International Women’s Day: How women own the Yakshagana stage in Karnataka

It’s way past 10 p.m., and the Kadri jaathre (mela) is on in Mangaluru, Karnataka. There’s a nip in the January air, and people walk into the more-than-1,000-year-old illuminated Manjunatha temple painted a vivid blue. Suddenly, there’s an echo of percussion sounds — the night’s Yakshagana has begun. People take their seats as Shri Sai Kala Yaksha Balaga, Dr Shivarama Karantha Balavana Puthur, a primarily women-led troupe headed by Prema Kishor, starts the four-hour-long Rati Kalyana performance.

A scene from ‘Devi Mahathmeya Chanda Mundaru’, staged in Mysruru by Shri Sai Kala Yaksha Balaga, Dr Shivarama Karantha Balavana Puthur, a primarily women-led troupe headed by Prema Kishor.
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The voices reach a crescendo, the dancers jump and spin, and people watch mesmerised. The next morning, their elaborate costumes packed and oil-based make-up washed off, they get back to routine. They can be homemakers, teachers, students and dancers, all drawn to Yakshagana because of its larger-than-life appeal and cultural connect.

This was not the case some decades ago, when Yakshagana was a male bastion, with the men donning female roles too. Women entered the field sometime in the mid-19th century, notes banker, Yakshagana exponent and writer Krishna Prakasha Ulithaya. “There’s not much documentation, but there’s reference to a Kibbacchala Manjamma, from Sagar in Shivamogga district, who lived from 1830 to 1900 and wrote four or five plays, including Sampoorna Mahitrya and Jeeva Paramara Kalyana. There’s also a reference to a Mahalakshmi Hebbara Chavady, who wrote Kempasura Kalaga. But women entered the performance space very recently,” he says.

Narmada Shibarooraya was the first female bhagavatha (singer), but she remained an amateur artiste. Leelavathi Baipadittaya was the first professional female artiste, starting her career in 1970. Her husband Harinarayana Baipadittaya, a senior Yakshagana percussionist, scholar and teacher taught her Yakshagana singing, Ulithaya elaborates.

Sakshi Seshadri, 20, is a final year student of business at St. Aloysius, Mangaluru, by day. A student of Sumangala Ratnakar Rao, she is also a Yakshagana artiste.
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Among the emerging young performers is Sakshi Sheshadri, 20, a final year student of business at St. Aloysius, Mangaluru. She was hardly three when she watched a Yakshagana performance. In the evening, during the Yakshagana season (November-April), she dons heavy costumes, paints her face in myriad colours and performs Yakshagana. One day, she’s god, the other day an asura, and the third, a female dancer.

“I remember artistes had arrived at our home in Kateel for a performance. Everyone thought a child would be afraid of the exaggerated expressions. But I apparently smiled. My father Sheshadri P Bhat decided I would learn the art form,” she says.

Sakshi Seshadri paints her face in myriad colours and performs Yakshagana — one day as god, the other day an asura, and the third, a female dancer.
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She began learning when in Class 3. Her first performance was in front of Goddess Durga Parameshwari in Kateel. In class six, she moved to Urva, in Mangaluru, to learn under Sumangala Ratnakar Rao. “When I began learning, there was a mix of excitement and fear. My Kannada was not very strong then and I did not have any dialogues. I learnt with time.”

Arathi Patrame is a teacher of English, in Tunkuru, who performs Yakshagana and also teaches the art form.
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Arathi Patrame, 43, began learning during school in Nidle, near Dharmasthala. “I think I was attracted to the costume. Not many women learnt the art form then, and Venkatesh Tulupule, our school teacher who was an amateur artiste, taught us the basics to prepare us for the annual day. I played Daksha.” Arathi later moved to Ujire and was mentored by artistes Ashok Bhat Ujire and Surikumeru Govinda Bhat K. Arathi balances her passion of Yakshagana with teaching English at Vidyanithi PU College in Tumakuru. She trains students in Yakshagana at Yakshadeevige, with her husband Padmanabha K.V., an associate professor at Tumkur University. They went to Bhutan recently on a project granted by India Bhutan Foundation, for a comparative study on the mask dance of Bhutan and India’s Yakshagana.

Poornima Yatheesha Rai, 51, has been performing Yakshagana since the age of 14. She began in 1988 with a show of Punyakoti, the story of the honest cow that went back to offer herself to the hungry tiger. “I had the support of my brother Madhav Shetty Bana, and learnt from guru Shivram Panambur and Ramesh Shetty Bayaru.” Her troupe Shri Mahaganapathe Mahila Yakshangana Sangha in Bala Katipalla, near Mangaluru, has staged more than 1,500 performances across the country and in Dubai, some of them night-long.”

“Sridhara Aithal, a banker, was the first to teach Thenkutittu (southern style) Yakshangana to women”, says Sumangala, 49, a trained Bharatanatyam artiste. She began learning Yakshagana in 2009 at the age of 32 from Rakesh Rai Adka, a Yakshagana artiste. Her first performance was Krishnarjuna Kalaga, where she played Arjuna.

Sumangala Ratnakar Rao, a trained Bharatanatyam artiste, began learning Yakshagana in 2009 at the age of 32. She has introduced the structured learning of Bharatanatyam into Yakshagana training.
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What Sumangala has done is introduce the structured learning of Bharatanatyam to Yakshagana training. “Earlier, many learnt for a programme or an event; now they learn it as an art form with its nuances. At Yaksharadhana Kala Kendra, which Sumangala launched in 2009, she teaches about 30 students the eight basic steps, and balancing techniques to handle the heavy costume and headgear.” She feels Bharatanatyam has added grace to her Yakshangana moves. Ironically, most women artistes are known for their male roles. Poornima is known for her Kamsa, Mahisasura and Arjuna portrayals, while Sumangala’s Krishna is hugely popular. Her Devi, Sathyabhama and Dakshayini also draw in the crowds. Sumangala imagines a day when male and female Yakshagana artistes are treated with the same respect, and both help the other better their craft. With more women entering the space, there have been some changes – primarily separate changing rooms and restrooms.

The women in Yakshagana say that they feel closer to the land of their origin when they ascend the stage. “Performing Yakshagana has given a purpose to my life, as I carry forward a legacy,” says Sumangala.

Published – March 06, 2026 01:58 pm IST