Epic encounter of neighbouring arts moves Mangaluru

Art review

“Oh God, look at the blood streaming down his lips! Just see the entrails hanging from his mouth! Oh, just watch the way in which his face is quivering in fury! Horror! Horror!”

This is how the 3,000-and-odd awestruck audience reacted as they witnessed Roudrabheema letting his uncontrollable rage on the hapless, but wicked, Dussasana for having outraged the modesty of innocent Draupadi.

The art lovers of Mangaluru got a unique opportunity to feast their avid eyes on the epic encounter between Bheema and Dussasana when a Kathakali troupe from Kerala and a Yakshagana team from Karnataka staged a performance on Dussasana Vadhe on the same stage on December 12, 2015.

While Padmashree Kalamandalam Gopi Asan, the epitome of the classical dance-drama, led the Kathakali troupe, K Govinda Bhat, the doyen of Yakshagana, was on the forefront of the Yakhagana troupe.

The programme, which was organised jointly by Yakshadhwani Trust (Mangaluru), Yakshagana Kala Ranga (Udupi) and Vibhinna (Mangaluru), had the sole objective of manifesting the kinship between Kathakali and Yakshagana through a neat juxtaposition of the two forms of performing art. In order to relive the experience of our ancestors who had the luxury of watching such art forms in the light shed by burning torches and oil lamps, the show was set up in a peaceful, picturesque location blissfully away from the glaring electric lights of the City.

Laying emphasis on a comparative analysis of the two sister art forms, the ritualistic steps ingrained in them found their way to the stage in alternate order. The show began with the kelikottu of Kathakali, followed by the keli of the latter – the purpose of which was to herald the commencement of the kali or aata.

Thereafter, the Kathakali performers staged their arangukali and purappad and the Yakshagana artistes presented their peethike and poorvaranga. Arangukali and peethike both offered the instrumentalists an exclusive platform to showcase their talents, purappad and poorvaranga provided the upcoming artistes a space to exhibit their histrionic skills.

The storyline in Kathakali began to unfold with the game of dices played between Dharmaraya and Duryodhana under the supervision of Uncle Shakuni, the master manipulator.

It meandered through Dharmaraya’s pledging of everything – including his own wife – and his repeated drubbing in the game, Panchali’s disgraceful disrobing by Dussasana, Panchali’s heartrending wail, Krishna’s efforts to broker peace between the warring cousins, his failure at it and the final encounter between Roudrabheema and Dussasana, where the former slays the latter and pulls out his entrails.

The story ends with Bheema prostrating before Krishna after helping his wife to fulfil her vow of tying her dishevelled hair with the blood of her fierce foe. The poignant portrayal of Roudrabheema by the 78-year-old Gopi Asan left the audience astounded.

The Yakshagana that followed sustained the mood of the audience. Remaining true to the mission of contemporising Yakshagana through meaningful experiments, Prithviraj Kavathar, the architect of the show, introduced a few conceptual changes. For instance, contrary to the practice of placing the younger Pandavas on a lower pedestal, Kavathar put Nakula and Sahadeva on par with their elder brothers in stature.

Bheema appeared as a Satvika initially and transformed himself into Roudrabheema only during his fierce encounter with Ghora Dussasana. Similarly, Dussasana appeared as a Rajasa character in the beginning and turned into a demon just as Roudrabhheema took him on. The women characters, who normally seem to be worldly beings devoid of loftiness, appeared as strong voices demanding considerable attention.

Besides, defying the convention of assigning the roles of Shatha Kauravas to all and sundry, Kavathar chose talented artistes to portray them. The show also featured the mellifluous compositions of Bottikere Purushothama Poonja.

This unique programme, which is yet another feather in the cap of the culturally vibrant Mangaluru, will definitely remain fresh in the hearts of Mangaloreans for a long time to come. The presence of Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim and Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer P I Sreevidya added grace to the occasion.