Yakshagana Poetry - The Yakshagana Poets

The Yakshagana Poets

By far Muddana, Nagire Subba are the most well known Yakshagana poets. Muddana wrote the celebrated Ratnavati Kalyana.

"...Nudiye ninnodeyana pesarodanudiye..."

"...udu seneyadhipati baana tyajisuta nintanambinige..."

are his compositions.

• Purandaradasa (Anasooya Charitre)
• Nagire Subba
• Subba (son of venkata)
• Parthi Subba (a disputed author who lived in 19th century)
• Kirikkadu Vishnu Master
• Halasinahalli Narasimha Shastri
• Devidasa
• Agari Srinivasa Bagavata
• Hattinangadi rama batta
• Kadandale
• Balipa Narayana Bagavata
• Kirikkadu Vishnu Bhat
• Bidirahalli Narasimha Murthy
• Vittappa Shanai
• Hosatota Manjunatha Bhagawatha

are few of the well known Yakshagana poets. There is a confusion regarding time and works of Parthi Subba who is believed to have written Ramayana in Yakshagana. While Muliya Timmapa and Govinda Pai have claimed that Parthi Subba (of Kumble) lived in 19th century and wrote Ramayana prasangas, Dr Shivaram Karanth vehemently rejects their opinion citing procedural lapse in their deduction. Karanth argued in his work 'Yakshagana Bayalata' that Parthi Subba, while was a Yakshagana poet or famous Bhagavatha in the 19th century, the Ramayana prasangas attributed to him are either written by an unknown poet or by a number of poets including Devidasa.