JOIN USThey keep roaming from village to village singing the story of Lord Manteswamy, ‘that great man on earth’. Along with singing in street after street, these singers — known as Neelagaras — also double as counsellors and moral instructors to the community at large. Once found in large numbers across South Karnataka with a rich heritage of folk singing, they have now become a rare tribe facing the threat of being forgotten. “We are losing one of the finest traditions. Neelagaras are unique torchbearers of culture. It’s time to preserve this rare folk art,” laments Sundar Kenaje, a folk culture expert. Neelagaras are the traditional singers of Lord Manteswamy’s life history. Apart from narrating the exploits of Lord Manteswamy, they also narrate the story of his disciples like Siddappaji and Rachappaji.
Leading the way with bhakti
“Neelagara is a person who has an ear for music and also has devotion for Lord Manteswamy,” says Hanur Krishnamurthy, a renowned folk expert who has studied the tradition of Neelagaras for many decades. “Once, they were the backbone of the socio-cultural life in South Karnataka.”
Lord Manteswamy is a cultural and religious leader worshipped in Chamarajanagar, Mysuru, Mandya, Ramanagara, Bengaluru urban and rural, and Hassan districts. A man of many miracles, Manteswamy’s story is full of victories over many demons and evil forces. But the story of Manteswamy is a bit different from other mythological characters, where the heroic character engages in the battle of evil and good.
Manteswamy is said to have liberated the art of manufacturing iron ploughs, a tool essential for agriculture. It is said that a family of blacksmiths had gained monopoly over the making of the iron plough, which caused difficulty for ordinary people to procure them. Lord Manteswamy facilitated the dissemination of this technology by winning over Siddapaji, a son of the blacksmith family, as his disciple! “The liberation of the iron plough manufacturing technology from the clutches of a few is really a major social revolution,” says Sundar. “Probably, this is the strongest reason for the common people to accept him as the ‘lord of the lords’.” Interestingly, very little is known about this unique social revolution.
Manteswamy is said to have come from the northern Karnataka. As per tradition, Manteswamy is none other than Allama Prabhu himself, one of the leading lights of the 12th-century Veerashaiva movement of Kalyana. “Manteswamy is the light from Kalyana who entered the dark world of the South,” sing the Neelagaras.
Manteswamy holds importance from the socio-psychological angle too. According to stories, Manteswamy advocated that simple devotion is enough to attain moksha. He challenges the tradition of Vedic worship that is facilitated by trained priests. “Manteswamy is a social reformer of the highest degree,” opines Mahadeva Shankanapura, an expert in folk studies of Manteswamy tradition.
Revival of the art
“What a Neelagara needs is an ear for basic ragas and devotion to Lord Manteswamy. With continuous training, one can gain the stamina needed to sing continuously for hours in the night,” says
Malavalli Mahadevaswamy, a renowned Neelagara artiste. “Unfortunately, with growing modernisation, many are not coming forward to learn this style of music and become part of the tradition,” he feels.
The Neelagaras are most active between the months of January and March. Soon after Sankranti,
the devotees assemble at Chikkaloor, a village near Kollegala in Chamarajanagar to offer their respects to Manteswamy. All the Neelagaras assemble here and offer their respects by singing the story of Manteswamy. Then, together the pilgrimage moves to Bappegowdanapura near Malavalli and later on to Kappadi near K R Nagara. The pilgrimage ends on Ugadi with the pilgrims returning to their native places from Kappali.
“Unless a proper support system is put in place for the Neelagaras, it is really difficult to save this unique cultural tradition,” says Hi Shi Ramachandregowda, a folk expert from the University of Mysore.
Though the Government of Karnataka has been offering financial support through the Department of Kannada and Culture, nothing substantial has been achieved, say experts in the field. “What is needed is a sustainable and systematic effort to nurture the tradition by facilitating a favourable learning environment along with financial benefits,” says Sundar. “Otherwise,” he says, “modernisation eats into the Neelagara tradition and our society is bound to lose a unique tradition in near future.”
Recently, the Kannada Development Authority produced a documentary titled Maathina Mahakavya in an effort to preserve this unique cultural tradition. In order to disseminate the importance of this musical tradition to all, the documentary has been put online as well.
In spite of all these efforts, probably time is really running out for this unique social, religious and cultural tradition of Karnataka to save itself from the juggernaut of modernisation.