Yakshagana is a traditional folk art form of South Kanara district of Karnataka in India and would be considered to be a form of opera in Western eyes.. Actors wear costumes and enact the various roles. Traditionally, Yakshaganas would go on all night.

A Yakshagana performance begins at the twilight hours with the beating of drums for upto a couple of hours before the 'actors' get on the stage. The actors wear resplendent costumes,head-dresses, and painted faces which they paint themselves. A performance usually depicts a story from the Hindu epics and puranas. It consists of a narrator who narrates the story in a song-like fashion, backed by musicians playing on traditional musical instruments as the actors dance to the tune, with actions that portray the story as it is being narrated. The actors have a limited dialog during the course of the preformance.