Bailur Math – For Spiritual Detoxification

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 tarmac road diversion on Karkala-Udupi State Highway at Bailur snakes through the undulating terrain. The human dwellings thin as you near a hillock, a little away from the foothills of the Western Ghats.  There stands Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Bailur, on the bank of River Swarna. 

    Though the surrounding areas have fallen victim to the development at the cost of nature, this quiet and quite a vast patch has still retained its verdant beauty with minimum damage to the wild vegetation.    The sprawling Math premises is an embodiment of serenity. 

      Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, also known as Bailur Math, is a monastic organisation for men with a provision to accommodate non-monastics interested in pure spiritual life.  Sri Ramakrishna Sharada Ashram is a parallel women monastic wing without any connection with the men’s wing.

     Interestingly, the monastery known also as Bailur Math, rhymes with the Belur Math in Kolkatta, the headquarters of Ramakrishna Math and Mission founded by Swami Vivekananda.  However, it’s   not a branch of Belur Math but an independent private organization under the Global Ramakrishna Movement.  There are thousands of such monasteries in the country working on the lines of the teaching of the great saint Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

     The monastery came up a little over a decade ago on a patch of 16 acres of land with the coming together of a few spiritually inclined people.  It functions on the twin ideals of Swami Vivekananda for one’s own salvation and also for the welfare of the world.

     The 16 acres of Math land encompasses an aesthetically laid holy mother rock garden, a prayer hall dedicated to the holy trio of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sharada and Swami Vivekananda,  a statue of Vivekananda enshrined in a beautifully constructed rock structure and accommodation facilities. Another plot of around 18 acres is developed as Sharada Ashrama for the woman inmates.

 

      All activities of the Ashram hinge upon spirituality and service.  Classes on scriptures, physical exercises, meditation, bhajans and pujas and other service activities are the regular features on any day.  Most of the day today chores of the monastery are carried out by the inmates themselves. External help is hired only for skilled and additional works.

     Through service, the inmates toil to uplift their lives and also to build up the infrastructure of the Math. The monastery also involves itself in activities like extending educational help to the needy, conducting spiritual classes, personality development workshops for students, motivational seminars, Bhajanamrtha on the last Sunday of every month, Yoga, Satsanga, discourses as well as summer camps for students and promotion of rural art and culture.

     Both religious and national festivals are celebrated with equal gusto.  Festivals like Durga Pooja, Gurupoornima, Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, birth anniversaries of the holy trio, Shivaratri are celebrated with due fanfare.   Swarna Gangarati marks the night of December 31 every year. 

      Swami Vinayakananda Maharaj of Sri Ramakrishna Order of Sanyasa heads the monastery.  The Math has around 40 inmates. The Math also shelters battered souls, disillusioned individuals in addition to those who seek nothing but spiritual enlightenment. Even a short stay in the ashrama can bring about tranquility. It’s indeed an ideal location to get detoxified spiritually. 

       Alternately, the ashram can be reached by taking a diversion at Hiriyadka, 15 km from Udupi enroute Karkala.

   

    

      

 

      

Bitten by theatre bug

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udradi, at the foothills of Western Ghats in Udupi district, is drawing attention of the theatre buffs from far and wide in recent years.  Thanks to the activities of Nama Tuluver Kala (Natka) Sanghatane, this otherwise non-descript remote village has emerged a prominent spot on the theatre map of Karnataka.  Not confining itself to Tulu, as the name connotes, it has brought on stage several acclaimed Kannada plays.

     Way back in 1985, Dharmayogi Mohan, a culture enthusiast, founded Nilayada Kalavidaru, a forum for cultural activities at Mudradi.  It was mostly Yakshagana in those days. On the occasion of its decennial year, Nilayada Kalavidaru was rechristened as Nama Tuluver Kala Sanghatane, Natka.  The organization that made a humble beginning has grown leaps and bounds in these 33 years of its existence. 

     Initially there used to be a single drama in a year.  Later a nine-day theatre festival Navarangotsava was started during Navaratri at the abode of Goddess Adishakti founded and managed by Dharmayogi Mohan.  On the occasion of its twentieth anniversary, Nama Tuluver created a record of sorts by staging 24 plays in 20 days.

     Mudradi Rashtreeya Rangotsava is an annual event since its silver jubilee.  The week-long national-level theatre festival has featured dramas in languages like Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Konkani besides Kannada and Tulu.  Many theatre veterans from across the country are recognized and honoured with awards on the occasion.

     The amateur troupe has taken its plays to Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Dubai and many other places and brought plays from various parts of the country to Mudradi as well. It has staged around 40 dramas in around 1,500 shows so far. Besides many dramas being staged hundreds of times, the Tulu play Pilipatti Gadas alone has been staged 390 times. The prizes won at various drama completions by Natka touch the mark of 200.  Sukumar Mohan, who heads Natka, has been honoured with CGK Award and Suvarna Ranga Samman.

     The team is ecstatic about its feat at the recently concluded Kuvempu Memorial Drama Competition in Mumbai. It presented Dashanana Swapnasiddhi, a theatre adaptation of the last part of Kuvempu’s Jnanpith Award winning work Sri Ramayana Darshanam. The drama, directed by Manjunatha L. Badiger, won the second place and the outstanding efforts fetched it prizes for direction, acting both male and child categories, music, costume and lighting. 

     The speciality of the troupe is that the entire Mohan family is into the field of drama. Dharmayogi Mohan’s four children Sukumar Mohan, Sugandhi Kalmady, Surendra Mohan and Sudhindra Mohan and their respective spouses Vani Sukumar, Umesh Kalmady, Pavithra Surendra and Poornima Sudhindra have embraced theatre and turned out excellent performers. Now even the third generation, the little Swastik and Swarnika, is taking baby steps into the world of theatre. Theatre is the mainstay and the common thread that binds the family.

Though none have any academic training in the field, they grew from drama to drama under the watchful eyes of the directors like Shreepada Bhat, Prasanna Heggodu, Krishnamurthy Kavatthar, Bhasuma Kodagu, Jeevanaram Sullia, Pramod Shiggaon Udyavara Nagesh Kumar, C Basavalingayya, Sheena Nadoli, Gururaj Marpalli, Manjunath L Badiger, Dakshayini Bhat and Mallikarjuna Mahamane The interest of the Mohan family has rubbed off on the youngsters of the neighbourhood. They too are part of the troupe now that comprises around 18 members. In fact, Nama Tuluver has brought out the theatre culture in this part.

     Sukumar Mohan, also a former member of the Karnataka Nataka Academy, admits the activities are not self-sustaining. “The occasional funds from government or otherwise are not sufficient for the scale of events that we organize”, says Sukumar.  But nothing comes in the way of their passion. As the activities grew, Natka felt the need to have an auditorium. Hence came up an open-air auditorium Chowtara Bayalu at Mudradi at a cost of around Rs. 60 lakh.

     Natka organizes training programmes for students and theatre workshops. Many activities related to drama are held at frequent intervals. It has acted in many street plays bringing awareness on social issues. Natka has also conducted CGK drama competition and a children’s drama festival. Sukumar has plans to tour various places with two dramas every year.  

     Well-known artistes such as Hamsalekha, H S Shivaprakash, B Jayashree, Yenagi Balappa, Master Hirannayya, Nagendra Shah and Mukhyamantri Chandru who have been invited on various occasions have appreciated the dedicated theatre activities at the far-flung Mudradi. The theatre activities of Natka are so intense that Mudradi Grama Panchayat has named the area Natkadur. Perhaps a rare affirmation and recognition to a theatre group anywhere else.

-                                                                                                                                                    - Sanoor Indira Acharya