Culture

Folk arts of Honavar

Beyond Yakshagana, the Honavar coast has its own songs, dances and drums: from the Halakki Suggi dance at Holi to Talamaddale debates held late into the night.

Folk arts

Songs, drums and dances of the coast

Painted faces, bright headdresses and the beat of drums: the folk arts of the Honavar coast are made to be seen and heard up close, in village squares, temple yards and courtyards of homes.

Many are tied to the farming year and to festivals, so the best time to catch them is around Holi, temple fairs and the winter festival season.

Yakshagana

Coastal Karnataka's great theatre of crowns, painted faces, singing and drums. Honavar taluk is one of its heartlands: see all-night shows at Gundabala and read about the Idagunji Mahaganapati Yakshagana Mandali of Gunavante.

Talamaddale

Yakshagana without costume or dance. The performers sit in a circle with the singer (bhagavata), who keeps time with cymbals and a maddale drummer. The artists then improvise a spoken debate in the voices of Ramayana and Mahabharata characters. Talamaddale is traditionally held at night in temples and homes and is popular across Uttara Kannada, especially in the monsoon.

Suggi Kunita

The harvest dance of the Halakki Vokkaligas. Troupes of 10 to 12 men wear tall headdresses (turaayi) of pith decorated with flowers and birds, made by Gudigar craftsmen. They carry peacock-feather fans and sticks. In the days before Holi they go from village to village, dancing at each house, sleeping at temples and returning home on the full moon. During the freedom struggle Suggi songs were used against British rule.

Gumate drums

The gumate is a clay drum of the Halakki community, played in Suggi and at festivals. Gumate songs (padas) tell the story of the community's origins. Small gumate bands still play in villages along the coast.

Halakki songs

Halakki women sing work songs, wedding songs and long oral epics. Their Ramayana is called Seethekami and their Mahabharata Pandavara kami. The late Sukri Bommagowda of Ankola, known as the nightingale of the Halakkis, knew a vast store of these songs and received the Padma Shri in 2017.

Kolata

The stick dance, performed in rings with dancers striking short sticks in rhythm. It is part of the Suggi performances and of village festivals.

Siddi Damami

In the forest taluks of Uttara Kannada, such as Yellapur and Ankola, the Siddi community, of African descent, performs the Damami dance to drums. It is sometimes seen at district cultural festivals.

Where to see folk arts

Yakshagana runs every night of the season at Gundabala, roughly December to May. Suggi troupes are on the move in the week before Holi, mostly in Halakki villages along the old highway. District festivals such as the Karavali Utsav in Karwar, usually in December, often feature Suggi, kolata and Siddi dances. Ask your host about local performances during your stay.

To stay among folk art, book a room at Nadi The Flow, the hilltop home of two Uttara Kannada folklorists, filled with masks and folk crafts.