Arts & Culture

Rich Folk Dance Drama is an unsurpassed way of exibiting the themes taken from the Epics.

Yakshagaana is one of the most popular, most important aspect of the South Indian culture. It is a beautiful combination of art, music and drama. Yakshagaana somewhat resembles the Opera of the west. “Yaksha” meaning nature spirits and “Gaana” meaning song; hence the name means the song of Yakshas.

Bhootha worship includes devotion, inspiration and entertainment.

Bhootha Kola or spirit worship is an ancient ritual form of worship. With bhootha referring to a class of supernatural spirits and kola referring to a ceremony for the bhootha. It is noteworthy in this context that the ‘Kola’ is a kind of Bhootha worship that includes devotion, inspiration and entertainment.

An audio-visual folk art of Coastal Karnataka & Kerala.

The string puppet play of Karnataka is interesting, both on account of its technique and content. The presentation is highly stylized since it has to adhere strictly to the norms and standards of Yakshagana Bayalata, one of the most remarkable among the numerous arts of Karnataka. All the ritualistic rigor of the Yakshagana “Human Theatre” has to be observed in its original form and adept manipulators of the puppets seem capable of making the yakshagana puppets leap to life. At times it is difficult to tell whether what one is witnessing is a mere show of wooden puppets, inert and lifeless, or a serious performance by well-trained men and women, pouring forth in dance, song and dialogue the whole range of human emotions and passions.Find more details at www.yakshaganapuppets.org

Tigers and dance to the beat of drums which create the illusion of Tiger Dancing.

Huli Vesha is form of art and dance. This shows love, respect and veneration showered on the tiger by the people of Dakshin Kannada for whom the striped predator was but another face of god.It is performed mainly on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtani , Navratri and Ganesh Chathurthi. Its an internationally acclaimed Tiger Dance, which takes part in the procession of these Occasion. Men paint their bodies as Tigers and dance to the beats of drums which creates the illusion of Tiger Dancing.

Play on these drums and sing Konkani songs in praise of different gods, and dance.

The Kudubi is a tribal community can find around Dakshina Kannada district. They are originally from Goa and came here because of the cruel ruling of Portuguese then. Even after shifting their base to Karnataka from Goa, they have continued to celebrate their traditional festival, ‘Holi’ by preserving their unique customs. This community has widely been spread over mulki, Gangolli, Mangalore, Puttige, Sooraalu, kokkarne. During Holi, all the 65 Kudubi families including the children celebrates the festival in a ancient traditional way.