H.S. Shiva Prakash: Karagattam: A Contrastive Study of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka
This paper proposes to look into the Karaga Performance which has its origin in linguistic Tamilnadu, and migrated to another linguistic region, Karnataka. It is alive in both the regions but in different modes. Called Karagattam in Tamilnadu, Karaga is a widespread performance associated with village festivals and worship. Karagam is considered as the substitute for Amman, i.e., Sakthi. Karagattam also might have the ritual value like other art forms such as Villuppattu, Terukkuthu etc., somehow lost its ‘sacred’ value and degraded to a secular art form. This art form is generally considered as ‘obscene’ and their performers also have low social status. The performers are either dalit or tribal communities in Tamilnadu. It is very interesting to compare this art form with its counterpart in Karnataka. Karagattam migrated to Karnataka and adapted to the new socio-cultural context. The performers are considered as a separate caste, tigulas, and equal to dalit castes. But they perform this Karaga for Draupadi, thus adapting Mahabharatha myth and ultimately become a ‘sacred’ form again. The annual Karaga ritual held in Dharmaraya temple in the heart of Bangalore is the most developed form which involves, apart from tigula community of performers, all other castes, including Muslims. This paper tries to address these interesting questions about the sacred and secular status, the life and status of the performers, and art form’s dual position in its different context of tribe, village and metropolis.
Biographical Statement:
Professor HS Shiva Prakash(b.15.06.1954) is an eminent poet and playwright from Karnataka. He is currently Dean, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University. His research areas of interest include comparative literature, translation, theatre studies and Bhakti studies. He has about 30 publications in Kannada in the areas of poetry, translation, drama and criticism. His poems and plays have been translated, published and staged in different Indian languages and English. He has several publications in English, including Traditional Theatres of India and Vachanas (forthcoming), translation of Medieval Kannada devotional poetry. He is the winner of several book prizes and awards from prestigious institutions. These include Sangeet Natak Akademi Award(1996), HRD Fellowship in the field of Literature(1996) and Karnataka Nataka Akademi Award. He is Honorary Fellow, School of Letters, University of Iowa, Iowa, USA. He has travelled, lectured and read his works in USA, Canada, Japan, China, Bangladesh and Europe.
