Tourist places › Fort & Temple
Ninasam Theatre, Heggodu
A theatre and film institution in a small Malnad village, running since 1949
Ninasam (Neelakanteshwara Natya Sangha) has run out of the small village of Heggodu since 1949, training generations of Kannada actors, directors and writers and building a reputation well beyond the district. Its annual culture course and film-appreciation programme pull in students and scholars from across the country.
There's no grand architecture here — it's a working theatre and training campus — but for anyone interested in Kannada arts and literature, seeing a play or catching a screening at Ninasam is a genuinely different kind of Malnad stop from the district's waterfalls and temples.
Highlights
- Founded in 1949 by K.V. Subbanna as a centre for Kannada theatre, cinema and cultural education
- The annual Ninasam Culture Course draws students, scholars and art lovers from across India
- A working auditorium, library and training campus set in ordinary Malnad village surroundings
Getting there
Buses on the Thirthahalli to Sagara route get you to Sagara — Heggodu is a further ~10 km by local transport from there.