Eminent Yakshagana artiste and Samskara Bharathi State President Kumble Sundar Rao, who inaugurated the programme, said when crores of rupees reserved for cultural promotion by the Union Department of Culture were being left unused, Yakshagana field suffers from lack of funds.
Cultural troupes of different states make the best use of the Central funds and promote their tastes, but Yakshagana withers within a boundary as people related to the art do not know how to attract required funds, he regretted.
Stating that certain people have limited Yakshagana to coastal region by propagating it as an art of coastal belt, Mr Rao said there was an inevitability of promoting it as an art of entire Karnataka. "Yakshagana is a rare art that amicably combines various art genres, and becomes intimate to people of different tastes. Hence, it is an art of the whole country," he analysed.
Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy President M K Seetharam Kulal presided. Mr Lakshminarayana Asranna of Kateel, Mr Harikrishna Punaroor, Mr Bhuvanabhirama Udupa, Mr Pradeep Kumar Kalkura, Kannada and Culture department Assistant Director H C Rangappa were present.
Havyasi Balaga, Kadri and Sri Lakshmi Janardana Yaksha Kala Mandali, Ambalapadi staged yakshagana bayalatas later. The fest will conclude on December 29.
