Jatra (theatre)
Jatra (origin:
The word jatra means journey or going. The origin of jatra intrinsically a musical theatre form, is traditionally credited to the rise of Sri Chaitanya's Bhakti movement, wherein Chaitanya himself played Rukmini in the performance of Rukmini Haran ("The abduction of the Charming Rukmini") from Krishna's life story, a first definite presentation of this theatrical spectacle. The performance, which lasted through the night in 1507 AD.,[7] has been described in Chaitanya Bhagavata, Chaitanya's hagiography by a disciple Vrindavana Dasa Thakura.[8] Though there are evidences of existence of a form of singing called the 'Carya', which was popular between the 9th and the 12th centuries in Bengal, which existed in Odisha simultaneously as the popular 'Carya Padas' form.[9] Jatra performances resemble the Nautanki of Uttar Pradesh, the Tamasha of Maharashtra and Bhavai of Gujarat.
Though its birthplace lies in the religious landscape, replete with various Bhakti movements of Hinduism, by the end of the 19th century it was replaced by morally didactic content, and eventually became secular, when it gained entry into urban proscenium theatres during Bengal Renaissance. The survival of the form over such a vast period of rapidly changing social milieu, while catering to a heterogeneous audience, has been credited to its innate malleability and ways of adapting to changing social dynamics, and thus staying not just relevant and alive, but also thriving.[10]
Jatra performances
Jatras are usually epic four-hour-long plays, preceded by a musical concert often lasting an hour, used to attract audiences. The dramatic performance itself is liberally interspersed dramatic monologues, songs and duet dance routines on the folk tunes, which often serve as scene transitions and sometimes mark the end of an act. Jatra plays are usually performed on stages that are
The cast is predominantly male, whose members also play the female parts, though since the 19th century, female actors started joining the cast. Actors often joined the troupes at a young age, and worked their way up the hierarchy of roles, and strive for virtuoso acting and are judged on their vocal prowess, as this determines their ability to capture a large audience with thundering dialogue deliveries and improvised dialogues. The modern version of jatra, features loud music, harsh lighting and dramatic props played on giant outdoor stages, and actors are hired for a season under written contracts. Sometimes ramps are built around the stage and used for dramatic effects as in Kabuki plays. Jatras are often very melodramatic with highly stylised delivery and exaggerated gestures and orations. Music being the key element of the jatra, much attention is placed on its selection, popular tunes are created and incorporated. Musicians sit on two sides of the stage, carrying
History
The recent origins of the jatra can be traced back to rise of
In an era, when there were no theatre houses or fixed stages in Bengal, jatra evolved its idiom in jatras or religious processions (yatra) of devotees that moved from one place to another singing and dancing to the tunes of
After Chaitanya, his followers like
The jatra movement gradually moved to the urban areas, and even brought literary works to the rural masses which were predominantly illiterate at the time, this meant that the plot, storyline and narrative remained simple, and often
In the early 20th century, at the onset of the
With the rise of Western theatre in Bengal it acquired the themes of political protest and social radicalism, and finally fell into disrepute in the post War era, and especially after the entry of Radio and television and the rise of upmarket theatre industry, though it continued to exist in the rural areas. Jatra remained a living tradition of musical theatre, and some of the popular jatra songs got recorded and became popular Bengali songs, once more ever widening audience base, also scripts of old jatras found their way into books, and newspapers started reserving space for jatra discussion.[22]
This revival seen in the recent decades, started in the early 1960s, with various theatre groups experimenting with the jatra form, and started attracting serious theatre patrons along with official recognition. 1961, saw the first Jatra festival organised in Kolkata and every year since, and in 1968, Phanibhusan Bidyabinod became the first jatra artist to receive the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Earlier most jatra companies were owned by actor-managers or singers, today most are owned by businesses and are more prone to commercialisation, both in the content as well as in presentation. Even today, in majority the presentation style still is inspired by cinemas of the regions and television soaps, many a times reflected in the risque content.[1][2][3] Yet, within its musical theatre genre jatra remains highly adaptable and rapidly evolving form. Several jatras today pick contemporary news events like the London bombings, 9/11 or the war in Iraq, and highlight local issues as well. Further as productions are often put up within a month, a clear advantage over theatre and film, jatras remain topical by drawing upon current imagery of the populace, like when Phoolan Devi became notorious the 80s, a play staged by the same name gained immense popularity not to mention big revenue.[17]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-415-93919-4. Page 307.
- ^ ISBN 0-521-58822-7. Page 89-91.
- ^ ISBN 0-415-26087-6.Page 133.
- Britannica.com.
- ^ Jatra 2 BBC News, 2005.
- ^ ISBN 0-7007-1412-X.Page 84.
- ^ ISBN 81-7017-278-0. Page 198.
- ^ Jatra – Folk Theater Of India By Balwant Gargi
- ^ Jatra National Portal of India.
- ISBN 0-8240-4946-2. Page 488.
- ISBN 81-7017-209-8. pp. 79.
- ^ ISBN 0-415-26087-6. Page 133-134.
- ISBN 0-87436-795-6. Page 164.
- Govt. of India.(CCRT).
- ISBN 81-260-1221-8. Page 4634.
- ^ History of modern Bengali literature: nineteenth and twentieth centuries By Asitkumar Bandyopadhyaya. Published by Modern Book Agency, 1986. Page 125-126.
- ^ ISBN 81-7017-278-0. Page 197.
- JSTOR 1177595.
The principal Bengali snake-story or the narrative of Chand Sadagar in its various forms ... has been adopted for folk-amusement: viz, Bhasan Yatra, a popular drama;
- ^ Folk Theatre: Jatra
- ^ Jatras – Fiery Dramas Mesmerizing Dialogues indiaprofile.com.
- ISBN 1-85109-636-1. Page 44.
- ^ Music of eastern India: vocal music in Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, and Manipuri, with special emphasis on Bengali, by Sukumara Rai, Published by Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1973. Page 58.
Further reading
- Jatra – Folk Theater Of India, (a Detailed Study) by Balwant Gargi
- The Bengali Drama: Its Origin and Development, by P. Guha-Thakurta. Routledge, 2001.
- Jatra : A work on retired Jatra Artistes by Soumya Sankar Bose
External links
- Khatun, Shahida (2012). "Jatra". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- In pictures: India's changing folk theatre at BBC News.
- Paschim Banga Jatra Akademi, website