Politics of Representation The Portrayal of the Female in Guru Pankaj Charan Das’ Pancha Kanya Dance Dramas  Ratna Roy

he first evidence of dance in Orissa dates to the 2nd century BC, in the iconographical representation of a female dancer with four female musicians. The panels are situated in the Rani Gumpha cave in , Tin what scholar and theatre director, Sri Dhiren Dash, proved was a Sanskrit theatre venue.1 Since the 10th century AD, the dance has been performed by female temple dancers (Maharis) in Orissa, particularly in the temple of Lord Jagannatha. Around the 15th century AD, the gotipua tradition was born, with young boys impersonating females. Both traditions of dance continued in Orissa during Muslim rule in , although the former went underground several times due to Muslim attacks on the temple. During British colonial rule, both styles debilitated due to lack of patronage, attack on the Mahari institution by nationalists and Brahmin patriarchy, and proselytizing by Christian missionaries. The dance style was reconstructed in the 50’s and 60’s of the 20thcentury by a group of scholars and dancers who are now gurus. Today, classical or neo-classical dance is an established tradition, based on the formulations of the society, Jayantika, created for the preservation of the dance in the 1960’s. The principal players in Jayantika were Kabichandra Kali Charan Patnaik, Lokanath Mishra, and D. N. Patnaik, as scholars, and Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra, Guru , and Guru Raghunath Dutta, as erstwhile gotipua dancers. Guru Pankaj Charan Das, the adopted son of a Mahari dancer, was left out of the equation, along with the Maharis themselves, because of the attack on the mahari institution and postcolonial sensibilities. Thematically, in Orissa, the dances most often revolve around the two epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, or the tales of Krishna. Guru Pankaj Charan Das has choreographed five solo dance dramas that he called “items”, with five females from the two epics as the central characters: Ahalya, Draupadi, Kunti, Tara, and Mandodari, with Ahalya, Tara, and Mandodari from the Ramayana and Draupadi and Kunti from the Mahabharata. As a male brought up in the world-view of the Maharis, Guru Pankaj Charan Das provided the female point of view in an uneasy marriage with the dominant male perspective in these dance dramas. This article explores the factors that make Guru Pankaj Charan Das thematically so different from his peers.

Born on March 17, 1921, Guru down upon by society? If society likes he was allowed to act in school plays Pankaj Charan Das was raised in a singing and dancing, why are the and the praises he received for his family of Mahari dancers. Destitute practitioners treated like scum? I got voice. His singing got him the honour after the death of his father, angry and jealous. But what was the of Bada Chatta, a service attached to Dharmacharan Das, his mother went use? I was brought up by such a family. the temple. Failing his high school exam with him to Mati Mandap Sahi in , Who would listen to me?” (translation three times, he gave up on education. to the house of Fakira Mahari and mine). But the theatre of the road, the people’s Ratnaprabha Mahari for adoption into The girls in the family were taught theatre, thrilled him. However, the death temple life. He grew up surrounded by to dance. He would watch from the of his adopted mother forced him to devotional temple music and dance and window and imitate them. He recalled hunt for a job to survive. He sang and was initiated into dance at the age of how good he was at imitating the danced at the newly formed theatre of eight. His memories of those days are movements of the girls and how Bala Bhadra Hajuri. tinged with sadness: “Those who sang jealous the girls were of his capabilities. “I grew older and needed more and danced were looked down upon He learnt from his aunt, money. I wanted better clothes. So, in by society as if they were sinners, and the Rasa Leela style of abhinaya my Sahi, I started a paan shop. If jatras without caste or gotra. We had a and dance from Guru Ranganath Dev came, I would sell a lot. I would sing separate barber and washerman. We Goswami and Bhikhari Charan Dalei. and make money. I always thought of were like untouchables. Why are those The highlights of the Guru’s how to earn money. I became a referee who do Lord Jagannatha’s seva looked childhood life consisted of the times for gamblers and went to the thana and

34 MANUSHI Ratna Roy performing segments of the dance dramas

paid fines. After paying fines, I decided to become Kelucharan’s wife) as There is no stamina… Mostly dancers not to stay in this Sahi Mohini. The dance was a hit. As Guru dance for their own pleasure. How can “Then, in Pikapara stage, I became Pankaj Charan Das admits, the Mahari they achieve fulfillment?” Yet the guru a hawker. Whatever the bosses dance had no stylized hand gestures himself remained unfulfilled as he wanted, I did. I also took part in drama. and postures. It was the outpouring of languished in Orissa with the few The drama was staged all night long. a soul to her husband, who also dancers trained under him exclusively the I sold soda water from a vendor happened to be God himself. The to carry on his distinctive style. cart. While pushing the cart around, I language of the soul was central, and From his own recounting of his life, sang songs. I would imitate the songs the face, inasmuch as it conveyed the what is evident is that (a) the guru grew and dances in the movies. After non-verbal language of the soul, was up in a spiritual tradition within the midnight, people would request my the vehicle for expression. The Mahari context of growing secularization and imitations. My commission increased dance, as imbibed by Pankaj Charan eventual commodification of Odissi; (b) — instead of one anna, I received 5-10 Das, had to be modified to suit the in spite of his upbringing in a Mahari paisa.” theatre. “Then I established my own family, his own style evolved in the When Kalibabu’s theatre came to style,” said Pankaj Charan Das. It was theatre; (c) he was raised among the Puri, the urge to join big-time theatre Odissi, the language of the people, the Maharis at a time when the gained ground. After two ventures language of the land, the language of Bill was becoming a reality in the South, from Cuttack to Balasore, including the the roadside theatre blended with the when power was imbalanced in favour one with the New Theatres, Pankaj private language of two souls in of the male in a society; (d) he was Charan Das returned to Puri. He met communion, one of them being the all- practicing a dance style that was Kelu Charan Mohapatra through knowing God himself. grounded covertly in tantric worship Radha Govinda’s theatre party. Finally, “In 1946, I started Odissi dance in (the maithuna offering) and overtly in they both joined the Annapurna my own style in Aswini Kumar’s drama, the bhakti tradition of Vaisnavism;2 (e) Theatre B, after the split-up of the Abhiseka. Before this, Odissi was never he was aware of the ambiguity in his Annapurna theatre, where he was performed in traditional dramas.” He societal position, presumably strong Dance Director from 1942 to 1948. mused to Jimuta Mangaraj and being a male and weak being brought It was here that dance was Umapada Bose, “But the dance is a up by Maharis, by now associated with instituted as an interlude to serious reflection of the Bhakti bhava. It is temple prostitution; and (f) he was drama in the tradition of Sanskrit characterized by lasya. That is called operating in a society fraught with theatre. Pankaj Charan Das thani. The dancer becomes totally gendered power dynamics.3 choreographed Vasmasura as the involved and dances before the Lord. The portrayal of the women in the dance director with Kelucharan as The dancers of today are so self- Pancha Kanya dances, uneasily Shiva and Laxmipriya (who was later conscious that their dance looks harsh. combining all these factors, has

No.153 35 resulted in an ambiguity that is also tejo moruto byomo/ poncho soti epics. the strength of the dances. Second, nirjyaso gyani bodhogomyo/ Oholya, After these two segments, the the shift within each one of the Droupodi, Kunti, Tara Mondodori dance of the specific kanya begins. episodes culminating in a compromise totha/ Poncho soti smore nityo Moha Here, I will recount and summarize the or an affirmation is clearly evident, patoko nasonom. (Cast aside your stories of the five females as portrayed although in some the shift is more languor, follow dharma, and overcome in the dances. Ahalya, the beautiful obvious than in others. Third, the the vicissitudes of samsara by wife of the sage, Gautama, created as a sthayi bhava abhinaya that often meditating on the five women who rival to Urvashi, was coveted by Lord belies the words in the text and symbolize the five elements.) Indra, King of the Heavens. After sometimes contradicts them reveals This phase clearly equates the five getting Gautama out of his way, Indra the growing ambivalence in the elements with the five women: Ahalya disguised himself as Gautama and position of the Maharis in society born of water, Draupadi born of fire, made love to Ahalya. Gautama divined today and since the time the script was Kunti born of earth, Tara born of wind, the deception, and in his anger, written. According to the guru, he and Mandodari born of ether. All sins returned, poured sacred water into his inherited the script, written by Kishore will be washed away if one meditates Kabi Shyam Sundar Kar, from his aunt, hand, and cursed her into becoming on these five “virtuous” women, with stone. Ages later, the sage Vishwamitra Ratnaprabha Devi, a well-known emphasis on the “virtuous” not the devadasi in her time. brought young Rama (and “fallen” as the master narrative would The Pancha Kanya dances also Lakshmana) to Ahalya’s statue to have it. The use of Oriya too is play with the connotation of the words redeem her. significant here: it is Guru Pankaj sati, mahasati, and sattvika as applied The dance drama begins with a Charan Das’ rejection of the Sanskritic to women who were considered to be description of Ahalya. The supposedly tradition, embracing of the embedded fallen by the mainstream society. In fallen woman, Ahalya, is described as the context of the Maharis whose tantric philosophy in Mahari dance at a sensous and beautiful but pure lives are “auspicious” although they the temple of Lord Jagannatha, coupled woman, who is beloved of the Earth. are supposedly “impure” and beyond with the integration of the marginalized She takes refuge at the feet of her the pale of caste, the emphasis on the into that patriarchal tradition, even as husband, Gautama, who despite his notion of being fallen/impure and he celebrates the females in these two love for her curses her to stone when virtuous/auspicious he discovers she had made love simultaneously is significant.4 to Indra. This woman sees him An analysis of the script and return earlier than usual and the dance rendition will enable immediately proceeds to wash his us to see these ambiguities feet. She does not know that the better. There is a common man is Indra in disguise. When her introduction to all of the Pancha real husband returns in rage, Kanya dances: the introduction Ahalya looks from one to the other, begins with the “Angikam” bewildered and aghast. The sloka of Lord Shiva and subsequent curse is juxtaposed continues through a rhythmic against this innocence, love, and tandava to an invocation of deception by Indra, underscoring Usha, the Goddess of Dawn. the injustice of the curse. That However, in spite of part of the Indra was also cursed in the epic invocation addressing Goddess Usha, Guru Pankaj Charan Das is not shown in the dance item. choreographed the rising of the Neither is there any indication that sun and incorporated Ahalya may have been complicit “Vibhupada trata”, thus in the action. Ahalya’s curse, thus conceding to the male supreme. isolated, becomes a masterful The next phase of the dance indictment of a society where a is in Oriya, rather than in Sanskrit woman, and a subservient, dutiful and is sung by a woman: one at that, is condemned for no Alosyo porihoro/ onusoro fault of hers, and the victim is dhormo/ sonsoyi somsaro otibo blamed for the lust of a god, while durgomo/ poncho bhuto khiti op the god is not questioned. The

36 MANUSHI blaming of the victim by Brahmin Yudhishthira lost everything, even his Draupadi says, “You are the son of patriarchy has been a reality in the lives brothers, when he pawned his wife. He Indra, the second Krishna, the jewel of of the Maharis in the past century. lost her and his kingdom. the Earth, see what trouble I am in.” At the end, when Rama is asked In the dance, the scene begins with There is no tearful pleading as she goes by Vishvamitra to redeem Ahalya with Dushasana dragging Draupadi into to Nakula. “You have might. You wear the touch of his feet, Rama responds, court. The court in this dance drama clothes made in the svargaloka. In this “Jugo probuddha e Oholya soti/ consists of Duryodhana, court, Dushasana is disrobing me. How patoko orjibi kori oniti.” “Through Dhritarashtra, Dronacharya, Bhishma, can you bear it?” There is a feistiness ages, this is the sati Ahalya; if I arouse and Shakuni. Strikingly missing from that increases as Draupadi goes to her, or commit the immorality, I will earn this scene is Karna. The presence of Sahadeva. “You are the one that knows (commit) sin.” Ahalya, and by Karna would have raised class issues of all three kala — the past, present, extension the Maharis, are extolled by uneasily intersecting gender issues. In and future. With all of this power, did Rama (an incarnation of Lord Visnu) the lives of the Maharis, caste, class, you not know before that I would be in as virtuous. Here, we find the and gender issues are integrated. trouble?” Finally, she challenges ambivalence of indictment by Vedic Hence, Karna’s absence allowed the Bhima. “With a hero like you [for a society through the husband] I am in such curse, and acceptance sorrow. Watching by Vaishnavism, the Dushasana pull my hair, religion of the personal how can you not be god who understands, angry?” through Rama. Assured Seeing the by Visvamitra, Rama hardheartedness of the finally does as he is Pandavas, Mahasati told. It is not until the Draupadi invokes speech of Rama that we Krishna. In her last see the question of words, the fieriness and morality and virtue the feistiness of being openly raised and Draupadi evaporate as Ahalya exonerated. she pleads, “Come to Even so, the affirmation give assurance to the of Ahalya’s virtue is poor/the destitute.” Here, there is a tentative since the Ahalya being cursed into a stone by Gautama question of rape and prolonged “suspension victimization is alluded of disbelief” as the to and not asserted or probed. Even Guru to proceed with his delineation harasser, Dushasana, is frozen, while the questioning of her virtue is of gender constructs more easily. Draupadi recounts how she was won obviously gendered, and is parallel to by Arjuna and lost by Yudhisthira. This society’s indictment and castigation of Draupadi is described as born of pause was necessary for the guru to give epic qualities to the character of the Maharis. fire of sacrifice, one who has five Draupadi. It also emphasizes the female In Draupadi, Guru Pankaj Charan husbands, daughter of Dhrupada, fiery as a pawn to the wiles of the male, Das was bolder in his choreographic sati, one who is purified of “adharma”, contrary to the matrilineal Devadasi vision and interpretation of text. loved by Krishna, and dark complexioned. The dice game and the traditions. Draupadi was the wife of the five loss of the kingdom are followed by As the drumming begins, Guru Pandava brothers. The story that is Draupadi commanding Dushasana to Pankaj Charan Das visualizes Draupadi pertinent to the dance drama relates to stop plaguing her while she speaks to letting go of herself and stretching out the time when Yudhishthira, the oldest her husbands. To Yudhishthira she both her hands. It is at this moment of the Pandava brothers, was invited asks what he will do as Dharmaraja that Krishna appears, when the human to a so-called friendly dice game by (King of Dharma or Righteousness) soul has given in to him completely. his cousin, the Kaurava King, now that she has been dragged into According to Rittha Devi, at that time Duryodhana, who had rigged the game the court like a prostitute. His silence “Gone was the serene detachment with with his crooked uncle, Shakuni. takes her to Partha. Pleading tearfully, which he beheld human sufferings. He

No.153 37 rose to Draupadi’s rescue.”5 This was their husband’s death, Kunti inherited of the enactment of the abandonment the personal God of the Maharis, the the twins, Nakula and Sahadeva (who of Karna has all the elements of God who did not need to be owned. were begotten with the help of her indictment of the injustice of societal Again, we see an ambivalence in the beads). morality that condemns a woman for depiction of Draupadi. Her strength Kunti opens with a pallavi, pre-marital sex. The scene changes to when she says, “Wait, wait, followed by the coming of the sage Pandu in the forest, hunting deer, the Dushasana,” and stops him on his Durvasah, and Kunti’s service in curse that Pandu can never make love tracks, when she challenges her which she is “most excellent.” Pleased to any woman, and Pandu’s husbands, evaporates as she becomes with her “service” the sage gives her a despondence. Kunti gets dressed for more vulnerable and at the end gives garland [of beads] that will fulfill her her wedding. She is considered “an up in complete surrender. desires in love. A brief introduction of auspicious woman”,6 but she is also In the characterization of Draupadi Kunti as a person culminates with the the woman who has “had pause or there is a syncretism of the powerful phrase “meditate on Kunti every cessation in the enjoyment of wifely Tantric goddess (particularly since morning”. Then comes the scene where pleasures” by Agnika’s curse. She is Draupadi was menstruating at the time) Kunti sees the rising sun and, curious ordered by her husband to save the with the sakhi bhava of Vaishnavism, in her nectar-filled kama or desires, she lineage. After this, as the ultimate relationship usual, Guru Pankaj of unpossessive love Charan Das narrates the with her God as Dungri story in an understated Mahari would call it. But manner. When Kunti there is also an inability conceives the other on the part of Guru Pankaj children, there is no overt Charan Das to follow depiction of lovemaking. through with his By offering her body, challenge of patriarchal mind, and soul at his feet, images of the female. keeping Dharma as Freezing Dushasana also witness, the chaste and underplays the theme of faithful Kunti obtains a sexual harassment even son in the presence of as the Guru builds up to Dharma. That is as close it through Draupadi’s as it comes to virgin birth. words to her husbands. By subjugating the Wind- He raises the questions, Draupadi: the fiery sati, born of fire of sacrifice God, the sati conceives and this time, in contrast Bhima — “ayotto kori”; to Ahalya, voices them clearly, but the subjugation is a powerful image in ultimately gives in to the postulates of concentrates on the rays with the delineating the character of Kunti. mainstream thoughts and beliefs as beads given by the sage in her hand. When enclosed by Indra, she receives Draupadi becomes vulnerable and The language shifts to Sanskrit as Partho. The dance movements show pleads with Krishna. Kunti meditates. Surya, the Sun God, Indra and Kunti together, not making Kunti, the next kanya, was the comes down to test her great virtue. love, but being in love. There are clear mother of the Pandava brothers. But While the verse states in accordance before she conceived them, she had a with the Great Tradition that “Kumari implications in the choreography that son, Karna, out of wedlock. She could Kunti conceives as a virgin mother”, there was physical love, and yet it is not keep Karna, and the abandoned the dance movements that Guru Pankaj emphasized again and again that Kunti baby was found by a charioteer who Charan Das uses belie the concept of was a “sati”, a “mahasati”. brought him up. Eventually, Kunti was the “virgin mother”. He shows the Kunti is a mahasati as she was married to Pandu who had been cursed lovemaking, the kissing, the coyness, blessed with five sons that she nursed by a sage that he would die if he ever and the joy of union. The verse — those are the words of the song. made love to a woman. Through the continues with birthing [of Karna] The last scene in the dance depicts use of beads given to her by the sage through the path of the ear, but Guru her as a single mother, harried, Durvasah, Kunti conceived three sons, Pankaj Charan Das uses music and frustrated, and yet loving. The and when her husband’s second wife movements to indicate the natural emphasis on the strength it takes to Madri killed herself for having caused birthing of the baby. Finally, the pathos raise five rambunctious kids as a single

38 MANUSHI mother is the Guru’s tongue-in-cheek indictment of the warped values of a society that cannot value the strength of a single mother raising five sons, and instead gives credence to the sons as heroes. Yet his indictment is phrased carefully and is veiled. Tara, the fourth kanya, was the wife of Vali, the King of the Monkeys, and the mother of Angada. She tried in vain to dissuade her husband from fighting with Rama and Sugriva, her husband’s brother. When Vali died at the hands of Rama, Tara married Sugriva. The performed text has a distinctly different flavor. The dance drama, Tara, opens with a description of the antagonist, Rama. Rama, Laksmana, Sita, and Hanumana are Kunti: a harried, frustrated yet loving single mother brought to life and propitiated. Rama is hailed as one who is loved by all the to be killed. He asks her to accept races, thereby leading to her own re- people as the killer of Ravana. Then Sugriva as her husband. The next part establishment as royalty. According Tara is introduced. She is one who is in the written script showed Rama to Bhattacharya, “Tara and “savarna” as the haughty one is Vali. embracing the bereaved Angada, son Mandodari are parallels. Both offer Initiated in patience and forbearance, of Tara and Vali, and consoling him. sound advice to their husbands who surrounded by followers, with a son, Since the final rendition of the dance recklessly reject it and suffer the Angada, Tara is thoughtful, clever, drama leaves out the words in the ultimate consequence… Then both resolved, virtuous, and one who script, in an abrupt transition, Tara deliberately [italics mine] accept as surmounts difficulties. These accepts Sugriva as her husband and their spouse the younger brother-in- descriptions are followed by the battle asks for Rama’s blessing and, “with law responsible for the deaths of their between Vali and Sugriva. After Rama complete devotion”, bows at the feet husbands. Thereby, they are able to shoots Vali from behind a clump of of the Lord. keep the kingdom strong and bushes, Tara rushes in to find herself The change is very abrupt, prosperous as allies of Ayodhya, and widowed. particularly in light of the fact that Tara continue to have a say in governance. She realizes that her husband was was depicted as a strong-willed Tara and Mandodadri can never be killed through deceit. She challenges woman and her challenge of Rama described as shadows of such strong Rama and accuses him of making her a was full of anger. However, if we personalities as Bali and Ravana.” The widow. The language shifts back and consider having an encounter with the dance rendition ends with a reiteration forth between Sanskrit and Oriya as Godhead as a prerogative to of Rama’s decision to proclaim Tara she concludes, “I have lost the “kanyahood”, Rama appearing before through the centuries as a boundaries of your wrong decisions.” Tara in itself implies strength. If, on “mahasati”. Tara remains Guru Pankaj She accuses Rama of proclaiming the other hand, we follow Dr Charan Das’ strongest challenge victory irrespective of whether he kills Chaturvedi’s lead of interpreting against patriarchy since it is only in a monkey or a woman, such as Taraka. kanyahood as spiritual strength, this “kanya” that he voices It is significant that of all the leading to independence, Tara is a sentiments questioning Rama. Rakshasas Rama killed in the course strong female. When we add another However, in its practicality, the dance of his life, Tara zeroes in on Taraka who layer, that of Tara warning Bali of an loses its momentum at the end, with as a female powerfully controlled her alliance between Sugriva and Rama the acceptance by Rama being long region of the forest and kept the and Bali ignoring her warning, and drawn-out, making the dance patriarchal Brahmin sages at bay. resulting in his death, we find even somewhat repetitive and tedious. The The dance choreography then greater strength in Tara. The truce repetition of “Ajodhyaro sutroma”, shows a thoughtful Rama. He tells her with Rama would imply a truce proclaiming Tara a “mahasati”, seems that Vali was a womaniser, who needed between the Aryan and the Vanara to be the Guru underscoring Tara’s

No.153 39 strength in making an watches her husband and alliance with Rama for her Lanka destroyed. However, own benefit, following as Lankarani, the Queen of Bali’s death. Or, it could Lanka, she declares a truce be that the Guru is with Rama, who requests proclaiming that Rama, Bibhisana, Ravana’s brother, the righteous king in to marry the virtuous mainstream Hindu Mandodari. ideology, speaks of Tara In Guru Pankaj Charan as a “mahasati”, and Das’ subjective selection of hence who are the people the padas he manipulates in the “samantavadi Rama out of the script, as he yuga” to question it? did Karna in Draupadi. The The last kanya, result of this exclusion is the Mandodari, was humanization of Ravana Ravana’s wife, the through his various antagonist in the Tara grieving over her dead husband’s body interactions with Mandodari, Ramayana. She was including the incredible love transformed from a frog into a beautiful beloved of the greatest of the family scene and his pleading with her to maiden with a less than perfect udar of Rakshasas, descendants of prepare him for his final battle, his exit (belly). She was to distract Ravana Nikasha Rakshasi, Ravana. Then the from life. The last segment, as from abducting the Goddess Parvati. tension between Bali and Ravana for Mandodari emerges in all her regal In spite of all her pleading, Mandodari Mandodari and her being split in two bearing as Lankarani is powerful, and was unable to save the mortal Ravana causing her “udar” to be less than yet in juxtaposition with her fulfilling because his death in the hands of perfect is dramatized. her wifely duties contradictory. She Rama was the sole means of salvation Ravana is introduced as the ruler marries Bibhisana so that she can for his soul. of the three worlds, similar to Yama, remain Lankarani, and as Lankarani The dance drama, Mandodari, as Lord of Golden Lanka. Having the she makes an alliance with Lord Rama, opens with the depiction of Ravana in excellence of Rama in yoga, Vedas, her late husband’s enemy. Dr. Bhaduri battle gear. Then there is a flashback shastras, and in the protection of spoke of this strategic alliance as young Ravana and Mandodari as Raghukula, Ravana is extolled. The between the Aryan and the Rakshasa races.7 the frog maiden are introduced. Their scene shifts to one of Mandodari and Thus we see that it is in love (sudhasneha) is emphasized. This Ravana in love. It is a touching scene, particularly when juxtaposed against Mandodari that Guru Pankaj Charan section is followed by a musical her dressing Ravana for battle, having Das finally comes to uneasy terms segment portraying Mandodari’s heard the “bedobani” that Ravana will with the assigned role of the female in unusual birth: a frog that lived in the have to die at the hands of Rama. a patriarchal society. Yet, at the same sage’s ashram watched a snake poison Ravana addresses Mandodari and time, he does not completely accede the milk of the sage. The frog jumped asks her not to decline his wish to to the societal codes. Mandodari in to save the sage from being offer his head at the feet of Rama. He emerges strong at the end, in spite of poisoned; on his return, the sage was will obtain “brahmando”, ultimate the acquiescence to patriarchy in her irate at first and cursed the frog salvation by declaring Rama his role as a model wife. Mandodari as because he surmised that the frog had enemy and dying at his hands. With Lanka Rani is emphasized, repeated yearned for his milk. However, the tears in her eyes, Mandodari, to indicate her role as a strategist after curse released the frog from a previous “sulokhyoni Lonkarani” her husband’s death. curse, and she transformed into a (auspicious Queen of Lanka), dresses Mandodari is a brilliant final beautiful maiden. The depiction of the her husband for battle. statement for a marginalized Guru who kanya, in the tradition of Ahalya, In the next scene the dance comes constantly longed for the center Draupadi, Kunti, and Tara before her full circle as Ravana is at war with stage. It is also amazing that the Guru, follows: Mandodari, the daughter of Rama, culminating in Ravana’s death. through his own intuition of Maya Daitya, “mandogamini” (slow At this point the majesty of marginalization, was able to dramatize of gait), beloved of Bali, and also Mandodari emerges as she heroically Tara and Mandodari, representatives

40 MANUSHI gress on Dance research, Corfu. Greece: International Organization of Folk Art.) 4 Marglin, Frederique Apffel, 1985 Wives of the God-King. Delhi: Oxford University Press. 5 Devi, Rittha, 1968, “Panchakanya: A Rare Item in the Odissi Dance,” in Il- lustrated Weekly of India, March 3, 21. 6 For the mahari as an “auspicious” woman, see Frederique Marglin, The Wives of the God-King, 1985. 7 Bhaduri, Nrisinhaprasad, 2003, “Panchakanyas as Mahapatakanashini with special reference to Tara and Mandodari,” paper presented in the national seminar on Pancha Kanyas of Indian Mandodari, whose wise counsel her husband ignored at his own peril This is an edited version of a paper of the Vanara and the Rakshasa races, Das’ vision is paralleled by the presented at the Second International as two of the most powerful heroines, position of the matrilineal, matrifocal Conference on Religions and Cultures making alliances with the Aryan prince, Mahari/Devadasi tradition, including in the Indic Civilisation organised by Rama. However, in real life the Guru the dances, in the patriarchal society CSDS and Manushi from December 17- died as an alternative narrative in Odissi today. The Devadasi institution may 20, 2005 dance, uncompromising with the not live, but the questioning The author is Senior Professor of master narrative, the centre. narratives of their matrilineal and Dance and Expressive Arts at The With Mandodari, Guru Pankaj matrifocal traditions will live through Evergreen State College, Olympia, Charan Das came full cycle. While the Pancha Kanya and other dances. Washington, US. She is also a senior Ahalya was feeble in her protest, The power of the dance style is regal, disciple of Late Padmashri Guru Draupadi became more vocal in her sensuous, and spiritual, a testimony Pankaj Charan Das. challenges. Kunti, in spite of being the to the strength of women in India’s The pictures are patta chitra paint- most transgressive of them, fitted past. ings of the Pancha Kanyas from squarely into the role of the mother of Raghurajpur in Puri District. sons, but also emerged as an agent in Footnotes the lives of her sons, enabling her at 1 Dash, Dhiren, 1976 Catara, Jathara, the end. Tara was stronger, more vocal Jatra-the Theatre. Bhubaneswar: If You Miss in her questioning of patriarchy. Kwality Press. However, by the end, she succumbed 2 For the Jagannatha Cult, see Eshmann, an Issue to her need for truce with Rama. The Kulke, and Tripathi, (1978, The Cult Pancha Kanya culminates with of Jagannath and the Regional Tradi- If you do not receive a par- Mandodari voicing the power of the tion of Orissa. New Delhi: Manohar.), ticular issue, please inform marginalized on the one hand, see Bharati (1965, The Tantric Tradi- us within two months. For emerging as Lanka Rani, but being tion. London: Rider & Company.), and instance, if you do not get revered as “sohodhormini”, the dutiful Mookerjee & Khanna (1977, The wife on the other, closely aligned with Tantric Way: Art, Science, Ritual. Delhi: the March-April issue, in- Ahalya, the wife of Gautama. The Vikas Pub. House.) form us as soon as you get sudden change in the political stand 3 Barbara Curda has done intensive work the May-June issue. We will that characterized the conclusion of on gender issues. See, Curda (2002, replace back issues only if Tara finally turned into an acceptance “Odissi in Contemporary Orissa: in Mandodari, as a wife in patriarchal Strategies, Constraints, Gender,” in you inform us within two society, albeit as “Lanka Rani”. The Dance As Intangible Heritage: Pro- months of the issue’s release. contradiction in Guru Pankaj Charan ceedings of the 16th International Con-

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