Mangaluru: If you had been to the coastal districts two decades ago during the Yakshagana season, you would have seen some troupes performing the prasanga (episode) in tents. This trend of Yakshagana performance had come down and more of bayalatas started showing up.

With the addition of two more melas (touring troupes) for tent performance for the coming season, there has been a revival of this form of tirugata (tour) of Yakshagana troupes along the coastal region.

The bayalatas are more of sponsored shows where the audience need not purchase tickets to watch the performance. In the shows performed by pitching tents, one has to purchase ticket. There were only two tent melas until last season.

The tirugata of the melas for 2017-18 season (November-May) began on Thursday. More than 40 melas would perform during the season.