It was humane and dignified in the way he spoke and conducted himself on stage,” recalls Natesh. “The character portrayed by Sheni was very popular.
The late Sheni Gopalkrishna Bhat, a doyen of the Yakshagana art form, was acclaimed for his portrayal of Bappa Beary in the 1970s and 1980s. “I know the story of Bappa today because of the portrayal of the character by Sheni Gopalkrishna Bhat,” says Natesh Ullal. The act has two main characters – Bappa and his apprentice Usman – and it tells the story of how the Bappanadu temple was built. “When you mention Bappa Beary, what comes to my mind is the Yakshagana act I watched decades ago,” says Natesh Ullal, a filmmaker from Mangaluru who has watched the ‘Bappanadu Kshethra Mahatme’ since he was a child. Yakshagana prasangas or acts typically run from dusk to dawn and draw their themes from Hindu epics. Yakshagana, a traditional theatre form that combines dance, music and dialogue, is popular across Tulunadu. Residents of Tulunadu say the founding myth of the Bappanadu temple became a household legend due to a Tulu Yakshagana act ‘Bappanadu Kshetra Mahatme’. The discrimination against Muslims in Bappanadu forms a pattern not only linked to contemporary events of communal tensions in this region but also to the changing significance of the lore of Bappa Beary.Īlso read: ‘No Business for Non-Hindus in and Around Temples’: Karnataka Govt Tells Assembly
Muslim traders who turned up at the fair were evicted by members of Hindutva groups. The annual fair in Bappanadu is one of Tulunadu’s most popular fairs attended by lakhs of devotees.Įxcept this year, Muslims, who were historically part of the fair, stayed away following threats from Hindutva groups who put up banners in Mulki warning against Muslim traders setting up stalls. This region encompassing Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of coastal Karnataka is where Tulu is predominantly spoken. For eight centuries, people of all faiths have thronged the Bappanadu temple offering jasmine to the goddess and symbolising the communal harmony in coastal Karnataka or what the residents call Tulunadu. The Jain rulers of the time provided the land and the place where this temple was built was renamed Bappanadu in honour of Bappa Beary. The story goes that a Muslim merchant Bappa Beary’s boat ran aground in the Shambhavi river sometime in the 12th century, when he had a vision in which goddess Durga instructed him to build a shrine for her.
The founding myth of the Bappanadu Durgaparameshwari temple is one that is familiar to almost everyone in Bappanadu, a seaside village near Mulki in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka.