Vachana literature of 12th century Sharanas of the Lingayat movement will provide the base for a nine-hour, nightlong play to be produced by the Department of Kannada and Culture. Called Vachana Kalyana, it is likely to be staged in mid-December.
The department had asked the Bengaluru chapter of National School of Drama (NSD), headed by C. Basavalingaiah, to stage a play based on the Vachana movement and earmarked ₹75 lakh for the ambitious project.
According to Mr. Basavalingaiah, Vachana Kalyana is an attempt to trace the cultural, political and social history of the Vachana movement of the 12th century. “The project was envisaged in 2015. A 15-member committee of experts, including the late scholar M.M. Kalburgi, who was an authority on Vachanas, was formed to make the play authentic, without attracting controversies,” he said.
K.Y. Narayanaswamy adapted the playfor the stage. He worked for nearly 20 months to make it ready for theatre. “The play is ready and the work on vetting the script is progressing. The script will be handed over to the expert committee for final approval shortly,” said the writer.
“I will seek approval from our headquarters in Delhi, as I am involving new and old students of NSD,” Basavalingaiah, teh director of the play, said.
The Vachana movement inspired many playwrights, including Girish Karnad, Chandrashekara Kambara, Lankesh, and H.S. Shivaprakash. What would be the scope of Vachana Kalyana?
“There are 10 plays on the Vachana movement by various writers. But they focussed on a particular time of the Vachana movement. Our attempt is to offer a comprehensive picture of the Vachanas that evolved in the 11th century and flourished in 12th century as part of the Sharana movement, by mapping important developments of the period,” Mr. Basavalingaiah said.
The nine-hour play with 120 artistes, to be staged on four podiums spread across 12 acres of Kalagrama, will commence with the coming together of Bijjala and Basavanna, and ends with the downfall of Kalyana, while tracing the aftermath of the Kalyana revolution, besides discussing the relevance of the Vachana movement in the present socio-economic and political scenario. The play comprises 85 scenes. Art director Shashidhara Adapa is trying to make it as authentic as possible, said Mr. Basavalingaiah.