Folk arts of Karnataka
The Dollu Kunitha is characterized by vigorous drum beats, quick movements and synchronized group formations.
This Indian classical dance form was mentioned in the Kannada text Manasollasa written by Someshwara lll.
A troupe led by K. S. Haridas Bhat toured the USSR in 1987, performing in Moscow, Leningrad, Vyborg, Archangelsk, Pskov, Murmansk, Tashkent and Novograd.
The kamsale nritya is connected to a tradition of worship of Male Mahadeshwara (Shiva) by the Kuruba Gowda community, from which most of the dancers are drawn.
Somana Kunita (the Mask Dance) is a celebratory form of guardian spirit worship popular in southern Karnataka, performed primarily in village shrines dedicated to the Mother Goddess by the Gangemata community.
Somana Kunitha is a ritualistic dance associated with worship of the Grama Devate [village deity], and is primarily celebrated after Ugadi and before the onset of the monsoon at Maha Shivaratri.
Artists in beautiful costumes and wooden head gear adorned with carved birds and flower dance to the tune of drums with sticks and peacock feathers.
[3] This is a folk art of the Hubballi Dharwad region (particularly the village of Byahatti), which is performed on occasions such as Ugadi and Holi.
The performance is directed by a choreographer playing a much-smaller percussion instrument called the kanihaligi, made of clay and covered with calf hide.
Yakshagana is not folk art but a popular traditional theatre of India performed in coastal and malenadu regions which is a blend of dance, music, songs, scholarly dialogue and colourful costumes.
The word means "celestial music", and the dance drama is performed during the night (usually after the winter crop has been harvested).
The Kodavas are a unique group who differ in customs, traditions and religion from the surrounding populace, and have an annual harvest dance.
The men, dressed in traditional Kodava costumes with decorative knives, perform this slow dance to background music.
The dance has different varieties: Performed by Kodava men in back of an oil lamp in an open field.
The men hold chavari(yak fur) in one hand and the Kodava short sword (odi-kathi) in the other while performing this dance.
The dance is performed to rhythmic tunes played on wind instruments and percussion, and includes martial movements representing techniques used by the Kodavas in warfare.
For their performances, staged in village squares and fairs, the actors receive food collected in a bag by an assistant accompanying the troupe.
As their name suggests, they perform primarily during the day (hagalu) and only men take part (including female roles).
While entertainment is the main objective, the hagalu veshagararu also educate villagers about mythology and social issues with their performances.
In North Karnataka the Goravas worship Mylara Lingeshwara Temple which belongs to the Halumatha(Kuruba gowda) community.
In South Karnataka the Goravas wear black-and-white woollen garments and a black-bear-fur cap (of black bear), and play the damaru and the pillangoovi (flute).
This ritual dance is performed in south Karnataka to tranquilize the serpent spirit, and is an extravagant night-long affair.
The dancers (Vaidyas) dance all night around a huge figure, drawn on the ground in natural colors, in a pandal in front of the shrine.
The karaga, in a dance performed by the Thigalas, is a metal pot on which stands a tall, floral pyramid and which is balanced on the carrier's head.
The dance is performed during major festivals and in the procession held during the Mysore Dasara, and is known as Tattiraya in the coastal regions.
Itinerant performers dressed as a tiger (hulivesha) or bear (karadi-vesha) with dancing monkeys are common in South India.
