The national theatre festival Bahurupi conducted by Rangayana, came to a close here on Sunday.
The 10-day festival saw 35 plays being staged and drew tremendous response from theatre afficionados who gave a warm reception to the event as evident in the turnout.
The theme of the festival was motherhood and encompassed the broad gamut of nature with thrust on Jaminu (land), Jala (water), Jangal (forest), Januwaru (animals) and Jana (people). The objective was to highlight salient issues plaguing the contemporary world.
The valedictory event was marked by a special lecture on mothers in Kannada poetry delivered by Hiremagaluru Kannan followed by speech by RSS ideologue Chakravarthi Sulibele. The crux of the talk was on the respect and veneration accorded to mother and motherhood in Indian culture and society and how some values were being diluted.
Rangayana Director Adannda C. Cariappa, Deputy Director Nirmala Matapathi and others were present.
In the run up to the festival, the selection of Mr. Sulibele had run into rough weather with a section of theatre activists staging protests against his inclusion. But the Rangayana director persisted with his choice and hence a posse of police was in place to prevent any untoward incident.
Though the festival was originally slated to be held in December, it was postponed due to the outbreak of the third wave of the pandemic and commenced on March 11.
The festival saw about 20 plays in Kannada while 15 were from other languages. A film festival was organised to mark the occasion, apart from seminars and workshops touching upon various aspects of the theme.
The theatre festival also brought to fore the diversity of the folk culture and there was Janapadothsava featuring Jogati Nruthya, Kamsale, Puja Kunitha, Chande Mela, Mallakambha, Gorawara Kunitha, Veeragase, Jade Kolata, Siddhi Kunitha, Dollu Kunitha, Suggi Kunitha, Lavani, Gombe Garudiga, Gombeyata among others.
