Mangaluru: A video of hall maintenance staff disconnecting mike and sound systems during a Yakshagana programme went viral on social media. While some have claimed that it has insulted the folk art Yakshagana, others have come in support of the hall management.
Mangaluru Press Club, in association with Dakshina Kannada District Working Journalists Association had organised annual Press Club day celebration at Ladyhill Church Hall, where a Yakshagana programme was also staged on Saturday, January 5. As the programme crossed the scheduled time of 3 pm, the staff of the church hall, removed the mike and electric supply, which irked not only the journalists but also the Yakshagana lovers.
There was mixed response from the public about this incident. If some people favored journalists claiming that the administration of church hall did wrong by removing mike citing the reason of time, some others claimed that it was the rule of Church Hall to finish the programme at the scheduled time.
However, majority of people had opined that Yakshagana is an art, which should not be stopped unless and until ‘Mangalam’ is performed.
Yakshagana teacher Elluru Ramachandra Rao told Newskarnataka that Yakshagana has its own set of rules which should not be violated. “Any other art can be stopped without its completion. But, Yakshagana can not be stopped in the middle of the show, whatever may the reason be. Hence, Church hall staff should apologise,” he said.
Meanwhile performer and journalist Jeethendra Kundeshwar’s video on the issue shows him questioning why an art is being given religious colours.
