North Karnataka hues dazzle in B'lore

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“We have organised the event for the first time in Bangalore. It’s an opportunity to hear folk songs expressing love and praising laurels upon lover. These songs are sung only once a year and are on the verge of disappearance. Those from North Karnataka region will be hearing the songs for the first time in their life,” Uttara Karnataka Nagarika Abhivriddhi Sangh president Dr Chandrashekhar Sambrani told Deccan Herald.

The Sangha has organised the event in association with the Department of Kannada and Culture. Chief attraction is Sawaj-Jawab, where a question is asked by one team and the answer is given by another team.

A four member team led by Shekhar Gowda from Shirol village in Gadag district and another team led by B J Desai from Kudarisalwadgi village in Bijapur district will perform Sawal-Jawab. “Gowda and Desai, both illiterate, have wonderful stock of folk literature pertaining to Holi. They sing those songs only once a year.

They have such a wonderful stock that if they continuously sing those songs, it takes nearly two days for them to run out of stock. Singing those songs has been their family tradition. This folk culture has been passed on from one generation to another generation in their families, said Dr Sambrani.

Most people have forgotten such songs as they have not been recorded properly. At present, they exist orally in only a few areas of North Karnataka region. They are a classic example for the expression of love and beauty.

Nowhere in the history of the State has any effort been made to record them. Hence, the Sangha has plans to bring out an anthology of such songs. The event is the first step in that direction, he added.

There are nearly 10 lakh people belonging to different parts of North Karnataka region in Bangalore. Many of them sing holi songs while celebrating Kama Dahana on the full moon day. The event will recreate the rich culture of the bygone era and make them recall their childhood days, he stated. There will be symbolic burning of the effigy of Kama before the start of the programme.