JOIN USHunnime Haadu, is a theatre festival that came into being with its mother organiser, the Adima Cultural Society in the district of Kolar.
In 1995, 32 common-minded people thought of saving a rupee a day to end up with enough funds to use for a good cause, hopefully related to culture and folk art. Although it was born in an off-beat and a slightly anonymous manner, Adima has hundreds of supporters today.
Tasting success
More than a decade later, in 2006, the friends used the collected money to start Adima amidst the Jinke Ramaiah Park at Shivaganga village.
Treading cautiously, Adima began Hunnime Haadu. Hitting a century now, the hundreds of people associated with Adima can only look back fondly at the interesting journey of the cultural society and its brainchild. The hut from where Hunnime Haadu took off has been converted into a mini-cultural centre.
Hunnime Haadu is considered by the proud local residents as vast as the bright, full moon-filled sky that looks over it, month after month. And it is a huge collection of performing art forms.
Theatre is no doubt the prime form that it supports or hosts, but there are other forms like movie fests, children’s plays, dance, vachana recitation, music, songs, debates, seminars, training sessions, art melas, honouring of artistes, classes for those interested in theatre, book exhibitions, documentary presentations and stage settings also.
A regular visitor to Hunnime Haadu will get to watch Oedipus as well as Kindari Jogi, Dollu Kunita as well as dance shows from France, the open air theatres in Greek style as well as the mini, archaic and rustic stages, all under an old peepal tree at Shivaganga village.
Every Hunnime Haadu is a night of excitement for the children and even adults of Shivaganga. For the residents of Kolar, it is the most special moment of the month.
One of the moments of great pride for both Adima and Hunnime Haadu has been the presentation of the play Ekalavya Uvacha in Colombia, in 2010. Children from various districts all over Karnataka had been involved in this play.
The team struck a note with the audience at Begusarai in Bihar and the National Theatre Fest in New Delhi and also won four awards in the Mahendra Excellence Theatre Fest in the national capital.
Wide popularity
The popularity of Adima and the quality of work presented on stage has drawn students from countries including Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Japan and Finland to Shivaganga, thus converting the little hut into an institute hoping to become a university for performing arts.
Like a waning moon, Hunnime Haadu also has its own uncertainties of survival. Yet, hanging on to arguably the most popular quote related to theatre “the show must go on,” lovers of Adima and Hunnime Haadu prefer to look up to the heavenly moon and remain optimistic.
They believe that the splendour of the pride of Kolar might fall, but it will rise again and shine bright over them from atop the Teralli Hills.
(Translated by Chitra Phalguni)