Mysuru is known for its rich cultural heritage. Mysuru Rangayana, the brainchild of the legendary theatre personality B.V.Karanth, has been playing a vital role in attracting art patrons towards Mysuru. Rangayana hosts an annual National Theatre Festival called ‘Bahuroopi’, which is truly a celebration of art.
As the name implies, Bahuroopi is a multidimensional art festival. Bahuroopi has many things to offer such as dramas, movies, live art shows, art exhibitions, folk art shows, varieties of culinary delights and much more! All you need to have is keen enthusiasm to observe and enjoy all of these.
Bahuroopi runs with a particular theme every year. This year’s Bahuroopi was held from 11th to 20th March and the theme was ‘Mother’. Environmentalist and Padma Shri Awardee Tulasi Gowda inaugurated Bahuroopi-2022 at Vanaranga. The 9 days long event was kick started by ‘Janapadotsava’ which was an ultimate treat to theatre buffs. Total 35 dramas of Kannada, English, Rajasthani, Oriya, Marathi, Malayalam, Telugu & Punjabi languages were enacted at the festival.
Chalanachitrotsava had many cinemas of regional languages to offer and it was successful in attracting movie buffs. Movie shows was arranged at Sriranga Theatre which was tentatively renamed as ‘Pandaribaayi Chitramandira’. Apart from this, there was an art exhibition and food mela.
The whole premise was decked up to reflect the theme of ‘Mother’. It was not only a celebration of art but also a celebration of motherhood. Rangayana was back in its original charm for the first time after Covid-19 disruption. The buzz of art enthusiasts filled the whole campus and added colours to this art festival.
The colourful art exhibition:
There were about 80 stalls in the art exhibition. Five stalls were exclusively set-up to educate people about home industries, cottage industries, pottery, handlooms and other hand-made products. Khadi garments like sarees, shawls, kurtas, towels, handmade jewellery, exquisite looking potteries, desi home decors, books, toys, paintings and many more attractive things were there to shop.
A feast for foodies!:
16 food stalls served delicious desi food to the visitors. North Karnataka special rotti, curry, mandakki, girmit, bajji, churmuri, special desi sweets like karadantu, obbattu, variety of peda, haalubayi were sold. Pappad, melukote puliyogre and curd rice, juices and other snacks were also there to munch on.