Shivarama Karantha Rangamandira



Opened in 1972, the Shivarama Karantha Rangamandira has been more than an auditorium for Ninasam for over three decades now: it has been its stage and shelter, worksite and playground, performance space and intellectual forum, experiential field and experimenting laboratory, its home and its world. Built on simple lines and a modest budget, it has yet been designed in such a way as to accommodate Ninasam’s multi-formal cultural activities — a model of engagement that the organisation drew from the versatile genius after whom the structure is named: the late Shivarama Karantha, writer, thinker, artist, activist, and above all, an inspirational figure. An embodiment of the love and the labour of the local community, the auditorium has hosted performances by many renowned cultural figures, and nurtured numerous blossoming talents. It has earned admiration from artists and audiences alike for its ambience as well as the intrinsically flexible nature of its interiors. For long only the second fully equipped auditorium in the state — after Ravindra Kalakshetra, Bangalore — genuinely designed for, and devoted to theatre activities, it still has the distinction of being the only one of its kind in the whole of rural Karnataka, and probably, rural India.

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The following data about the auditorium is available for download-