Mysore :
“According to our culture, drinking water is panneeru (rose water) and the food we eat is prasadam. If we imbibe our nation’s culture, every household will become a Nandagokula (the place where Lord Krishna spent his childhood),” said Swami Maheshatmanandaji of Ramakrishna Ashram, Mysore.
He was delivering the presidential address at the valedictory of the five-day ‘Yaksha Panchami’ programme held under the aegis of Bellippadi Yaksha Samskruthika Trust at Jaganmohan Palace in city last evening.
The Swamiji said that Yakshagana is a rare form of art through which the entire epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata can be presented in a night’s dance performance.
“Our culture and traditions must survive and flourish. A total of five crore Sanskrit books were sold at the World Sanskrit Mela which shows that the westerners are more interested in Indian culture and traditions,” he said.
Litterateur Dr. Malali Vasanth Kumar, who was the chief guest, said “Yakshagana is the only art form which depicts literature, art, music and dance simultaneously on the same forum” and added it is not easy to depict the intensity of emotions of a character only through facial expressions.
SOM Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy, speaking as the guest of honour, said, “I had nothing to do with Yakshagana. I was under the impression that Yakshagana meant lot of noise. But I was introduced to this art form through my friend Dr. B. Satish Rai.”
“Though the art originates from Dakshina Kannada district, the artistes portray a whole story from the Puranas in chaste Kannada, without uttering a single word of Tulu or English languages,” said Ganapathy and opined that the art form must be given more encouragement by the Kannada and Culture Department.
Veteran Yakshagana artiste Kumble Sridhar Rao was presented with the late Siddakatte Chinnappa Shetty Memorial Award by cardiologist Dr. Bellippadi Shyam Prasad Shetty.
Trustee Dr. Bellippadi Satish Rai, District Kannada Sahitya Parishat President Chandrashekhar, SDM Women’s College Principal Prof. Damodar Gowda, Yakshagana scholar G.S. Bhat, Dr. Sudhir Shetty of Labland and others were present.
The programme concluded with staging of Yakshagana Sahasra Kavacha Moksha.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 08th, 2014