Katha (storytelling format)
Katha (or Kathya) is an Indian style of religious storytelling, performances of which are a ritual event in
History
Each
Scholars such as Suki Sivam and Trichy Kalyanaraman perform in this style. The interpretation of a
Wall paintings in temples and shrines across India also served the same purpose. The propagation of Hinduism and the creation of awareness in worshippers of the characters of the deities were aided by katha with imagery in temples.
Traditions
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There are three major katha traditions: Purana-Pravachana, Kathakalakshepa and folk narratives.
Purana-Pravachana
Purana-Pravachana (expounding the
It is easier to listen to a pandit or purohit who is conducting a Pravachan to understand some of the scriptures. Pandits such as Paruthiyur Krishna Sastri elaborate on the significance of a shloka or scripture they read, providing several angles to look at a verse or word. Upanyasa or Pravachanas focus on Sanskrit and Tamil texts. Music is used sparingly to recite the shlokas. Reading the shloka and presenting its meaning is the method used by pravachan pandits. The 19th-century Paruthiyur Krishna Sastri provided interpretation and commentary for each verse; creating a new style, he is considered the father of pravachans. Pravachan, Patakam and Upanyasam can be synonyms for the narration of stories from epics and puranas and the interpretation of scriptures.
Kathakalakshepa
Stories with anecdotes, known as Kathakalakshepa, are told in Sanskrit, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. In a variant, a storyteller proficient in classical music, interweaves the main story with music, dance and digressions.
Harikatha is a composite art form combining storytelling, poetry, music, drama, dance and philosophy. In harikatha, a story is intermingled with related songs. The music may be congregational singing of
.Folk narrative
In Andhra Pradesh, folk narratives are known as burra katha. A burra is a drum shaped like a human skull (burra means "skull"). In this tradition, travellers narrate stories while beating the drum. In Tamil Nadu, folk narratives are known as Villu Paatu (bow songs); the stories are told accompanied by a stringed instrument resembling a bow. The stories are heroic ballads, and the medium is used to propagate social-welfare programmes such as AIDS awareness, family planning and election information. Kanian koottu and Udukkadipattu, prevalent in South Indian villages, are also folk storytelling traditions.
Performers
From 1870 to 1940, storytelling flourished in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Tanjavur Krishna Bagavathar (1841–1903) sang with Paruthiyur Krishna Sastri (1855–1911) during his early Katha performances. Krishna Sastri later performed only pravachans with minimal music. Krishna Bagavathar continued his Kathakalakshepam and introduced Marathi metric forms, which became the standard for the next 50 years.
The carnatic singers Soolamangalam Vaidyanatha Bagavathar (1866–1943), Mangudi Chidambara Bagavathar (1880–1938), Chitrakavi Sivarama Bagavathar (1869–1951), Soolamangalam Soundararaja Bagavathar (1890–1925), C. Saraswathi Bai (1894–1974) and N. S. Krishna Bagavathar (1892–1984) were all inspired by Krishna Bagavathar's style and technique. Pandit Lakshmanacharya, Tiruppazhanam Panchapakesa Sastri, Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavatar, Tanjavur T.N. Subramanya Bhagavatar and T.S. Balakrishna Sastrigal specialised in Harikatha. Andamin Sivarama Bhagavatar, Pandit Lakshmanacharyar and Tiruppazhanam Panchapekesa Sastri, Kalakkad Muthuswami Sastrigal, Sengalipuram Muthanna Vaidhyanatha Dikshithar, Samartha Ramadas Swamigal, Paruthiyur Krishna Sastri and Sengalipuram Anantarama Dikshitar were Pravachan and Upanyasam storytellers. After this period, storytelling became popular in North India.
In Sikhism
In
See also
- Satsang
- Burra katha
- Panchatantra
- Sengalipuram Anantarama Dikshitar
- List of chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh
Notes
- ^ Narayan, p. 46
- ^ Hawley, p. 149
- ^ Claus, p. 331
- ^ OCLC 29703420.)
In religious terminology, katha stands for exposition, analysis and discussion of a passage from a scripture. It involves a full-length discourse on a given text, with a proper enunciation of it and elucidation with anecdotes, parables and quotations, of the underlying spiritual and theological doctrines and ideas. Since scriptural utterances and verses were generally pithy and aphoristic, they needed to be expounded for the laity and there emerged in the Indian tradition forms such as 'tika' (paraphrase), 'sabdartha' (gloss) and 'bhasya' (commentary), with 'pramanas' or suitable authoritative quotations from religious and didactic works to support the thesis or interpretation. These three modes of elucidation converge in the Sikh katha which is verbal in form.
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References
- ISBN 0-8122-1269-X.
Katha storytelling.
- Claus, Peter J.; Sarah Diamond; Margaret Ann Mills (2003). South Asian folklore: an encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-415-93919-4.
- Hawley, John Stratton; Vasudha Nager (2006). The life of Hinduism. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24913-5.