By Javed Iqbal Bhat - Greater Kashmir - India
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Loss of a syncretic theatrical form -I
The folk theatre called Bhand Pather is probably the oldest theatre in the subcontinent if not in the world. Though the history of its evolution has not been comprehensively documented yet one can find references to it in some of the extant manuscripts.
The word Bhand with its origin in the Sanskrit “Band” meaning comical behavior or imitation is found in most of the north Indian languages. Even today in Punjab the Bhands are commonly addressed as Naqqal, meaning those who are adept in imitation. There are still the remnants of Mohan Bhand in Rajasthan. The medieval Bhakti poetry of Gujarat is replete with allusions to the Bhands. Bharata’s Natyashastra (2 A.D.) makes an oblique reference towards the mocking disposition of the folk theatre. The lacunae and loopholes of the courtly plays are identified and held up for ridicule. The Neelmatpurana (5 A.D.) gives evidence of the folk plays during festivals or on some special occasions.
Though Rajatarangini (12th century A.D.) does not directly draw on these folk performances yet there are references to plays being staged in courts and temple courtyards. Kalhana remained close to the court. Hence his oversight regarding the popular subaltern vocations is understandable. Yet one does get a hint of the temple performances-rangmandaps- as occupying a kind of middle ground between the Bhand culture and the court culture.
With the Mughal invasion (1586A.D.) and the subsequent colonizing chapters, the visibility increases in the historical documents. The words Bhand and Pather were used in their present form during this time. Their presence is reported in the poetry of Nund Reshi or Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali as he is popularly called and the “vakhs” of Lal Ded or Lalleshwari. Earlier it was mostly recognized by the name of Rang. The new vocabulary of the Sufi poetry of the theatre marks the influence of Persian. Contemporary language of these plays makes a considerable use of the medieval Sufi poetry of Nund Reshi and Lal Ded.
Even the word Kashmiriyat is a derivative of the Persian. A new child character, ‘bacchhakot’, is shown as making its entry. Sir Walter Lawrence in his “The Valley of Kashmir”(1895) is very vocal about these traveling players. Seeing the suffering of the Muslim peasants laboring under the hated institution of the ‘Begar’, Lawrence hails this popular art as the “remover of sorrows”. The mocking tradition evoking laughter since the advent of the successive invasions is unparalled. These performances in open meadows, tiraths, isthapans, dargah courtyards, under the shade of chinars or during wedding ceremonies, harvest season and fairs are also termed as ‘yak rang’, for the predominant objective is to produce satire and evoke laughter. Tragedy is scrupulously kept away from the plot.
However, underneath the seemingly innocuous comedy serious messages were transmitted through what is termed as the “phir kath” (roughly translated as twisted talk). This feature makes it a coded narrative. The decoding act was the special privilege of the masses given their access to the local idiom. The colonizing officers, be they Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs or the Dogras were hard put to decode the scenes and the language used.
Bhand Pather lends itself for a study of the shifting landscape of the intercommunal relationships. It is one of the unique sites on which the nuances and complexities of Kashmiriyat can be easily worked out. It has been nourished both by Hindu Shaivism and Sufi mysticism. The presence of secular characters is an eminent feature of this form. The character of Magun is a reincarnation of Bharata’a ‘sutradhar’. Maskhar (clown) whose number can be between 6-12, is a central character and historically the most popular and carries a dual legacy; linguistically on the one side the word is of Arabic origin, on the other, due to his using a hollow bamboo stick –which is the meaning of ‘maskar’ in Sanskrit-it bears the imprint of the classical language.
Bhand Pather underlines not merely the shared cultural space and the interweaving of everyday Hinduism and Islam but demonstrates practically the sharp differences as well. And yet illustrates, how, despite such differences it is not impossible to live together.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
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Thursday, November 09, 2006
Bhand Pather: folk comical theatre nourished by Hindu Shaivism and Sufi mysticism
By Javed Iqbal Bhat - Greater Kashmir - India
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Loss of a syncretic theatrical form -I
The folk theatre called Bhand Pather is probably the oldest theatre in the subcontinent if not in the world. Though the history of its evolution has not been comprehensively documented yet one can find references to it in some of the extant manuscripts.
The word Bhand with its origin in the Sanskrit “Band” meaning comical behavior or imitation is found in most of the north Indian languages. Even today in Punjab the Bhands are commonly addressed as Naqqal, meaning those who are adept in imitation. There are still the remnants of Mohan Bhand in Rajasthan. The medieval Bhakti poetry of Gujarat is replete with allusions to the Bhands. Bharata’s Natyashastra (2 A.D.) makes an oblique reference towards the mocking disposition of the folk theatre. The lacunae and loopholes of the courtly plays are identified and held up for ridicule. The Neelmatpurana (5 A.D.) gives evidence of the folk plays during festivals or on some special occasions.
Though Rajatarangini (12th century A.D.) does not directly draw on these folk performances yet there are references to plays being staged in courts and temple courtyards. Kalhana remained close to the court. Hence his oversight regarding the popular subaltern vocations is understandable. Yet one does get a hint of the temple performances-rangmandaps- as occupying a kind of middle ground between the Bhand culture and the court culture.
With the Mughal invasion (1586A.D.) and the subsequent colonizing chapters, the visibility increases in the historical documents. The words Bhand and Pather were used in their present form during this time. Their presence is reported in the poetry of Nund Reshi or Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali as he is popularly called and the “vakhs” of Lal Ded or Lalleshwari. Earlier it was mostly recognized by the name of Rang. The new vocabulary of the Sufi poetry of the theatre marks the influence of Persian. Contemporary language of these plays makes a considerable use of the medieval Sufi poetry of Nund Reshi and Lal Ded.
Even the word Kashmiriyat is a derivative of the Persian. A new child character, ‘bacchhakot’, is shown as making its entry. Sir Walter Lawrence in his “The Valley of Kashmir”(1895) is very vocal about these traveling players. Seeing the suffering of the Muslim peasants laboring under the hated institution of the ‘Begar’, Lawrence hails this popular art as the “remover of sorrows”. The mocking tradition evoking laughter since the advent of the successive invasions is unparalled. These performances in open meadows, tiraths, isthapans, dargah courtyards, under the shade of chinars or during wedding ceremonies, harvest season and fairs are also termed as ‘yak rang’, for the predominant objective is to produce satire and evoke laughter. Tragedy is scrupulously kept away from the plot.
However, underneath the seemingly innocuous comedy serious messages were transmitted through what is termed as the “phir kath” (roughly translated as twisted talk). This feature makes it a coded narrative. The decoding act was the special privilege of the masses given their access to the local idiom. The colonizing officers, be they Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs or the Dogras were hard put to decode the scenes and the language used.
Bhand Pather lends itself for a study of the shifting landscape of the intercommunal relationships. It is one of the unique sites on which the nuances and complexities of Kashmiriyat can be easily worked out. It has been nourished both by Hindu Shaivism and Sufi mysticism. The presence of secular characters is an eminent feature of this form. The character of Magun is a reincarnation of Bharata’a ‘sutradhar’. Maskhar (clown) whose number can be between 6-12, is a central character and historically the most popular and carries a dual legacy; linguistically on the one side the word is of Arabic origin, on the other, due to his using a hollow bamboo stick –which is the meaning of ‘maskar’ in Sanskrit-it bears the imprint of the classical language.
Bhand Pather underlines not merely the shared cultural space and the interweaving of everyday Hinduism and Islam but demonstrates practically the sharp differences as well. And yet illustrates, how, despite such differences it is not impossible to live together.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Loss of a syncretic theatrical form -I
The folk theatre called Bhand Pather is probably the oldest theatre in the subcontinent if not in the world. Though the history of its evolution has not been comprehensively documented yet one can find references to it in some of the extant manuscripts.
The word Bhand with its origin in the Sanskrit “Band” meaning comical behavior or imitation is found in most of the north Indian languages. Even today in Punjab the Bhands are commonly addressed as Naqqal, meaning those who are adept in imitation. There are still the remnants of Mohan Bhand in Rajasthan. The medieval Bhakti poetry of Gujarat is replete with allusions to the Bhands. Bharata’s Natyashastra (2 A.D.) makes an oblique reference towards the mocking disposition of the folk theatre. The lacunae and loopholes of the courtly plays are identified and held up for ridicule. The Neelmatpurana (5 A.D.) gives evidence of the folk plays during festivals or on some special occasions.
Though Rajatarangini (12th century A.D.) does not directly draw on these folk performances yet there are references to plays being staged in courts and temple courtyards. Kalhana remained close to the court. Hence his oversight regarding the popular subaltern vocations is understandable. Yet one does get a hint of the temple performances-rangmandaps- as occupying a kind of middle ground between the Bhand culture and the court culture.
With the Mughal invasion (1586A.D.) and the subsequent colonizing chapters, the visibility increases in the historical documents. The words Bhand and Pather were used in their present form during this time. Their presence is reported in the poetry of Nund Reshi or Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali as he is popularly called and the “vakhs” of Lal Ded or Lalleshwari. Earlier it was mostly recognized by the name of Rang. The new vocabulary of the Sufi poetry of the theatre marks the influence of Persian. Contemporary language of these plays makes a considerable use of the medieval Sufi poetry of Nund Reshi and Lal Ded.
Even the word Kashmiriyat is a derivative of the Persian. A new child character, ‘bacchhakot’, is shown as making its entry. Sir Walter Lawrence in his “The Valley of Kashmir”(1895) is very vocal about these traveling players. Seeing the suffering of the Muslim peasants laboring under the hated institution of the ‘Begar’, Lawrence hails this popular art as the “remover of sorrows”. The mocking tradition evoking laughter since the advent of the successive invasions is unparalled. These performances in open meadows, tiraths, isthapans, dargah courtyards, under the shade of chinars or during wedding ceremonies, harvest season and fairs are also termed as ‘yak rang’, for the predominant objective is to produce satire and evoke laughter. Tragedy is scrupulously kept away from the plot.
However, underneath the seemingly innocuous comedy serious messages were transmitted through what is termed as the “phir kath” (roughly translated as twisted talk). This feature makes it a coded narrative. The decoding act was the special privilege of the masses given their access to the local idiom. The colonizing officers, be they Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs or the Dogras were hard put to decode the scenes and the language used.
Bhand Pather lends itself for a study of the shifting landscape of the intercommunal relationships. It is one of the unique sites on which the nuances and complexities of Kashmiriyat can be easily worked out. It has been nourished both by Hindu Shaivism and Sufi mysticism. The presence of secular characters is an eminent feature of this form. The character of Magun is a reincarnation of Bharata’a ‘sutradhar’. Maskhar (clown) whose number can be between 6-12, is a central character and historically the most popular and carries a dual legacy; linguistically on the one side the word is of Arabic origin, on the other, due to his using a hollow bamboo stick –which is the meaning of ‘maskar’ in Sanskrit-it bears the imprint of the classical language.
Bhand Pather underlines not merely the shared cultural space and the interweaving of everyday Hinduism and Islam but demonstrates practically the sharp differences as well. And yet illustrates, how, despite such differences it is not impossible to live together.
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