The campus of Dravidian University on Monday echoed with the performance of artisans from various parts of South India, marking the World Folklore Day celebrations.
A gathering of about 1,000 participants, including faculty of various departments, students, and artists representing various genres of fine arts, assembled at the entrance of the university in the morning, and conducted a march to the temple of Dravida Matha on the campus, where the traditional ‘Pongallu’ (food offering) was offered to the deity.
Vice-Chancellor T. Ramakrishna, addressing the gathering, said that the World Folklore Day celebrations were significant for the people of Andhra Pradesh, as it was on this day, August 22, that Alluri Sitaramaraju had launched the famous Rampa rebellion in 1922.
“During the last two decades, the Dravidian University had been organising the World Folklore Day by involving the artists and artisans from various parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. The local people of Kuppam have been very cooperative with the university in conducting cultural events. The role of women artists in traditional forms of Harikatha, Burrakatha, and various genres of fine arts is significant,” he said.
K. Shyamala, Department of Folklore and Tribal Studies, spoke about the contribution of British writer William John Thomas, who first coined the word “Folk-Lore” in 1846. After a gap of one century, the American literary associations brought back the glory and legacy of “folklore” in 1946 through their publications. “The rural side of India is replete with rich oral, literary, historical, and cultural entities of fine arts, giving a prominent place to folklore tradition. The Dravidian University has always been at the forefront to institutionalize the importance of folklore by creating a separate department for the studies,” she said.
The cultural events of Dappu performance, singing, and rendering of folklore traditions remained the cynosure of the celebrations
