Few
people are aware that
world's biggest open air
theatre festival held in a
small town BARGARH in
western Orissa, a region
known more for poverty,
starvation deaths and sale
of children. As the
millennium's first
open-air festival, it is
being celebrated with
greater gusto than last
year
The
town, which has a
population of about a lakh
spread over a few square
miles, turned into the
unique epic town of
Mathura for the ten-day
festival known locally as
'Dhanu Yatra'.
"By
organising this festival
on such a large scale we
want to send the message
that generations may have
passed but the definition
of good and evil remains
unchanged," said an
organizer.
Come
the month of Pusha (winter
in the Hindi calendar,
that falls in the first
half of January), the
sleepy town turns festive,
with the whole town
becoming a stage on which
people turn mythology into
a real-life story. The
uniqueness of the festival
lies in the fact that all
the episodes of 'Kans Vadh'
(the killing of Kans) take
place in different part of
the town - making it the
largest open-air theatre
in the world..
Interestingly,
the people on the streets
as well as inside their
houses become artistes,
and the satellite
settlements nearby,
villages, rivers and
buildings take on
classical names -- as they
were probably known in the
Mahabharat era. A visitor
at this time maybe
pardoned for thinking that
he has, by mistake, got
into a time machine which
has transported him
backwards.
During
the festival Bargarh
awakes to the vibrations
of drums, bugles and
shehnais. "For ten
days we forget today's
world," said Kanhu
Patnaik, a school teacher
in Bargarh who is happy
that bewildered truck
drivers on the national
highway near the town
still ask whether Kans
rules in this part of the
world.
Bargarh
becomes Mathurapuri as it
was called some 5,000
years ago, the neighboring
Amapalli village becomes
Gopapur, the place Krishna
immortalized with his Bal
Lila. The Jira, which
flows between Bargarh and
Amapali becomes Yamuna for
the time being.
The
mood takes over thousands
from nearby villages who
throng the streets of
Bargarh to enjoy and
participate in the
cultural drama. The main
attraction is Kans, whose
characterizations
dominates the festival
despite people viewing him
as a demon.
"Begging
the role of Kans is no
mean task, for it means
royal living for 10 days
and passing orders like a
king," says Gopal
Sahu who played the role
for 15 years before being
denied the role last year.
Interestingly,
the festival not only
re-enacts mythology but
also provides amusement to
the people. As Kans goes
around the city everyday,
the people - regardless of
who they are -- bow before
him. The collector, SP and
other administrative
officials who visit Kans's
durbar are treated as the
king's employees and local
MLAs, MPs and ministers
projected as his
representatives.
This
year the festival began on
January 11 and over the
next for 10 days, Kans's
story is told in all its
glory. The entire
municipal area of Bargarh,
sprawling over 30 sq km,
provides the setting for
the enactment of epic
scenes, which begins with
the grand wedding of
Devaki and Vasudev, then
traces the birth of
Krishna and climaxes with
Kans's death.
The
unique extravaganza boasts
of a cast that involves
virtually everyone in
Bargarh. However, in a
major deviation from
practice, last year the
lead character of Kans was
selected after through
screening. Assistant
sub-inspector of police
Gopal Sahu, who had been
playing the king for 15
years, had to make way for
Bubhaneswar Pande. The
role's attraction can be
seen from the fact that
more than 16 candidates
had participated in the
screen test.
Given
this, the organizers have
now decided to introduce a
fresh face every year.
But
it is the sets that take
the cake. The panchayat
motel turns into the royal
palace of Kans and his
durbar is a pandal erected
at Hatpada of Bargarh. The
local Radha Krishna temple
serves as the prison house
of Vasudeva and Devaki.
The most remarkable
feature of the Yatra,
which hopes to find a
place in the Guinness Book
of World Records is that
there are no spectators,
rather all are
participants in the epic
play. |
