Devi mahatme (Yakshagaan)

DEVI MAHATME

Durga Parameswari Temple at Kateel near Mangalore is a very beautiful temple built over the River Nandini.. Kateel 

Durga Parameswari Temple is also a patron of Yakshagana form of dance.

Yakshagana, is a traditional theatre form, combining dance, music, spoken words, costume-makeup and stage technique with a distinct style and form. Yakshagana, literally meaning the song of the Yakshas, or demi-gods, offered a fun way to learn one’s Hindu epics and their thousand and more stories. Yakshagana  is a mix of folk theatre, dance theatre  with songs and music, . Today, it constitutes an art form that thrives amidst the general decline of traditional arts elsewhere in India.
It is popular even today in the Coastal belt of Karnataka. Kateel shri Durga parmeshwari dashaavataar yakshagana mandali Kateelu, perform shri devi mahatme at various places on invitation by devotees.  
The Yakshagana was organised at my ancestral home, Moodu Bettu padu Mane (Sindhura) Kuthpady, by my mother Smt. Sulochana Shetty. and managed by her brother Shri Shekhar Shetty.
The stage was set adjacent to our home Sindhura on 28-12-12.
On 28^th morning the family visited the Kateel temple to pay homage to the goddess, partaking of teerth prasadam, as a mark of respect. The idols representing the goddess was placed in Kaanangi Brahma Vishnu Mahesh temple at Kuthpady, where a pooja mangala aarti was held again.
The Sindhura family offered lunch under elaborate, beautifully decorated shamianna...which was attended by large number of devotees...
The family reached  Kaanangi temple in the evening, the dhol walas were present followed by the Bhajan mandali who sang soulfull bhajans to the beat of drums , bells and cymbals  after the intake of teerth prasadam  the priest carried the idols followed by the family and friends.
 A long procession comprising of the dholwalas , bandwalas and bhajan mandali  followed across winding lanes in the village amidst greenery, towards the family residence Sindhura.
The idol was placed in a beautifully decorated elaborate tent in front of the house, which was also used by the artistes for dressing and makeup...after pooja aarti (prayers), dinner was  served for the guests, late in the evening the yakshagana artistes ,commenced  their performance..
The opening scene of Devi Mahatme presents Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva (the Trinity) on the stage praying to their creator Adi Maye who stands on the ratha (a traditional stool on the stage for the characters to sit).
 The entourage of musicians includes a narrator, singers (bhagawatha) and musicians playing the chande and maddale drums, a team of actors perform and act out the songs. Their performance, usually touching on just one main story and a few sub-stories, is called the prasanga. Performances usually begin just after dusk with elaborate drums, during which the narrator sets the background to the play with songs and music, before the actors come on stage to roar and dance until dawn. The stage has no props or scenery, the ambience is entirely created through dance, songs and words. The audience familiar with the language listen enthralled.
The entrance of Mahishasur is the high point of the yakshagana, amidst funfare and frolic, were fire torches called Thute' are lit...the entire scene is a positive visual delight to the mesmerised spectators...
The performers danced away gloriously, in the cool night were a full moon peeped surreptiticiosly from the clouds, to the small hours of dawn,  the dance drama concluded with a pooja aarti being performed for the goddess...a very memorable experience for me and my family...