3D printing for Yakshagana ornament fabrication

Yakshagana is a multidisciplinary and group performing art involving classical music, poetic songs, percussion, dance, expression, acting, dialogue, comedy, costumes and scholarly discussions in Kannada. It is performed in coastal districts of Karnataka and has a history of more than 500 years. The most attractive features of yakshagana are the glittering ornaments, costumes and makeup. Most of the ornaments currently used in this art form are traditionally handmade using soft and lightweight wood. However, manual fabrication of these ornaments using wood leads to increased cost and wood-cutting, as well as challenges like inconsistency, excess weight and time delays.

To address the above issues, researchers at the Dept. Instrumentation and Applied Physics and, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, IISc (Gopalkrishna Hegde, Sudhanva Bhat and Gautam Hegde) have explored the application of 3D printing technique in fabricating all badagutittu yakshagana ornaments/components. They showed that all wooden ornaments can be replaced with 3D printed polymer ornaments, while retaining the integrity of the art form. The team also carried out FEM analysis to understand the mechanical properties of the fabricated polymer ornaments. A comparative study of the traditional method and 3D printing technique has also been carried out to demonstrate the overall efficiency, cost, durability, compatibility, manufacturing capability and environment friendly nature of the materials and methods used in the latter approach. The study also proposes an opportunity for small/medium scale industry development in this area.

The team envisions that this technique can also be extended to make ornaments/costumes for similar Indian traditional art forms such as Bharatnatyam, Kathakali, Kutiyattam, Terukkuttu, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Veeragase and Manipuri.

REFERENCE:
Gopalkrishna Hegde, Sudhanva Bhat, Gautam Hegde, “Materials engineering application in Indian traditional art form yakshagana: exploration with additive manufacturing, ISSS Journal of Smart Materials and Systems (2025), https://doi.org/10.1007/s41683-025-00133-1