Chittani Ramachandra Hegde was associated with which of the following dances?
- (a)Chhau dance
- (b)Chappeli dance
- (c)Yakshagana dance
- (d)Huttari dance
Answer
Why
Correct — C. Chittani Ramachandra Hegde was a Yakshagana artist of coastal Karnataka, known for his stage roles in that form.
Yakshagana is a night-long folk theatre that puts dance, drumming, sung narration and improvised dialogue together in towering headgear and painted faces.
The other three are different traditions — a martial dance of the eastern states, a Kumaoni folk dance, and a Kodava harvest dance — option (c).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Chhau dance — Chhau is the martial-style dance of the Seraikella, Mayurbhanj and Purulia traditions in Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal, inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2010.
- (b)Chappeli dance — Chappeli is a Kumaoni folk dance of Uttarakhand. It belongs to the western Himalaya and has no link to Karnataka's theatre tradition.
- (d)Huttari dance — Huttari is the harvest dance of the Kodava community of Kodagu. It is the tempting option because it is also from Karnataka, but it is a different form.
Concept
Yakshagana is a traditional theatre of coastal Karnataka — Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada — performed through the night, usually on episodes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
A performance sets the bhagavata's sung narration and the chande and maddale drums against actors in heavy crowns and painted faces who improvise their dialogue.
SSC asks it as a name-to-form pairing, so store the form with two or three performers attached to it.
The stem calls it a dance. Yakshagana is more exactly a theatre form with dance in it, which is why some papers list it beside classical dances and others beside folk theatre.
Key facts
- Chittani Ramachandra Hegde was a Yakshagana artist from Karnataka.
- Yakshagana is a traditional theatre form of coastal Karnataka.
- A performance combines sung narration, drumming, dance and improvised dialogue.
- Chhau was inscribed on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list in 2010.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing Huttari because it is also from Karnataka, when the state is not what separates the options.
- Reading Yakshagana as pure dance and ruling it out for a theatre artist.
The same form is asked from the state side on 26 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.2, spelt Yakshagan and keyed to Karnataka.
Performer-to-form items run through the shifts as well — 17 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.9 asks which listed dancer is associated with Kathak.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.