COVID-19 awareness through Yakshagana garners appreciation from WHO expert

With public performances of yakshagana, the folk theatre of Coastal Karnataka and erstwhile Canara region, banned due to COVID19, a troupe based in Kerala's Kasaragod created a show 'corona jagruthi yakshagana' (corona awareness yakshagana) and a puppetry show in the internet. In a recent weekly COVID-19 updates, Professor Dale Fisher lauded the efforts of the troupe in spreading community awareness on the pandemic.

Kasaragod: The efforts of Siribagilu Venkappaiah Samskritika Prathisthana (Siribagilu Venkappaiah Cultural Foundation) using the traditional art of Yakshagana to spread awareness on COVID-19 has earned the appreciation of experts working with the World Health Organization.

Professor Dale Fisher, Chair of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) at the World Health Organisation (WHO), during his recent webinar, made a special note of the efforts of Siribagilu Venkappaiah Samskritika Prathisthana in using Yakashagana as well as Yakshagana gombeyata (puppetry) for spreading COVID-19 awareness among the community.

Fisher, during his hourlong sessions titled COVID19 Updates, provides weekly updates guided by epidemiology charts and dashboards showing the infection numbers and death toll of countries and regions. Prof M Prakash Hande at Singapore introduced the efforts of this cultural foundation to Prof Fisher who in turn dedicated a slot in his session for Yakshagana.

The Kasaragod based Yakshagana troupe was in news in the month of March for uploading a 57-minute performance, 'corona jagruthi yakshagana' in youtube as Yakshagana performances were banned by the government to prevent community spread of the pandemic.

The troupe being in the forced holiday utilized their time to create this performance in which they have created 'coronasura' which in turn is defeated by the puranic character Dhanvantari. The show details about the importance of home quarantine, symptoms of COVID19, community spread, and its danger.

The troupe has also uploaded the performance of Yakshagana gombeyata by Sri Gopalakrishna yakshagana gombeyata sangha in youtube to spread awareness. Both these shows have been seen by hundreds of people on the internet.

Siribagilu Venkappaiah Samskritika Prathisthana president Ramakrishna Mayya said that COVID19 has left an unforgettable scar in the history of humankind. As artists, they wanted to create community awareness through Yakshagana and gombeyata and uploaded these shows on online media to spread awareness among the people.

Yakshagana is the folk art of coastal Karnataka and Malnad as well as Kasaragod district of Kerala. The folk theatre performances centring around Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavata themes are usually performed from dusk to dawn in these regions.