How a 15-year-old is spreading a 500-year-old art form in Karnataka

Meet Tulasi Raghvendra Hegde, a 15-year-old Yakshagana performer from Karnataka who talks about her fascination for this traditional Indian art form.

Yakshagana is a traditional Indian dance-drama that features music, dialogue and elaborate costumes. With origins in the 16th Century, it is popular in Karnataka.

Tulasi Raghvendra Hegde might be just 15, but she already knows a thing or two about this art form. Initiated into it when she was three, Tulasi has already performed more than 800 shows across India, bagged more than 40 awards from leading cultural institutions, besides impressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Her latest felicitation was in Chennai, where she was given the Young Achiever Award 2024 by the Rotary Club of Madras East. “It motivates me. These are indicators that I am on the right path,” says Tulasi, over a phone call from Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka.

Right lines

Tulasi, born in December 2009, listened to Yakshagana verses while she was in her mother’s (poet Gayatri Raghavendra) womb. “When I used to cry as a baby, my mom would recite verses to put me to sleep. I grew up listening to it,” recalls Tulasi.

Later, when she was old enough to attend school, she would sometimes stay up all night watching performances, and gradually became interested to become a performer.

So, what drew her to this particular art form? “It had acting, singing, dancing and speaking... it has all these elements. There’s also the colourful clothes. All this was very attractive to me.”