KARAPALA MELA
Karpala
Mela (karapAla mELa) (ಕರಪಾಲ
ಮೇಳ) is a pantomime, theatrical
performance that takes place in open places, particularly in the
Chitradurga, Davanagere, Shivamogga, Hassan and Tumakur districts of central
Karnataka. The performers communicate
among themselves making use of an elaborate system consisting of gestures made
by hand. This art form is found all over Karnataka and it is usually practiced
by ‘Veerashaiva Jangama’s. Scholars have derived the word ‘karapAla’ from the
Sanskrit ‘kara pallava’ meaning literally, ‘gestures made with hands.’ This is
an ancient folk art consisting of narration of stories and the magic like
activity of deciphering the communications made by another artist. The art of coding
and the decoding of these messages is passed on hereditarily.
Details
about the ‘Karapala’ mELa are delineated here in two stages. The first stage
describes the art of communicating by using a code language. The art of dancing
and narrating a story is dealt with in the next stage.
In
the first variety, which is also called ‘karapalla’ the troupe consists of a
lead artist and two or more assistants. The master and the disciples are
separated by a distance of 200-300 feet. The leading artist will be playing on
an instrument called ‘gummaTe‘and the disciples play on a pair of cymbals. They
will be singing some songs focused on prophesying. (‘KAlajnAnada padagaLu’) The
‘karapalla’ takes place whenever a person among the spectator offers some
monetary dole. The name of that person will be communicated by the master to
one of his disciples by a series of gestures. The ‘guru’ (Master) uses his
right hand only for this purpose. There are specified gestures for vowels,
consonants and consonant clusters. Music and songs are used to divert the
spectators from the actual mechanics of gesturing. There is not much to this
art once the code is deciphered.
However,
the second variety of ‘KarapAla mELa’ is more important. This is essentially a
dramatic narration of stories connected with the Veerashaiva religion and its
mythology. The propagation of the religion and dissemination of its teachings
is the main intention here. This performance consists usually of five artists.
The main performer, two singers and two more who play on the instruments
constitute the troupe. The narrative is a curious combination of prose, poetry
and dialogues. The narrator manages these three activities expertly. Most of
the songs are created on the spur of the moment. Even the narration is
impromptu and only the broad outline of the story is followed. ‘kADasiddamma’,
‘basava kumAra’, ‘nIlakanTa’, ‘rUpAvati’ and ‘kALingakumAra’ are some of the
better known narratives presented by these artists.
The
costumes worn by the artists for both these varieties are more or less the
same. The main performer wears a multi coloured, cone shaped head gear,
(ambesara kirITa) a saffron coloured gown, (jubba) and other decorative/
ritualistic items such as ‘rudrAkshi’, ‘viBUti’, ‘gejje’(Anklets) etc. These
performances are occasionally given on a stage which is installed specifically
for this purpose.
Thus
‘karapAla mELa’ is an art form which like many of its cognates is both
religious and entertaining. The second variety of ‘karapala’ in particular is
powerful and runs virtually like a drama.