Mangaluru: For the fifth consecutive year, members of Team Hanuman, a youth organisation in Dharmanagar, Ullal, donned traditional Yakshagana attire during Navaratri to raise funds for underprivileged communities.Continuing the tradition this year under the theme ‘Bhavati Bhiksham Dehi’, the group collected Rs 2,01,674 from the public and donated the entire amount towards the speech and hearing impairment surgery of a four-year-old girl from Pallamajalu, Bantwal.Thilak Kotian, vice-president of Team Hanuman, said the group had raised Rs 7.2 lakh through its charitable initiatives over the past five years and donated it to the medical treatment of underprivileged families.“Team Hanuman has about 50 members. Among active members, there are around 30 people who don the costumes during the Navaratri festival every year. Many of our members are working outside, especially in Bengaluru and other places. Wearing Yakshagana costumes, our team members go around Ullal to raise money for charity. The team’s visits are limited to the Ullal and Thokkottu region only,” he said.The team also organises health check-up camps.At a formal gathering held Sunday at Govt Higher Primary School in Dharmanagar, Ullal, Manjappa Karnavar, chief priest of Ullal Sri Cheerumba Bhagavathi Temple, handed over the aid cheque to the child’s family.Karnavar said it was exemplary that a small youth group like Team Hanuman had raised over Rs 7 lakh in five years by donning festive costumes during Navaratri and distributed it to vulnerable members of society.“Comprehensive societal progress is possible if all youth actively engage in such community-oriented endeavours,” he said.
