Karnataka’s arts come alive at the Habba

Do check out today's selection of purely traditional performances from in and around the city of Bangalore for some authentic local Habba flavour

kshagana is a dance drama from coastal Karnataka and is famous for the colourful costumes that the actors wear. While most misinformed people confuse the dance with Kathakali the dance is actually quite different.u00a0

Keremane Shivananda Hegde, today's performer of the art says, "for this performance, we have taken an episode from the Ramayana. It is a fight between Ravana and Karthaveeryarjuna."

Ravana with his 20 arms has an ego clash with Karthaveeryarjuna who in turn has 1000 arms. The battle continues and the end and the victory are what the audience need to look out for. "A traditional art, it depicts Indian culture at its most raw form and also ironically has pouranic roots.u00a0 People will surely take home a new experience," Shivananda says.u00a0
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At: Ambedkar Bhavan,
Millers Road, Vasanth Nagar
7 pm onwards

Girija Kalyana, the Kannada play for today is however a play that revolves around the story of a young girl, Girija, who is fascinated by films and dreams of becoming an actress and marrying her idol. Unfortunately, at a very young age, she is married off to a farmer. Girija shares her aspirations with her husband and takes a loan in order to realize her dreams, only to have her world crash around her.

Unable to pay the loan due to the failure of crops, Girija's husband commits suicide. The rest of the story portrays Girija's sad tale. Girija Kalyana has been brought to life by the Spandana troupe and B Jayashree.u00a0
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Anand Raju, talking about the play says, "This is all about globalisation and speaks about the problems faced by farmers." Elaborating on its basic form, he adds, "It's a satire that begins on a lighter vein and then becomes serious towards the end."u00a0

This play was produced a year back and at that time, Raju says, "it was the apt subject." The dramatists want people to understand the problems that occur when farmers take loans and are then, not able to pay them back.
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At: Seva Sadan, Malleshwaram
7 pm onwards

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