JATRA AS TRADITION MEDIA OF COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION

Total Shows - 360 Total Opera - 6 No of District - 4 (Purba Midnapur, Paschim Midnapur, Howrah, South 24 Parganas) Population Covered (Apporx) - 400400

Supported and facilitated by :- Water & Sanitation Support Organisation (WSSO) Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) Govt. of West Bengal JATRA AS TRADITION MEDIA OF COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION

Jatra is a popular folk-theater form of Bengali Theater. The Jatra season begins around the month of September, the beginning of the harvest season and ends before the monsoon sets in.

This medium is very effective for spreading the message of safe drinking water and sanitation to the large audience as these shows have free entry. The operas perform in the interior blocks of the districts. Jatra is a very well perceived and taken by the rural audience, and messages woven in the story line are widely appreciated by the target audience. Jatras are performed during festivities and religious functions, ceremonies in traditional household and other public places where these troupes get invited in advance.

Jatra troupes or operas as they are called is categorized in 1st tier, 2nd and 3rd tier Jatra destinations. 1st tier and most of 2nd tier are paid Jatras meaning audience buy the tickets to see the play, therefore it is conducted in 1st tier and 2nd tier towns of West Bengal. 3rd tier Jatra is for the audience and performed in rural parts of the district.

The 3rd tier Jatra destinations was thus chosen since it had our target audience, where the awareness towards safe, save water and health hygiene messages was to be spread.

SI. No. Opera Name Total show Approx total audience

1 Gandhari Opera 62 68200 2 Debipally Opera 53 55650 3 Bharti Opera 68 81600 4 Star Opera 72 72000 5 New Ganesh Opera 44 52800 6 Jatraniketan Opera 61 70150 Total 360 400400 Branding Material

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