Bengali Theatre - Indigenous Theatre

Indigenous Theatre

The term 'indigenous theatre' (generally known as 'folk' theatre) encompasses all forms of theatre originating in Bengal. Unlike the Sanskrit theatre, the indigenous theatre was in direct contact with the people and was often created and supported by them. It was not closed to the refined techniques of the Sanskrit theatre. In the indigenous theatre, the performers include actors, dancers, singers, musicians, and puppeteers (both male and female). Their performance is not restricted to dialogue in prose but includes dance, instrumental music and prose, verse or lyric speech as narration or dialogue. The indigenous theatre of Bangladesh has developed in distinct forms, loosely categorised into Narrative, Song-and-Dance, Processional, and Supra-personae.

Narrative forms In the narrative forms of theatre, the lead-narrator (gayen) describes an event, portrays various characters related to the event and enacts the action, all in the third person. While engaged as described above, s/he partly speaks his/her lines in prose, partly recites in verse, and partly sings his/her story. S/he is assisted by the choral singers-cum-musicians (dohars), who employ musical instruments (Mridanga and Mandira) and sing choral passages. The gayen carries a chamar (whisk) in religious performances and occasionally dances while singing. Usually, the performer makes effective use of vocal inflections and physical gestures in his/her portrayal of the characters. Sometimes s/he also readjusts his/her basic costume, and uses a few props to make the portrayal more effective.

The earliest evidence of narrative theatre in Bengal can be traced to the charyapada or charyagiti, a form of songs popular in Bengal from the ninth to the 12th century AD. These songs were composed by Tantric Buddhist mendicants to expound their religious doctrine. They were presented to the lay populace with the help of dance, in a manner similar to the charya dance still seen in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

Ethnological studies indicate a long tradition of narrative theatre in the Natha cult. These performances were based on oral compositions of those dealing with the origin of the Natha siddhas and the subsequent rescue of Minanatha by his disciple Goraksanatha from the enticement of worldly pleasure and those dealing with the exploits of Queen Maynamati and her son King Govindachandra (or Gopichandra), the disciple of Hadipa. Narrative performances based on the Maynamati-Gopichandra legend were created after the 11th century and gained wide currency in northern India. On the other hand, the performances based on the Goraksanatha-Minanatha legend are more difficult to date. If the Natha cult evolved in the 9th century, it is possible to place the earliest performances of the Goraksanatha-Minanatha legend in the 10th century.

None of the extant literary and liturgical texts of the Dharma cult can be dated beyond the 17th century. It is possible that in the 12th century, when the cult was in existence, there existed a body of oral narratives on which the later texts were built. Extant texts and current practice among the followers of the cult indicate that celebrations of the ancient period included narrative performances of oral compositions.

A large number of orally composed folk tales prevail at the popular level, such as Madhumalar Kechchha, Sakhisona, Malanchakanyar Kechchha, Shit-Basanta, Kanchanamala and Malatikusumamala, indicate that their original nuclei were created in the 12th century. All the tales are secular in content, and some of them are still performed in Bangladesh. It has been only since the first half of the 20th century that they have been scribed and published in editions such as Thakurmar Jhuli. For a predominantly non-literate audience, stories would be told rather than read, and the most expedient way to commit a story to memory is to have it composed in verse. Terra-cotta plaques depicting secular (Sanskrit Panchatantra) stories have been discovered in the temple of Somapura Monastery. It can be argued that the secular tales of the ancient period were orally composed in rhymed metrical verse and rendered as narrative performance.

Various political and social factors, including state-patronised Brahmanical hegemony in the 12th century and the advent of the Muslims in the early 13th century, caused a qualitative change in the culture of Bengal. There was a gradual acculturation, decay and transformation in Buddhist, Dharma and Natha cult performances. On the other hand, a new set of narrative performances appeared in the indigenous theatre of Bengal. Distinguishing between their subject matter, these can be divided into performances glorifying the Aryan pantheon and legendary heroes as recounted in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the indigenous pantheon as recounted in the mangalkavya or those on Muslim legendary heroes. The tradition of secular narratives continued, invigorated by interaction with the above. Early Bengali literature was dependent on lyric. Literary compositions of the period under study should be held as performance-texts, rather than written and printed texts.

Largely based on the Bhagavata, Srikrishnavijay was composed in 1473-80. It is possible that narrative performance based on oral compositions of Krishna legends existed since the beginning of the 13th century. The translation of Valmiki's Ramayana in the first half of the 15th century presupposes the existence of narrative performances drawing from oral texts based on the exploits of Ramachandra.

Initiated in the early 16th century by Chaitanya (1486–1533), Gaudiya Vaisnavism made a significant contribution to the theatre of Bengal by giving rise to the narrative form known as Lila Kirtan, which had its formal inception at the famous festival of Kheur in 1576. Narottama Das, credited with having given structure to Lila Kirtan, strUng together brief Vaisnavite devotional songs known as padavalis to produce a coherent narrative based on a particular lila of Radha and Krishna. He synthesised the indigenous musical tradition of Bengal with the north Indian classical tradition.

Vijay Gupta's Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent (1494) and Bipradas Pipilai's Manasavijaya (end of the 15th century) are clear indications that narrative performances on the serpent goddess Manasa existed in the 15th century. Narrative performances based on oral compositions were prevalent in Bengal in the 13th and 14th centuries, before written texts. From the 16th century onwards, there are a number of mangalakavyas on Manasa, such as Narayan Dev's Padmapurana (first half of the 16th century) and Ketakadas Ksemananda's Manasamangala (mid-17th century). Quite a few popular versions based on oral compositions came up during this period. Vijay Gupta's Padmapurana is still performed in south-western Bangladesh as Rayani Gan, while an adaptation of Narayan Dev's text is performed in north Bengal as Padmapurana Gan.

The 16th century is known as the era of mangalakavyas on chandi, for it was in this period that these gained widest currency. The most renowned mangalakavya on the goddess was composed by Kavikankana Mukundaran Chakravarti (c 1555-56). The signature-piece (bhanita) indicates that the poet performed Chandimangala and parts of it were rendered in lyric. His signature-pieces suggest that the poet was in the company of skilled musicians (kalanta, lit. well versed in classical music) and actors (natuya). Another section indicates that the performance was composed of git (song), badya (music), natya (acting) and dance, executed by actors and skilled musicians. This textual evidence proves that Chandimangala was in narrative form in the 16th century.

References in Chaitanya Bhagavata (Part I, Chapters 2 & 13; 1535–36) indicate the existence of Mangal Chandir Git (narrative performance based on eulogies of Mangal Chandi), in the first half of the 16th century. The same text testifies that narrative performances of Shiver Git, based on oral compositions in praise of Shiva, existed in the first half of the 16th century. A lone performer, who danced and played the damaru (drum) as he sang, would perform in a courtyard.

The appearance of yusuf-zulekha (c 1390-1410) marks the entry of a new element, the Perso-Arabic influence, in the history of performance in Bengal. rasulbijay (1474), which recounts the life of the Prophet, emphasized the keen interest of the Muslims in exerting their distinct identity by attempting to create a tradition parallel to the Hindu puranas. Both texts were composed under court patronage of the Muslim rulers and point to the beginning of narrative performances based on Islamic root-paradigms. By the 16th century, a number of texts dealing with Islamic cosmology and legends began to appear. Some of these (such as Maktul Hosain, Kashemer Ladai, Karbala and janganama), focus on the deaths of Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain and the revenge of their legendary half-brother, Hanifa. Others (nabi bangsha, Rasulbijay and amir hamza) illustrate a vast area, often beginning with the creation of the world, running right through legends related to various prophets, and ending with the life and accomplishments of the Prophet. The textual composition suggests that most of these were given as narrative performance.

Besides the two groups of texts mentioned above, there evolved a third, the stories of which were indigenous in origin. Based on various legends associated with a number of Muslim saints (pirs), these can be termed 'miracles of saints'. Most of these texts, composed in rhymed metrical verse, profess the efficacy of the cult of their respective pirs i.e., Khwaja Khizir, Pir Madar, Gazi Pir, Satya Pir and Manik Pir. They seek to generate devotion in the cult followers and warn the non-believers of dire consequences.

Khwaja Khizir is the earliest Muslim saint whose miracles gained wide currency in the form of narrative (Khwaja Khizirer Jari) and processional performance (Beda Bhasan). Historical records on the celebration of Beda Bhasan by the ruling elite in 1626-27 indicate that the celebration was in existence by the mid-16th century. The hey-day of the cult and its performances were the seventeenth and the 18th centuries. On the other hand, granting privileges to the followers of Pir Madar by a Mughal viceroy of Bengal in 1659 (which included taking out processions in honour of the pir) indicate that narrative and processional performances related to the cult must have evolved by 1600 AD. Celebrations in honour of Pir Madar on the day of the full moon in Magh (mid-January to mid-February), accompanied by processions with bamboo poles and music played on dhak, dhol and kasi, date back to the first half of the 15th century when the cult was introduced in Bengal. Performances of the cult, which still exist in Bangladesh, are Madariya Michhil, Madar Bansher Gan and Madar Pirer Gan. These performances show that the cult had incorporated elements from Tantric practices. Historical accounts (Risalat al-Shuhada, second half of 15th century), textual evidence (Sheikh Faizullah's Gazibijay, second half of 16th century), ethnological studies and traditions reveal that the legend related to Pir Gazi arose shortly after 1600 AD. The earliest performance of the cult of Gazi, a narrative form known as gazir gan still seen in Bangladesh today, arose by the mid-17th century. The earliest literary reference to satya pir is to be found in kavi kanka's Vidya-Sundar (1502) while the earliest written text on the miracles of the pir was composed by Dvija Giridhara in 1663. It is believed that a form of narrative performance (Satya Pirer Gan), based on oral compositions, evolved in the second half of the 16th century. It was in the 18th and 19th centuries that the performance gained wide currency. Literary references to Manik Pir begin to appear in the first half of the 18th century and extant written texts in his honour were composed in the same century. It is possible that narrative performances based on oral compositions (Manik Pirer Jari) began to develop in the second half of the 17th century.

Secular narrative performances based on folk and fairy tales continued in the medieval period. Chaitanya Bhagavata mentions performances known as Yogi Paler Git, Bhogi Paler Git and Mahi Paler Git. The most significant development occurred in the kingdom of Arakan, where Bahram Khan (16th century) composed laily-majnu, a free translation of a Persian poetic text of the same title. Bahram Khan's text is important for it is one of those rare specimens of Bengali literature which end in separation and pathos. The text marks the beginning of a new trend of pathetic lore. The Arakanese court was a fertile ground for Muslim poets, the most famous of whom was Alaol (c 1607-1680), whose compositions include masterpieces such as padmavati (1651) and Saiful Muluk-Badiujjamal (1659–69). All these texts are secular and romantic in character. They draw their material from Hindi and Persian sources, thus enriching the theatre of Bengal with new vitality. All these texts were performed in narrative form and gained currency among the Muslim population. By the late 18th century, the pala gan appeared, the form that features the oral version of maimansingha-gitika.