Two-day workshop of Telangana’s traditional storytelling art form ‘Oggu Katha’ held in UoH

The centre in coordination with the Telangana Department of Language and Culture brought together the ensemble of Oggu Katha performers from Komuravelli for a hands-on experience of Oggu Katha performance

Hyderabad: A two-day workshop on ‘Echoes of Telangana Folklore’ on ‘Oggu Katha: Performance and Documentation’ was organised at the Centre for Folk Culture Studies, School of Social Sciences (SSS), University of Hyderabad (UoH).

The centre in coordination with the Telangana Department of Language and Culture brought together the ensemble of Oggu Katha performers from Komuravelli for students and academicians to have a hands-on experience of Oggu Katha performance.

The workshop aimed at showcasing the Oggu Katha, the rich tradition of storytelling of Telangana, making it accessible to youngsters, enthusiasts, and academicians.

The workshop transcends the space from Jatara, a fair, where hereditarily the performers from the Kuruma, a pastoral community enact the folk narratives of their god, Mallana to the academic space of the university.

A team of nine members led by Singarapu Raj Kumar in traditional attires depicted katha, the story accompanied by the percussion instrument, Oggu.

The performance, divided into three sections began with the prayer, Ganga Prarthana followed by brief episodes of Lokakalyanam, Mallana’s marriage to Medallamma and Kethamma. The troupe also presented a few folk songs, fused with contemporaneity that drew its sources from Oggu Katha.