Paper: 2 Relationship Of Dance And Theatre, Study Of Rupaka And Uparupaka, Traditional Theatres Of India

Module 19 Purulia Chhau - Technique, Aaharya, Stories

The costumes which are used today in Purulia Chhau performances were introduced about a century back, from the time when the royal family got associated with it. These costumes are gorgeous and stylish. But the information about costumes which were used before is still not available to us due to lack of evidence and information.

From the viewpoint of designing the costume for Purulia Chhau/ऩ셁ु लऱया छाऊ, we find four distinct divisions 1) Costumes for the upper part of body 2) Costumes for the lower part of the body 3) Head gears 4) Costumes of the acting Bird and Animal characters.

The upper garments of the Chhau characters are ornately d e c o r a t e d , a c t o r s w e a r short embroidered jackets. As the lower garment, they w e a r only a tight trouser. On this trouser a r e tied many-striped circular, multi-colored ribbons. The stripes of the ribbons follow fixed patterns according to characters. The stripes of gods and heroes are green and yellow. For the demon it is black and red. Nowadays, the tight striped trousers seem to be out of trend. In some places it is being replaced by the Dhoti.

DIVINE CHARACTERS:

T h e divine characters like and Kartik use tight trousers or

1 a dhoti/धोती, which is a piece of cloth 5 meters in length. This dhoti is brown, white or yellow in colour according to the character they portray. A colorful ribbon hangs from it. The richly decorated waistband (with beads) is worn over the dhoti. And for the upper part of the body, they wear a colorful T-shirt and over it a stitched embroidered jacket.

For the hands, four flowers of appropriate colour, befitting the character are tied at equal distance from the shoulder to the wrist. In addition to these, two colorful cloths are used as handkerchief. These are about two feet long and are stitched to the upper garment as hanging down from the shoulder of Ganesha. The same is white colour for Kartik.

There is some specialty in the costumes used for the character of . It is absolutely exclusive and not worn by any other character. Shiva wears a pair of yellow-colored trousers, which resemble the color of the skin of the tiger. A yellow cloth belt is tied on it. For the upper part of the body, T-shirt of the same body complexion is worn with the arms stitched with cobra-hood designs and bahuti/बहती (type of ornament worn round the arms) tied to them. A yellow colored shawl hangs from the neck.

The character of has an important role in the Purulia Chhau. For him, the upper part of the body is covered with a red color long-sleeved jacket similar to kurta. An embroidered yellow jacket is worn over it. A richly ornamented shawl is also a part of his costume. Two artificial hands made of light wood are tied in the back of the actor. For the lower part of the body a white dhoti with several red stripes is worn. A kamarpati/कमरऩट्टी or waist-belt made

2 by cloth and decorated with beads is also used for the costume of Brahma.

In addition to the above characters, the Nandi/नंदी and Bhiringi/लिꅍगी, two characters belonging to the Purulia Chhau tradition, can be cited as very admired. They are reckoned as comic characters and also considered to be the guards o f Shiva's abode Kailasa. The upper garment of these characters consists of a full sleeve yellow and blue shirt or kurta called as banian/बननयान. Yellow ribbon of about 3 or 4 feet long is worn round the neck and placed in the front, crossing each other. No embroidered jacket or pitichada/पऩनतछडा is used for these characters. The arms are decorated with bahuti or bangles. Two yellow handkerchiefs hang down from the shoulders and are tied to the upper garment. A dhoti is worn as the dress for the lower parts with waist belts. Sometimes the waist-belts are done away with.

Narada is a comic character in Purulia Chhau. The upper garment for this character is long-sleeved saffron-colored kurta or shirt and a rosary worn round the neck. The lower part of the body is covered with a yellow-colored dhoti with an orange colored belt. Instead of Bahuti/बहुती, they paint their hands and hold two yellow handkerchiefs. Sages and rishis generally do not use any clothes to cover the upper part of the body. Whenever needed they cover the body with a shawl. They use dhoti as the lower garment, which is white or sometime saffron in colour.

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The female deities generally wear a sari similar to that worn by Bengali women. For the character of Goddess a pair of striped trousers made of black cloth is used. Goddess wears a red saree and a full sleeved jacket called blouse/녍ऱाउज, which is richly adorned with golden thread. A golden colored ornate belt is worn round the waist. Sometimes, a sleeveless jacket, ornamented with beads, is worn over the long-sleeved red jacket. For Goddess Durga ei g ht artificial hands made of wood are used. They are fixed to the back of the actress. For the characters of and Sarasvati, sari and full sleeved blouse or decorated jackets are used; the only difference being the basic colour used in saris and jackets.

The Demon characters like Yaksa or Raksa are very popular characters of the Purulia Chhau performance. Mahisasura or the Buffalo-demon is a character taken to be a very powerful one. In the episode Mahisasuramardini/महहसासुरमहदिनी, he dances with the Goddess Durga. This item is included in the repertoire of every Purulia Chhau Dance company.

The upper garment for this character consists of an embroidered jacket called boktha/बो啍था and a colorful shawl named pitichada/पऩनतचडा. Two white handkerchiefs about two feet long are attached in front of the jacket and hung. Bahuties or bangles befitting the costume are worn round the arms. For the lower part, yellow or white-coloured dhoti with a waistband is used. Mahisasura is a solo character but sometimes this character comes in a group, in which case they wear costumes of different colours.

For Raktasura/र啍तासुर, the actor uses a white shirt with white

4 embroidered jacket worn over it as the upper garment. The back is covered by a beautiful shawl and a dhoti provides the dress for the lower part. A colorful waistband is worn and a few bahuties/बहुती or bangles are used in arms which are colorful.

Chhau artists also play the roles of animals and birds. They cover themselves with a cloth having a colour close to the colour of the animal. They use artificial limbs to act as animal and birds. For acting in the role of animals like the elephant, tiger, lion, bull and bear often two actors are used. One actor keeps standing while the other one who is behind him stoops forward and holds onto his waist to bring out the basic form of the animal. In some sequences solo actors manage the role. Like when Goddess Durga appears she comes with her lion as her vehicle. Here the mask of lion is used and only one actor enacts the lion very skillfully.

Techniques of Chhau:

The basic posture of the Chhau dance is a half-seated position with knees widely open at right angle to the spine. The upper portion of the body should be vertical. The whole attitude reflects a pure Tandava/तांडव or masculine style. Actors exhibit movements according to the character the actor is enacting. The movements are also chosen according to the mood of the performance.

The Chhau performances of Purulia are very much dependent on the gaits or gati/गनत of the characters on the stage. These are generally divided into two categories. One is the straightaway imitation of

5 movements of animals and birds, thereby trying to produce a realistic image. The other one is the stylistic form which has developed with the age-old tradition. The stylistic movements are again selected according to the character that is being depicted. Another notable factor is communicating the sentiment or Bhava/भाव of the characters to the spectators. For these movements or gati of Divine and demonic characters of Chhau dance has developed. The movements are taken from the behavioral pattern of the character which the performer imitates. These are often movements of animals and birds. Other movements are stylized ones which have developed from their age old practice of tradition. These movements differ from character to character according to its development in the story.

According to Salvini/साल्ववनी, these are the different sorts of gait and locomotion generally used in Purulia Chhau:

1. Walk of a Demon (Arrogant) locomotion 2. Sideway walk (Seeking the enemy) 3. Crawling locomotion 4. Walk of a Hero (Majestic) 5. Walk on the knees 6. Wavy locomotion 7. Diving locomotion 8. Ripping locomotion 9. Rocking locomotion 10. Walk of Prowling locomotion 11. Walk of a Monkey 12.Walk of a Tortoise, etc.

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Gods, goddesses and mythological animals have their own gaits which are completed by a series of attitudes:  Walk of Ganesha  Walk of Durga(She moves from side somewhat like a puppet)  Walk of Shiva  Walk of Parasurama  Walk of , etc

Music in Chhau The music of Chhau dance of Purulia is dominated by instrumental music. Only two lines of lyrics are sung at the opening of the play. It is mainly the introduction to the play. These lines are repeated a number of times. When drummers start beating the drum it is an indication to the singer to stop singing. After that the instrumentalists continue with their music for the entire episode. The songs are sung in Bengali. The musical instruments are played at a very high pitch. Concerts often differ from one item to another item. The music party or the orchestra consists of two tribal drums known as dhamsa/धमसा, two cylindrical drums known as dhol/ढोऱ or dholak/ढोऱक, one wind instrument known as shehnai/शेहनाई and harmonium. These are the minimum requirements of instruments for a Chhau orchestra. But a number of other instruments such as idiophones and sometimes melody instruments like trumpets are used. The dholak players perform the main role. They conduct and control the music team. At first, before the play begins, they just go round the

7 arena, keeping the audience captivated. Sometimes they keep the spirits of the performers also in a high mood, by jumping up, turning and shouting out loud, whilst at the same time -playin g their instruments. Other players sit on the ground and accompany the players on stage. The dhamsas that are beaten with the greatest physical exertion during the performance are indeed war-drums of the past. These are beaten on by one person if the size is small or else if the size is bigger it is beaten by two persons simultaneously with both their hands with two thick wooden mallets. The dhamsa is heavy in weight so it cannot be carried on shoulders; it is placed on the ground and is beaten. It is covered by a well-seasoned animal skin and is also properly tuned. The rhythm instrument dhol is extremely necessary in Chhau dance. It is smaller in size and can be slung from the shoulder. The dhol is played by the fingers of the left hand, and by a stick in the right hand. Melodies are played on the shehnai, tune is played in harmonium. Purulia Chhau music can be classified as follows: Melody: The melodies used are of folk-songs, and apparently there is a relationship between their words (although not sung) and the subject of the particular dance. The phases of each song are repeated over and over with only slight variation, but the lyrical beauty of the tune combined with the interplay of rhythm and dance sustain interest, and there is in fact, an accumulative effect which is tremendously and powerfully expressive. Rhythmic Structure: The dhol is played constantly during each musical selection (excluding the shehnai). There are two structures in the drum background. The first is solo dhol (drum.) Here the player

8 taps out relatively simple patterns which mark the beat and the sub- division of the beat. Each beat in a given musical selection is sub- divided into pulses (constant throughout the section) of either 3 (takita/तककट, takita etc.) or 4 (takadimi/तकधधमी, takadimi). The drumming is beat-oriented rather than tala/ताऱ-oriented. The patterns with which the dhol player marks time are basically simple and repetitive. However several drummers vary their playing with occasional combination of rhythm, usually following some action in the dance. Several typical patterns are given below:

1. taditakitatarikita/तदीताकीट तररककट pattern covers 3 beat (each beat sub-divided into 2 (or 4) ).

Takitata/तककतत pattern covers 1 beat (sub-divided into pulses of 3)

Tarikita takita/तररककट त ककत pattern covers 2 beats (sub- divided into pulses of (4)) A unique feature of the music of Chhau is seen in the much longer patterns played on the dhamsa and also simultaneously on the dhol. These patterns, varying in length from 4 beats to 36 beats or more are directly related to the dance-steps, especially to the group dances. During the time that the dhol is being played in a particular rhythm, the dancers move slowly in pantomime or irregularly, apparently improvising movements. But beginning with the first beats of the dhamsa rhythmic patterns, the dancers begin an elaborate series of movements which end simultaneously with the last beat of the dhamsa pattern. The dhol player shouts out a sign to the rest of the troupe several beats before the dhamsa pattern begins. The signal is in simple bols such as:

9 tekatekatatekateka/टेकतेकातातेकातेका.

The stories enacted in Purulia Chhau

Ganesha Bandana/गणेश बꅍदना : The dance of Ganesha is an introductory item at the beginning of every Purulia Chhau performance. It is a vocal invocation to Ganesha and the dance is set to the background of Puranic themes. Kirath Arjun/ककराथ अजुनि : This episode of is the most popular in Purulia Chhau.

Bakasura Badh/बकासुर वध: The story of killing Bakasura or Demon Vaka is also an important episode in this repertoire. The fight between Bhīma and Bakasura is the theme of this episode.

Meghnad Badh/मेघनाद वध: Killing Meghnad is also an important episode, which is presented in Jhalda/झाऱदा,

Bagmundi/ब嵍मुꅍडी and Bandyoyan/बं饍योयन areas in Purulia district. This episode is adapted from the .

Sita Haran/सीता हरण: Also a famous dramatic episode enacting the story of the abduction of by Ravana.

Ravan Badh/रावण वध: The story of the killing of Ravana, specially performed in Purulia tradition.

Abak Chakra/अबक चक्र : Different incidents of 's childhood have been portrayed by the Chhau actors o f Purulia and Mayurbhanj. This item is very popular in both places.

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RasaLila/रास ऱीऱा: Raasa Dance is specially performed in the Mayurbhanj and Purulia t raditions and is associated with the -Krishna legend.

Mahishasura Mardini: The episode is the most popular amongst the Purulia and Mayurbhanj Chhau/मयुरभंज छाव. It is based o n t h e story from the Marakandeya Purana/माकं डये ऩुराण or the Legend of Goddess Durga.

Shumbha and Nisumbha/शुंभ तथा ननशुंभ : This episode from Markandeya Purana is popular in Purulia and Mayurbhanj traditions.

Shiva-Tandav/लशव-तांडव: It is a famous solo dance item in Mayurbhanj and Purulia traditions. It is considered the greatest dance of Shiva.

Tarakasura Badh/तारकासुर वध : The story of killing of Tarakasura from the legend of of Kumarasambhava is very popular too. The physical movement of Purulia Chhau dancers are characteristically masculine and extremely varied. They are integrated very well into the choreographic structure. The movements of the Heroes and the Demons are very slow and performed with great dignity. At the entrance, the dancers pose in deep knee bends. As soon as the hero takes his position in the enclosure, his opponent arrives, and the conflict between hero and the opponent is resolved by a combat of gestures. The dance is vigorous, and full of body movements and gestural language.

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Purulia Chhau thus represents a very significant process of the cultural interaction and distinctiveness in the Indian cultural pattern. The dance style belongs to a group of tribal classes. There is also a class structure within this on the basis of functionality and vocation. The earlier anti-iconic forms of worship continue. On this there is an over-layering of the traditions of Indian literature, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and some of the . Over a period of time, they have become part and parcel of life of these communities while not obliterating earlier layers. This wonderful inter-connection is manifested most vocally through dance and music. Although earlier practices are observed, the thematic content largely rests on the traditions of the epics and the Puranas. The treatment given to the character and the method of portraiture however shows very clear signs of earlier beliefs and faiths and purely local concerns. The villages’ deities and their characteristics enter into the characters of and Ravana, Durga and Lakshmi, Abhimanyu and Arjuna. In terms of the formal elements, while the drummer and the vocalist may be compared to the sutradhara/सूत्रधार of the tradition, there is little or no trace of the rigorous structuring of Sanskrit drama so obvious and unmistakable in the South Indian forms. There is also no division of the acting area into different zones and spaces which in many other dance styles was a take-over from the conventions of the Kaksa Vibhaga/कऺ पवभाग of Sanskrit theatre. Here the arena is used freely and no attempt is made to identify different areas of the stage with different locales. There is also the very conspicuous absence of the character of Vidushaka/पवदषू क who plays such an important role in the traditions of other dance-drama forms like

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Kutiyattam/कु टीयट्टम, Yakshagana/यऺगान and Bhagavatamela/भागवतमेऱा.

Nevertheless, the elements of margi/मागी in the dance vocabulary are obvious in all the three forms of Chhau. Thus, while these forms are certainly desi/देशी on account of their sociological status and lack of the poetic word, they are margi on account of the elaborate ritual, their Puranic/ऩुराणणक content, a chiselled dance vocabulary and the stylization in the masks.

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