Mangaluru, Feb 26: The 'Yakshagana' stage in Karnataka is witnessing a curious spectacle with a Muslim woman artiste creating waves with her performances.
Arshiya, the artiste from Vittal in Dakshina Kannada district, is the first woman from the Muslim community to venture into the popular traditional theatre art form.
At one time, women were barred from Yakshagana stages.
A Muslim woman exponent on stage has attracted the attention of 'Yakshagana' lovers in the state.
Arshiya is now getting advanced training in her skills at the Kadali Kala Kendra under Ramesh Bhat here.
Arshiya, who is fond of 'Bannada Vesha' (villain roles), is now known in her stage name 'Tanu Vitla.'
She has already performed various episodes on stage and gained popularity.
Arshiya, currently working in an automobile showroom at Padil, said she was attracted to the art form from a very young age.
The initial enchantment with the art form came as she saw the role of Mahishasura in 'Sri Devi Mahatme Yakshagana Prasanga' (episode) performed near her home town.
She was attracted to all the elements of the art form, which combines music, percussion, dance, dialogues, stage techniques, make-up and costume.
Arshiya said she was also inspired by a teacher in her school at Vittal who trained her for a performance on stage during the school's annual day celebration.
She started performing on local stages at Vittal at the very young age of 10.
Arshiya now performs prominent roles on stage including Mahishasura in Sri Devi Mahatme Prasanga, the role which enamoured her in her childhood.
She also has donned the roles of Nishambhasura, Rakthabeejasura, Srinivas Kalyana, Sudarshanopakyana, Kadamba Kaushike and Shambavi Vijaya.
Her performances at Udupi and Karwar besides Mangaluru have earned her a lot of admirers, who love her 'Asura' roles, thanks to her loud voice.
Arshiya now wants to learn the 'Chende' (percussion instrument), which is an important element in Yakshagana performances.
Arshiya revealed that there was a bit of resistance from her community about her passion for the art form, but she had staunch backing of her family.
Comments
Muslim organisations felicitate State BJP Chief Nalin Kumar
I want to know from them wat was the need for this. Has this helped the ordinary Mangalore Muslims in anyway. I would not have asked abt this if the program was conducted in your house. But here it is done in the name of Muslims. We need to stop being intellectually dishonest
Young energetic Muslim brothers present in Dk ,please note we need young leaders to lead us . Wake up ... and take over .
We respect ur decision sir.
But there are a lot of questions about it on people's mind.
We need to be updated about ur next plan of action.
Are u planning to approach the court for gaining the permission from the police, bcoz otherwise I don't think we will get the permission
Secondly, a few days back I wanted to contact Muslim central committee office to confirm if the protest Wil be there. I googled for the no, but the no. did not exist. Does that mean the Muslim central committee does not have an office or telephone no????
This only shows how organised we are.
Requesting Muslim central committee to get their house in order. Get more professional. Also consult people to utilise various platform to responsibly collect funds from so many ordinary bearys who want to donate money, but don't know whom to send it to.
We need an action committee to handle such situations. It must consist a battery of lawyers to fight the cases filed by the police.
If our leaders are old, they need to groom new leaders into the committee.
Moreover, it is important to question these so called leaders about their fecilitation program conducted for making kateel wen he won the election. Wat was the purpose of such fecilitation. Becoz I don't think he gives a damn when our community suffered. I question, whether all this is done in our name only to gain your contact and flourish ur business???
Never ever dare to do so in the name of Muslims
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