Tala-Maddale is an ancient form of art from coastal and malnad

Malnad

Malenadu is a region of Karnataka state in South India. Malenadu covers the western and eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, roughly 100 kilometers in width. Malenadu covers portions of the Shimoga, Chikmagalur, Uttara Kannada, Kodagu and Hassan districts....

 regions of Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

 and northern Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 state of India. It is very popular in Uttara Kannada

Uttara Kannada

Uttara Kannada also known as North Canara or North Kanara, is a district in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is bordered by the state of Goa and Belgaum District to the north, Dharwad District and Haveri District to the east, Shimoga District and Udupi District to the south and the...

, Dakshina Kannada

Dakshina Kannada

- Geography :The district geography consists of sea shore in the west and Western Ghats in the east. The major rivers are Netravathi, Kumaradhara, Phalguni, Shambhavi, Nandini or Pavanje and Payaswini which all join Arabian sea. Vast areas of evergreen forests which once covered this district, have...

, Udupi and Shimoga districts of Karnataka and Kasaragod district

Kasaragod district

Kasaragod District is one of the districts of the Indian state of Kerala. Kasaragod District was organised as a separate district on 24 May 1984...

 of Kerala. It is a derived form of Yakshagana

Yakshagana

Yakshagana is a musical theater popular in the coastal and Malenadu regions of Karnataka, India. Yakshagana is the recent scholastic name for what are known as kēḷike, āṭa, bayalāṭa, bayalāṭa, daśāvatāra . It is believed to have evolved from pre-classical music and theatre during Bhakti movement...

—a classical dance or musical form of art from the same region.

A typical Tala-Maddale show consists of veteran artists sitting in a circular fashion along with a Bhagavata (the singer, with "Tala" or pair of small hand cymbal

Cymbal

Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...

s) and a "Maddale" (a type of drum) player. Artists assume the roles of characters in stories, typically, from Ramayana

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

, Mahabharata

Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

, and other puranas. The show is a superb presentation of oratorial skills.

Artists are normally well versed with the Hindu epic

Indian epic poetry

Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called Kavya . The Ramayana and Mahabharata, originally composed in Sanskrit and translated thereafter into many other Indian languages, are some of the oldest surviving epic poems on earth and form part of...

s and puranas

Puranas

The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...

. Kannada language is the normal medium of communication. Mostly tala-maddale is held during night. It is organized by either hobbyists who are interested in the art at their houses or as a public event in villages and towns.
Performance is commenced with a puja to Lord Ganesh with a prayer song by Bhagavatha. Usually the song is "Gajamukhadavage ganapage". Some of the popular Tala maddale artists are Sheni Gopala Krishna Bhat, Kerekai Krishna Bhat

Pandit Krishna Bhat, Kerekai

Vidhwan Krishna Bhat, Kerekai, was a noted Tala-Maddale artist from Sirsi, Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka state, India....

, Kerekai Umakant Bhat, Polali Shankaranarayana Shastri, Shankaranarayana Samaga, Vasudeva Samaga, Prabhakara Joshi and others. Artha vaibhava or the grandeur of dialogues is relished by the rasikas (audience).