Society as depicted in the Chaturbhani (study)
by Mridusmita Bharadwaj | 2022 | 64,215 words
This page relates ‘Bhana as Performing Art’ of the study on the Chaturbhani: a collection of four Bhanas which represents a genre of dramatic performance peculiar to the ancient Indian tradition of theater and performing arts (i.e. Natya-Shastra). More specifically, this study examines the historical, literary, cultural, and satirical aspects of ancient Indian society as reflected in these four Sanskrit plays.
Go directly to: Footnotes.
Part 3 - Bhāṇa as Performing Art
Some evidences have been found that prove the existence of bhāṇa kind of rūpaka as performing art. In Kerala, bhāṇa has been performed through kūṭiyāṭṭam and in west Bengal also, bhāṇa has been performed following the rules of Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra. Kūṭiyāṭṭam of Kerala is regarded as extent form of presentation of Sanskrit plays based on the rules of Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra. Kūṭiyāṭṭam is a Malayalam term, kūṭi means 'together' and 'āṭṭam' means 'acting'.[1] According to the 1000-year-old convention, kūṭiyāṭṭam used to be performed in various places in Kerala. In ancient times, full plays used to be produced and presented in kuthambalam i.e., the temple theatre, on several occasions. Earlier, only the one act of a play would take eleven to fifteen days to be shown in full. Nowadays, the performances are staged in three or four temples in and around Trichur, only once a year regularly in Navaratri festival. Only one act is presented commencing on the Dashehra day and the programme lasts for five nights. Before the kūṭiyāṭṭam, in Trichur and Venganoor temples only, a performance of cākyāra kūttu is shown in the temple-theatre. Cākyāra kūttu is a monologue acted by the most experienced and senior among the Cākyāras. Cākyāra kūttu lasts for forty-one nights, which is the complete circle or mandala, though kūttu performances can be performed for shorter periods such as one, two, five, seven, twelve, fifteen or twenty-one days. The language of this performance is Malayalam mixed with Sanskrit.[2] Only the members of the cākyāra community performed this art form and hence it gets its name as cākyāra kūttu. In cākyāra kūttu, the entire story is presented by a single performer. The facial make-up of cākyāra kūttu is done with rice powder, turmeric powder and black powder. He wears an ornament in one ear and a betel leaf in the other. An accompanying artist plays the percussion instrument Mizhavu in the background. The content of cākyāra kūttu is full of satire, social criticism, humour.
In the ancient days of royalty, cākyāra kūttu had the right to criticise even the King and his acts while performing.[3] A stage presentation done by a single artist is referred to as kūttu while that is performed by multiple actors is referred to as kūṭiyāṭṭam. When kūttu is presented by Cākyāras, it becomes cākyāra kūttu. It is a satire art form that is performed to bring a link between the situation of the story and the social evils.[4] There are many similarities between the bhāṇa and cākyāra kūttu in terms of content and mode of performance. Therefore, cākyāra kūttu could be considered as an extension of the Sanskrit bhāṇa kind of rūpaka.[5] It seems that kūttu is originated from bhāṇa. In course of time, kūttu becomes more popular and appealing to the spectators because of the application of their popular language. Viṭa is the hero of bhāṇa and Cākyāra is the hero of kūttu. Both Viṭa and Cākyāra had the freedom to criticise anything and everything around them. The technique i.e., ekābhinaya, the purpose that is the eradication of social evils and the duration is more or less the same for both of these art forms viz., bhāṇa and kūttu.
[Figure 16: Character of Cākyāra[6]]
In kūṭiyāṭṭam, Vidūṣaka plays a prominent role. Vidūṣaka not only entertains the spectators but through the medium of laughter, conveys information on several important matters. Vidūṣaka of kūṭiyāṭṭam possesses similarities with Viṭa of the bhāṇa. Like Viṭa, Vidūṣaka of kūṭiyāṭṭam has ample verbal applications, they have to elaborate on any situation and provide important social messages to the spectators. Vidūṣaka of kūṭiyāṭṭam should have fluency in Prākṛt, Sanskrit and Malayalam.[7] In kūṭiyāṭṭam, three kinds of Vidūṣakas are found. One of them is a diplomat; another variety ridicules Buddhism and worships the Vedic religion. The third variety of Vidūṣaka represents the corrupt practices of Brahminism.[8] Vidūṣaka has to repeat the words of other characters and interpret them humorously, and he is free to criticise or laugh at anybody including the king.[9] In this manner, Vidūṣaka of kūṭiyāṭṭam satires and mocks the evil conducts of the society in the same manner like Viṭa of the bhāṇa.
Nepathya Centre for Excellence in Kūṭiyāṭṭam, situated in the village of Moozhikkulam in Kerala, brings the classical Sanskrit genre of bhāṇa in presentation with the living tradition of Sanskrit theatre kūṭiyāṭṭam. The Rasasadana bhāṇa of Govardhana Yuvaraja is one of the notable examples of the Sanskrit bhāṇas of Kerala. Nepathya Centre for Excellence in Kūṭiyāṭṭam performed verse no.230 of the Rasasadana bhāṇa.[10] In kūṭiyāṭṭam, the complete drama is not played as it will take days to complete. Therefore, an act or one or two verses alone could be enacted during the day.[11] In this bhāṇa, the character of Viṭa is played by Margi Madhu Chakyara.
[Figure 17: Character of Viṭa played by Margi Madhu Chakyara]
Though the performance of the bhāṇas of the Caturbhāṇī, is not known in the sphere of kūṭiyāṭṭam but kūṭiyāṭṭam helps to survive the tradition of bhāṇa kind of rūpaka. Bhāṇa is considered as social play, the plots of the four bhāṇas of the Caturbhāṇī are based on the cities of northern India. A large number of bhāṇas are composed in South India especially in Kerala, so presumably; the kūṭiyāṭṭam focuses on the performance of their regional bhāṇas. For example, the Rasasadana bhāṇa, though written in Sanskrit and structured as a normative work of classical Sanskrit theatre, reflects both the localized environment of Kodungallur and the local cultural sphere of Kerala performing arts.[12]
Piyal Bhattacharya, a researcher of the Nāṭyaśāstra has directed the Padmaprābhṛtaka bhāṇa of Śūdraka. Bhattacharya is a Kathakali exponent and Sanskrit scholar, musician, musicologist. For the last fifteen years, he has been working on the practical reconstruction of Bharata's dance and music tradition prescribed in the Nāṭyaśāstra. Piyal Bhattacharya has presented a range of spectacular shows based on the Nāṭyaśāstra including dramatic devices such as āsārita vardhamāna vidhi, citrapurvaraṅga. Piyal Bhattacharya’s work attempts to restore the core idea of the Nāṭyaśāstra. In an interview with the newspaper The Hindu, Piyal Bhattacharya remarks that he believes that scriptures play a small part in performing art. Therefore, he tries to locate the practical aspects of the scriptures that are scattered but still surviving in various indigenous performance traditions.[13] He has been reconstructing and developing a complete system of ancient performances adequate for the stage of contemporary times. Piyal Bhattacharya is dedicated and determined to preserve, practice and propagate India’s cultural heritage through Guru-śiṣya paramparā. He constructed a form of practice named Mārga-nāṭya to research and work extensively with Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra. Piyal Bhattacharya explains why he has chosen the name as Mārga. The term mārga has different meanings, among those one is the path and another is searching.
Bhattacharya considers his form of art as a path of realisation and also it is a research-oriented project. Chidakash Kalalay, Centre of Art and Divinity was established by Piyal Bhattacharya in 2012 to preserve, practice and propagate India’s intangible heritage. The centre conducts workshops at regular intervals, and stages performances of Mārga-nāṭya to present the improvement of tedious and thorough research of Piyal Bhattacharya.[14] For the path-breaking work, Piyal Bhattacharya has received fellowships from Sangeet Natak Akademi, Ministry of Culture,e India along with the prestigious grant for ‘Safe Guarding the intangible Cultural Heritage of India’ in 2014-15.[15]
The data on Piyal Bhattacharya’s work has been collected through questionnaires, interactions, his works and the articles written about him. The questionnaire is annexed in appendix V.
Footnotes and references:
[3]:
http://www.keralaculture.org/chakyarkoothu/27
[5]:
J.C. Mathur, Inside a Temple Theatre, p.20
[6]:
http://www.keralaculture.org/chakyarkoothu/27
[8]:
K.P. Narayana Pisharoti, Vidushaka in Kūṭīyāṭṭam, Sangeet Natak, p.63
[9]:
Jacob Ittoop, Conventions in Kūṭiyāṭṭam, pp.28-29
[10]:
[11]:
Jacob Ittoop, Conventions in Kūṭiyāṭṭam, p.27
[13]:
https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/Guru-of-a-lost-tradition/ article14012140.ece
[14]:
https://www.saathire.com/D68/chidakash-kalalay-centre-of-art-and-divinity/
[15]:
https://worldforumforartandculture.com/sharirabhinaya/