Yakshagana

Yakshagana is performed in the coastal districts of Karnataka in a form that combines dance, music, spoken improvisation and elaborate costume: performers wear painted faces, wide skirts and headdresses that can be a metre high, and enact episodes from the epics through the night, traditionally beginning after dark and ending at dawn. A singer, the bhagavatha, narrates and drives the performance with drums, while actors improvise dialogue around the sung frame. Troupes tour temple grounds through the dry season, and shortened versions of two or three hours are staged for visitors in Udupi.

What you actually see

• The headdresses and paint - towering costume and elaborate face design.
• The all-night structure - performances running from dark until dawn.
• The bhagavatha - the singer narrating and driving the action with drums.
• The improvised dialogue - spoken exchange built around the sung frame.

When to go

November to May, the touring season when troupes perform at temples; the monsoon largely stops outdoor performance. Full all-night shows are rural and seasonal, and short versions run year-round in Udupi.

Honest expectations

Performances are in Kannada or Tulu with no translation. Full versions run eight hours or more outdoors on hard ground. Shortened tourist versions lose much of the improvisation that makes the form.

Nearby

Udupi is the main centre; Mangalore lies south.