Yakshagana poetry (
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
:ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನ ಪ್ರಸ೦ಗ, pronounced as ''yaksha-gaana prasanga'')(Yakshagana Padya or Yakshagana Prasanga) is a collection of Kannada poems used to enact a music dance drama called
Yakshagana
Yakshagaana is a traditional theatre, developed in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Kerala that combines dance, music, dialogue, ...
. The poems are composed in well known Kannada metres using the frame work of
Yakshagana Raga and
Yakshagana Tala
Yakshagana Tala (Kannada:ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನ ತಾಳ, pronounced as ''yaksha-gaana taala''), is a rhythmical pattern in Yakshagana that is determined by a composition called Yakshagana Poetry, Yakshagana Padya. Tala also decides how a composi ...
. Yakshagana also has what is called a Yakshagana metre. The collection of Yakshagana poems forming a musical drama is called a Prasanga. Oldest surviving parasanga books are believed to have been composed in the 15th century.
[Prof Sridhara Uppura, Diganta Sahitya publications, Managalore, 1998.] Many compositions have been lost. There are evidences to show that oral compositions were in use before the 15th century.
There are more than 300 Yakshagana Prasanga books available today. Attempts are being made to preserve the texts by digitising them.
Some famous Prasangas
Gadhayuddha
:*Krishna sandhana
:*Basmasura Mohini
:*Ratnavati Kalyana
:*Bhishma Vijaya
:*Chandrahasa Charitre
:*Abhimanyu Kalaya
:*Sudhanva Kalaga
:*Sugreeva Vijayam ((Andhra Yakshaganamu) Telugu - 1570) Kandukuru Rudra Kavi
[Students' Britannica India
By Dale Hoiberg, Indu Ramchandani, 2000 p80]
See also
*
Kannada literature
Kannada literature is the Text corpus, corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, a member of the Dravidian language, Dravidian Language family, family spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script.
A ...
Yaksha Prasanga KoshaPrasanga Prathi SangrahaAndroid app to view/download Yakshagana Prasanga Books
References
External links
A list of known compositions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yakshagana Poetry
Yakshagana
History of literature in India
Indian poetry by language
Literature of Karnataka
Indian poetics