postures, and eye, neck, shoulder and palm movements. Certain movements of the lasya dance of the stri-vesha also reveal clumsiness of foot movement. At times, in the display of quick footwork during forward motion, they kick back their feet, which looks abhorrent.

Again when we consider the dance of male characters, we find excellent patterns in the performances of Balagopalas in the beginning of Sabhalakshana. Here almost the entire gamut of dance forms of various characters is displayed. What this would not cover often are some of the movements in oddolaga and the dances depicting travel and battle. The Balagopalas also do not speak, and hence the maximum use of dance is made.

If the female roles are only equipped for lasya movements, the male roles specialize in valorous and battle movements, and when it comes to fun and frolic, or to dances of a lighter vein, it becomes the monopoly of the Hanumanayaka. This sort of compartmentalization comes very much in the way of the exploitation of the dance medium (as a ballet form).

Now for the scene of battle itself, the audience, which has to bear with patience the other slow movements of a play, is swept off its feet in an impressive display of valour, anger, animosity and contempt. In recent Yakshagana plays, the spoken word displaces

8 most of these actions. Wordy duels consisting of jibes, threats and vain talk are indulged in endlessly. The characters carry with them arms like the bow and arrow (in the case of warriors like Arjuna), a mace (in the case of warriors like Bhima) or Chakra (in the case of ). These arms are not realistic but are purely symbolic in shape and are made of wood. But vigorous realistic movements, with a few choreographic steps, create the illusion of ferocious fighting. Here it is possible to discard even the symbolic weapons and use one’s arms, palms and fingers with appropriate foot movements and create a fine illusion of battle, as it is all action of one sort or the other.

There are many other situations in a play which could be depicted by appropriate dances. Krishna, with his spouses, enters the water for Jalakrida or water sport. Jayanta, the son of , spends time playing with his consort and maids. Another king may go out to hunt. A queen may worship her family god. Such sequences have great possibilities for dance.

There are set dance movements accompanied by maddale syllables that are a must during such introductions. They vary according to personalities so introduced. But the utmost glamour and mystery are involved in the presentation of characters like , or of the terrifying incarnations of Vishnu like Narasimha. Sometimes, too is given a hair-raising introduction.

For the sake of simplification we can split the Yakshagana characters into a few definite categories. The facial make-up of characters was devised at a time when the plays were staged in the open air, all night, and the stage was lit by the naked flames of a few oil-fed lamps. They provided a sort of dim yellow lighting. This dimness added to the illusion and mystery of the play. For make-up, the

9 actors smeared yellow ointment (haridala / हररदऱा) mixed with coconut oil as a base paint. Pure white zinc (saphed / सफ़ेद), a little yellow and carmine (ingalika / इꅍगालऱक) pigments were mixed with the base paint for different effects. A proper mixture of these pigments ground with coconut oil was used to cover the face, neck, etc. It was touched up with face powder and a puff, if necessary. All valiant characters and female roles used such a base paint. Demonical, or half demonical, or man-beast types etc., made up their faces in a different manner altogether.

Wearing a black pajama, the actors squat on the floor in the greenroom, before large mirrors and applied the base paint to their faces, palms and legs. Then, the lips were touched with carmine, and eyebrows and eyelashes with black. Black was provided by oil-lamp soot. In the case of elderly male roles, who later put on heavy black moustaches, the chin was painted black, with marked lines. This stress was very much needed, as otherwise the face would not show off, when surrounded by glittering headgear, ear ornaments, neck band and chest ornaments. Some caste-marks were added to one’s face too. Towards the edge of the left and right eyes, two round white patches were placed. On the forehead, a white nama / नाम or U-shaped mark was painted. Their edges were lined in red. Over the forehead, on the white patch a red spot, or a black line with a spot were described. Female roles did not use such white patches but only put on a simple red dot, a vertical line, or a ‘U’ mark.

In the case of youngsters like Balarama and Gopala or youthful Abhimanyu, Lava, Kusa, there was no black chin, or moustache. Krishna, even when depicted as an elderly person, was often depicted that way. In the case of vainglorious characters like a

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Gandharva or Kirata, the eye-region was surrounded by a red patch. This makes the face look pompous or a bit tipsy.

Certain elderly valiant characters like Parasurama, Asvatthama, also may have the red patch round their eyes, suggesting eccentricity or short temper. They wore beards and moustaches too. To signify old age, characters like , Dasaratha of the Ramayana, may wear white beards and moustaches. Their costumes consisted of glittering ornaments like the headgear, ear ornaments and chest ornaments. In order not to hide the last, it was better if the beard was wide, and short.

In the case of valiant but virtuous characters, but born of asura parentage, the make-up was a cross between a straight one and a demonical make-up. Atikaya, son of , was one such example. Base paint for his face was green and red and over it, it had a set pattern of white thorn-like dotted lines that suggested a cruel nature.

In this respect one ought to study the details of the facial make-up of Raksasa and Raksasi characters which are very elaborate. For demonical roles, the base paint is a pattern of black, red and green. Emerald green is used for the latter and carmine for the former. The eyelids are painted over with black colour. Artificial eyes are painted a little higher up, on the forehead. The patterns on the face done with red and black or red and green may vary in design. Where two different colors touch each other, it is demarcated by a line of thorn- like white dots. This is called cute / चुत. Ground-rice paste is applied as a dot. When it dries up, an addition of the same paste is applied over it, till it looks like a white thorn, standing out on the face. This cute line makes the face extremely ferocious. The nose of a male

11 demon is covered up with two balls made of cotton lint. They make the nose look grotesque in appearance. Two artificial canine teeth may be drawn at the edges of the mouth, to suggest ferociousness. After such a make-up is completed, the face is made to appear much wider and bigger by the application of thorn-like protrusions around the jaw. In female demonical roles, the face is painted with a pattern of black and red and the demarcation lines are made of cute (thorn- like dots) as in the case of a demon’s make-up.

Such dotted lines consisting of big or small cutes often form the special facial features of characters like Hanuman, Vali, Sugriva, Jambava and the like. They particularly stress the very cruel and ferocious features of characters like Chandi and Narasimha. Dotted lines or cutes are sparingly used in the case of characters like Hanuman, Jambava, Sugriva. They form a circle or a rhombus around the natural eye, whose lids are painted black. A character like Chandi in Ratikalyana may have bulging eyeballs. These are made of half globular wooden shells, with holes for the eyes to see. They are worn like spectacles. If such a character has no speech in the play, then a protruding tongue, made of red metal foil, is slipped in between one’s lips, and made to hang down.

Some early types of make-up for characters like Hanuman, and Jambava have disappeared altogether and the actors began imitating their counterparts on the professional dramatic stage. Even costumes have changed from old Yakshagana tradition to that of the dramatic theatres. Hanuman became one such causality among many. But with the active co-operation of veteran traditional actors, some of these missing forms have been painstakingly recreated. Constant experimentation, though, could help in further improving this state of affairs a good deal more. What comes in the way of

12 doing so is the constant introduction of newer plays, with no attention bestowed upon costumes and make-up.

Straight, simple realistic characters like the sage, charaka, Hanumanayaka, do not use paint for the face at all. They may use moustache, beard, caste marks, etc. These male roles of olden days used to wear white cotton cloth with a red border for , a white flowing long coat, and red and white twisted cloth for the turban. This used to give a simple contrast to the remaining glamorous and other types of characters of the Yakshagana stage. Simple realistic characters like servants, guards, Hanumanayaka, wear turbans to cover their heads. Simple-costumed rishis like Narada or Vashistha tie up their hair above one’s head, as their valiant counterparts like Drona do.

Headgears consist of crowns and peculiarly built up munda-s / मुंडा. These crowns are made of wood and set with rich decorative material consisting of bits of mirror and gold paper. The crown is the symbol of sovereignty. Normally all kings wear them. One queer exception is Bhima. Some kings like the king of Kashi in Bhishma Vijaya wear mundas.

There is a second type of crown worn by demonical roles. In a normal crown, two wing-like attachments, on either side, give it a good spread. A golden band, consisting of woven or gilded strips, topped with black hair, is placed above the forehead before such a crown is worn. This ornament is called a kedage.

The demon’s crown is a large-sized conical piece with elaborate decorative work and it has at its back a plate-like disc, coloured red in front. Its back is set with a decorative pattern, consisting of mirror bits and golden foil. But its design, as could be made out from some

13 old relics, consists of three or four circular discs horizontally placed, one above the other. It seems to be a copy from the tradition and not native. Kingly or valiant masculine roles wear two large ear ornaments called karnapatra-s / कणणपार of decorative material. They cover the natural earlobes completely.

The Raksasi types like Surpanakha, or goddesses like Chandi, have another type of crown. This is a vase-shaped headgear expanding as it goes up. Its section is ‘U’ shaped. Over its top, peacock feathers are stuck, to make it look gorgeous. A properly made crown (kirita) of this type makes the demoness’ figure look very tall.

Balagopala or Krishna, as also other most valiant figures like Arjuna, wears such mundas. But there are other types of mundas where its leaf-shape assumes a large size. Its lower end covers one’s nape and its top rises quite high. It would need many strands of straw to gain size and have to be arranged, shaped and tied very carefully before covering it with cloth, which may be either black or red. A kedage is worn before it. Ray-like golden ribbons enrich its front. In addition to this a few decorative touches are given to its top. A character like or Pradyumna (son of Krishna) wears such large mundas of red color. Karna wears a mundas of black colour and his charioteer Salya dons a red mundas. These mundas are treated differently, in the matter of covering their back side. Smaller ones have a golden tuft-like appendage. Gandharva’s mundas have the tail of a red squirrel tucked up from behind. In some roles, a veil-like cloth is let down from its center, and its two loose ends are tucked up at the waist. In some, a plain-coloured cloth covers all the clumsy trappings, string or lace ends, that may be exposed to view at the back.

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One thing that needs to be remembered is that the large mundas and a headgear like for the Raksasas are quite heavy to carry. It becomes extremely difficult to carry on some of the queer and intricate dance movements with these on.

All colourful male characters wear black pajamas at the outset that is before sitting for one’s make-up. After the make-up is over, actors playing male roles will wear a dhoti or waist cloth and a jacket of red or green colour (complementary to each other) made of cotton. The waist cloth they wear is a long piece, nearly six yards in length. It is a chequered piece of cloth, showing up red, orange and brown chequers. This design amply supports the glittering ornaments that they wear over their person—above the chest, on their arms etc. The cloth is worn in vira kase / वीर कासे pattern in case of elderly persons. It covers the pajama, and spreads out sideways at the knee caps and then narrows down below. It passes between the legs too.

In the case of youngsters the mode of wearing the dhoti is different. It is held lengthwise, and with the help of a pair of strings a lot of light folds are contrived, and then it is worn like a skirt. That is the fashion for boy-characters. Krishna who is considered an eternal youth and celibate (in spite of his many wives) also wears this type of dhoti. Actors playing Raksasa roles usually wear similar to other male roles, but the chequers in them are of a larger size. The jackets worn by male characters are mostly full-sleeved ones. For boy’s roles half-sleeved red jackets are used. In early times, they used no jackets at all.

The male characters wear elaborate ornaments on their arms. These are designed and carved out of light wood, and then suitably covered with gold or silver foil, with mirror bits to stimulate the illusion of

15 jewelry. Over one’s arms are worn , armlets and over the shoulder an ornament called bhujakirita / भुजककरीट, a silver-colored, thorn studded triangular piece. The decorative piece worn over one’s chest is called edekattu / एडके ट्टु. It is a cross-band like piece, made out of numerous glittering bits of rhombus shaped wood-bits. Its dazzling effect is enhanced by a series of black tufts of wool that are attached to its edges.

A character like Jatayu, the vulture, comes in the Ramayana play, where he challenges Ravana and fights with him. No proper attention had at all been paid to his costume and make-up. Dress and body-ornaments are as for valiant characters. To a head covered with white cloth, a beak and a pair of dazzling eyes are added. To the shoulder-ornaments are attached a pair of symbolical wings. A suitable breastplate is also used.

Sage-warrior characters don valiant costumes, up to the neck. The headgear is dropped in favour of a tied up hair-knot at the top. To signify the revered qualities of the sage, beard and moustaches are worn. The colour of hair and beard is reddish brown in the case of a violent character like , with a streak of red below the eyes. Asvatthama-like warrior sages have similar features, but with black hair and moustaches. Drona, his father, is made up as his son Asvatthama, but with no red patch below the eyes. The bear king Jambava can have a light grey make-up, with cute and black or white beard without moustaches. He wears a black hairy cotton jacket. His crown should be similar to that of Hanuman’s. Sugriva could have a grey and red facial make-up with a raksasa type of crown and can carry a branch of leaves signing forest life, as does a kirata. His jacket could be of hairy material and its colour grey or straw. Hanuman could have the same type of make-up, with a distinctive crown, its

16 size smaller than that of the raksasa’s crown. His jacket can be of grey colour and of hairy texture. Face is made up of pink and grey, with beard covering the lower jaw in both sides.

Nandi is one strange character; he must have the dress of a warrior and his face made up to look like a bull’s. Two horns and drooping ears will symbolize his main features.

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