Mysuru:  Festive atmosphere prevailed in the air at Rangayana premises yesterday even as the Sun was  setting and the joy lit large on children’s faces.

The occasion was the opening of the 28-day, 20th annual ‘Chinnara Mela-2018’ and the hundreds of children participating along with their parents, danced with the H.D. Kote Girijan tribal artistes and clapped to their hearts content.

The theme of this year’s Chinnara Mela is ‘Nishabda Kooginedege’ (Towards call of silence) and the attraction was actor Mime Ramesh with his unique attire.

Theatre and film actor and Director K. Suchendra Prasad, speaking after inaugurating the Mela by beating the drums (tamate), said that the theatre was a very good influence on the young minds. “In today’s technological age, knowledge is at one’s finger tips and sitting in one place every information can be accessed. However, the understanding of real world is equally important and theatre or stage is the place to gain that knowledge,” he said.

In life, understanding of human emotions is of utmost importance and when children savour this, their knowledge of the outer world increases. Since the artistes in Rangayana are trained by their Gurus, they will teach the children from the practical experience they have gained, he said.

The process of speaking silently happens in theatre very smoothly. Everyone dreams and sometimes those dreams sprout here and most importantly, theatre treats everyone equally, felt Suchendra Prasad.

Rangayana Director Bhagirathi Bai Kadam said it is a new experience for many children who have finished the exams and participating in Chinnara Mela.

“Rangayana has decided that Chinnara Mela must not be just urban centric but even the rural children must experience it and hence it has been organised there too,” she said.

Rangayana Joint Director V.N. Mallikarjunaswamy, Chinnara Mela Director Krishna Prasad and others were present.