Chhau

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Chhau , more rarely chhou, chau, chhow ( Bengali ছৌ নাচ chau nāc , chhou nach ; Oriya ଛଉ ନାଚ ), is a form of traditional dance drama in East India , which was developed by lower population groups in rural areas and at annual festivals, especially the Chaitra spring festival Parva is performed. There are three well-known regional traditions, which differ significantly in game practice: Seraikella chhau got its name from the small town of Seraikela in the state of Jharkhand . Purulia chhau , the liveliest style most closely related to its ancient Adivasi tradition, was developed in the Purulia district in bordering West Bengal . The third style Midnapur chhau in the subdivision Jhargram of the West Bengal district of Pashchim Medinipur (Midnapur) is less well known . All three are mask dances in contrast to the fourth style, the Mayurbhanj chhau in Odisha ( Mayurbhanj district ), which is also performed with colorful costumes and sometimes with a headdress, but without masks.

The themes of the chhau styles are taken from the classical Indian epics Mahabharata , Ramayana and from the Puranas . Chhau dances are part of the religious rituals of the respective ethnic groups. Although the dancers have received professional training, most of them do not perform full-time, but work as employees in agriculture or in the city. In the past, the dances were only performed by men; in some areas women now dance too.

The accompanying music is rhythmic. Big kettle drums ( dhamsa ) and two or more barrel drums ( dhol ) are leading, mostly the cone oboes shehnai or mohori are played as the only melody instruments . Sung songs do not appear as dance accompaniment, spoken texts only appear as an introduction. In 2010, the chhau dance style was added to the list of masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity .

Purulia chhau in West Bengal

history

According to different views, the word chhau comes from Sanskrit chhaya, "shadow" or vice versa: Chhaya goes back to chhau , which is related to Sanskrit chhadma , "disguise, veiling". Alternatively Chhau the colloquial Oriya -word for "chase" or "attack" to be. There is also the Mundali term chhak for "spirit". Mundali (or Mundari) is the language of the Munda , one of the Adivasi groups whose tradition Purulia chhau belongs to. The warlike aspect of chhau is possibly expressed through the connection with the old Sanskrit word chauni ("military camp"), from which the Hindi chauni (also chawri ), which means "armor", and chhank ("attack") come from. In any case, the word goes back to an activity or occupation and not to a specific social class or jati (subcaste). This is essential for the understanding that all four chhau dance forms are passed on in the culture of a certain population group, but basically everyone can learn the dances and take part in the performance.

In earlier times the chhau dances were called pharikhanda khela, "play with shield and sword" and were performed by men ( paiks ) who were tried and tested in this way . An old chhau dance piece called Astradwanda was performed as a war dance with real shields and swords when the British King George V visited the then capital Calcutta in 1911 . Throughout Asia, numerous refined dance styles are derived from the art of war.

Purulia

Purulia cchau , performance in Kolkata . Goddess Durga in the form of the demon slayer Mahishasuramardini

The Chhau -Tanztheater belongs to an overall geographical region, the centers of the three styles were still in the earlier traffic conditions several days' journey apart, which may have been one reason for the development of different styles. Purulia is a Bengali-speaking district in West Bengal where some tribal languages ​​are also spoken. Before the territorial reform in 1956, Purulia was a subdivision in the now defunct Manbhum district, which was in the state of Bihar with its Hindi-speaking majority. After the restructuring along language borders, most of the Purulia subdivision West Bengal was added, the remaining quarter went to the Singhbhum district of Bihar. In 2000, the southern part of Bihar became independent with Seraikella to form the new state of Jharkhand.

For the listed dramas of the former part of Purulia in Bihar, the long affiliation to a Hindi-speaking area means that, as with the Seraikella-chhau there, the classical epics in their Hindi translations and interpretations by Tulsidas in the second half of the 16th century are based become. These differ in some cases considerably from the versions of the Bengali poet Kavichandra of the 17th century, which are otherwise used in Purulia chhau . This means that there are regional differences in content within the same style. Style differences within Purulia chhau also exist in the performance practice.

Purulia chhau has always been a rural style of the tribal people and has been preserved in a particularly powerful original form. Its history is virtually unknown. It is said to have descended from a war dance performed by the Kurmi rural community. The Kurmi still call their dances chau yuddha (" chau war / fight"). Until the early 1940s Purulia chhau was promoted to a certain extent by the Rajas of Baghamundi, who wanted to spread their Hindu beliefs among the Kurmi and got them to supplement their war dances with stories from the Hindu epics. With the abolition of the Zamindar system in 1947, support for the dance style ended, which could only be kept alive in the villages with the simplest means.

The characterization and basic description of Purulia chhau is due to Ashutosh Bhattacharyya (1909-1984), a Bengali literary scholar and ethnographer who first saw the style in 1961 in a remote village (Bandwan) in the Purulia district. The Munda dancers there had neither proper masks nor costumes, but at that time they performed almost the entire Ramayana epic. The musicians were Doms, a lower caste of West Bengali Hindus . Upper-caste Hindus neither participated nor supported the performances, the educated obviously disapproved of them.

In the 1960s, Bhattacharyya and his students from Calcutta began collecting and restoring old costumes in the various villages. In 1969 he brought 50 chhau dancers to New Delhi for the first time at the invitation of the Sangeet Natak Akademi , and from 1972 dance groups traveled abroad to perform.

Seraikella

The names of the other two styles refer to the areas of Saraikela and Mayurbhanj , which were small princely states before India's independence in 1949, whose ruling families supported and influenced the dance theater. The region around Saraikela has been relatively peaceful since the signing of a peace treaty with the British in 1820 and was not subject to any outside influence. In such an undisturbed environment, the dance theater developed into a part of the Chaitra Parva festival; Members of the ruling family were themselves active dancers and influenced the content and design of the performances, which present a more elegant and calculated stage style. In their opinion, Seraikella chhau is a "classical" dance style, whose roots lie with the tribal population they often displace. The folk elements of the Seraikella chhau can still be seen, especially in the villages that were less under the direct influence of the princes.

As in the past, under the influence of the royal family in the 19th century, the other population groups - low-caste peasants, adivasis and kshatriyas - continued to take part in the dances. In addition, the palace employed its own dance troupe, which, however, lost its job with the loss of power of the princes and the economic changes after independence. A loose connection to this troupe has persisted to this day, but the majority of the performances at the Chaitra Parva spring festival are made up of dance troupes from the surrounding villages that are invited by the princely family.

Seraikella chhau was first performed outside the region in 1936 in cities such as Calcutta and Bombay, and a year later a dance troupe traveled to Europe. In 1964, the Federal Government of Bihar established a small training center for chhau dances. Teachers and students form a dance troupe that puts on performances outside of the Chaitra Parva festival. In addition to the village chhau dancers, about whom little is known, these are the only two, very small dance troupes that are in a certain competition with one another.

Mayurbhanj

To Mayurbhanj Chhau there is as little written record of the history. The dance form was apparently anchored purely in the village folk culture and among the Adivasis. The warlike aspect of some scenes could be traced back to a flourishing ceremonial art of war that has come down from the chronicles of the early Kingdom of Kalinga . From the heyday under King Kharavela in the 2nd century BC. In the BC, stone reliefs were preserved in the caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri (near Bhubaneswar ), which show warlike plays with swords and shields as well as acrobatic exercises.

From the 17th century the tradition of picture scrolls ( pat ) emerged, as they are made by the Bengali patuas . Most of the members of this ethnic group are Muslims, but the themes of the scrolls come from popular belief and from the great Indian epics. The patuas traditionally present the picture scrolls while acting as theatrical storytellers. Stories from the life of Krishna dominate , many scenes allow comparisons both with the Kalinga reliefs and with the movements in Mayurbhanj chhau .

Mask dances

Masks generally either have a magical-religious meaning or are part of a social role-playing game. In Asia they mainly belong to the preoccupation with gods and spirits. It is difficult for Hindu culture to tell how secular or religious masks are presented, respectively. Secular themes can also be found in the chhau dances between the religious and mythological ones. In Seraikella chhau there are dance scenes to the everyday characters Dhibar (fisherman), Mayur (peacock), Nabik (boatswain), Prajapati (butterfly) and Shabar (hunter).

With masks, the eye movements ( drushtibheda ) and facial expressions ( mukhabhinaya ), which are essential in Indian dances such as the Bharata Natyam, are excluded as means of expression. The feelings must be expressed purely through body movements, the rigid mask can only be brought to life by moving. By expressing himself through body movements ( angikabhinaya ), the dancer shows aesthetic feeling ( bhava ) and taste ( rasa ), central concepts of Indian dance theater. The age, gender and appearance of the dancer are hidden under the mask; anonymization turns the dancer into an impersonal, universal being and puts the characters portrayed on a more general symbolic level. Conversely, complex abstract ideas objectify in a concretely tangible form.

In the ancient Indian religious performance practice, as described in the writings on the Gandharva music theory, in contrast to the Greek theater, there were no dramas with fully masked actors. Apart from dubious terracotta reliefs, there was no archaeological evidence of early mask dances. The Sanskrit word for “mask” is varna , it means “color” and “appearance”. Today there are mask dances in limited regions in western India ( Rajasthan ), in the south and south-west, in the center, east and north-east of the country in different folk traditions.

Some more South Asian mask dances used in religious cult or magical rituals:

  • Lakhe is a Nepalese demon dance from Buddhist mythology, which is performed in autumn at the Indra Jatra , a festival in the Kathmandu valley and is sometimes exorcistic .
  • Mahakali pyakhan is also performed at this festival . The dance drama for the goddess Mahakali goes back to a Nepalese king in the 13th century.
  • Sanni-yakma masks are used in the dramatic tovil ritual in Sri Lanka . They are supposed to drive out evil forces and heal diseases. The masks have a magical function, although overall they look less scary than the masks of the kolam dance drama in Sri Lanka or the barong masks in Bali .
  • South Indian dance dramas performed with masks include yakshagana in Karnataka , krishnattam and kolam tullal in Kerala .
  • In the ritual gambhira mask dance in north-western Bengal ( Malda ), heavy wooden masks that are considered extremely sacred are used.
  • In Assam's popular bhaona mask dance , clay masks represent animals, birds and figures from Hindu mythology.
  • The most impressive masks are worn at the Sahi Yatra procession in Puri , the city's second major annual festival alongside the Ratha Yatra .

Performance practice

The postures and movements of the chhau dances differ from the classical Indian dance styles due to their village elements and tribal traditions. With the latter, the dancers perform a movement pattern from a rest position, after which they temporarily return to the starting position. As with the classical dances, in chhau narrative sections ( nritya ) alternate with rhythmic dance numbers ( nritta ), which are characterized by certain step sequences, turning movements and jumps. The chhau dancers cross the room more and use the entire available stage area. Extensive arm and leg movements make the space part of the choreography, which precisely regulates the occupation of the space over time.

An essential aspect of the chhau is its ritual context. Chhau dances are part of the Chaitra Parva festival, in which Shiva and his companion Shakti are venerated as the main gods and which, according to the Indian calendar , takes place in the month of chaitra , the first month of the new year (mid-March to mid-April). The Spring Festival is part of the annual agricultural cycle and lasts for several days. The information about the length is far apart and ranges from four or five to 26 days.

The chhau dances take place on the last three to four days of the festival. The official astrologer used to set the beginning of the event, who read the appropriate day from the stars according to the prince's horoscope. The formal opening consists of the erection of a high ceremonial post made from a green bamboo cane. It carries a red flag and mango leaves, which are renewed every evening, on its tip. In Seraikella, the post is carried in procession from the royal bathing place on the Kharkai river to the Shiva temple in the central village square, accompanied by a chapel with drums and the shehnai double-reed instrument . For the night the bamboo post wanders into the courtyard of the Ragunath Temple within the palace, to which only members of the princely family have access.

Similar ritual principles are practiced at other venues, which have a strong influence on the ensuing events. The intensity of the dances, which reaches up to trance-like states, points to the same magical-ritual context. The worship of Shiva has a long tradition in the region, which was particularly pronounced between the 5th and 11th centuries. The rituals are derived from or at least resemble those of the Danda nata dance festival, which is also held in Odisha in spring in honor of Shiva. Danda means "post" and obviously means the linga , the phallic symbol of Shiva. Patua jatra is another, comparable pilgrimage festival of the lower castes in Orissa, in which, however, not Shiva, but the mother goddess ( Devi ) in the form of Mangala, Chandi or Kali is worshiped.

The acrobatic jumps, turns, and battle scenes are said to be derived from the military training that foot soldiers received in the armies of the feudal lords. Some dancers, on the other hand, refer to the classical tradition when they derive their style from Shiva's Tandava dance. The categorization of many individual aspects is difficult. In the performance practice of the chhau dances, three lines of tradition come together: the embedding in a magical-religious, folk ritual, the old courtly art of war and the stylistic development of the movement dances. Chaitra Parva is dedicated to Shiva, but in fact the fertility principle is worshiped in the names of the female deities Mangala, Kali and Chandi. Spring festivals have this aspect in most cultures. An essential accompaniment to the chhau dances is the connection between Hindu and tribal traditions.

music

With the musical accompaniment of all chhau dance styles, a rhythmic structure ( tala ) is in the foreground, which suggests warlike roots. The dhamsa , a large kettle drum with a body made of sheet iron, sounds loudest . It specifies the basic beats to which the dancer performs his rapid body movements, which are called chamak ("glitter, flash"). The dhamsa is supported by one or two barrel drums dhol , dholak , dholki or madal (name related to maddale ), whose players run around wildly on the stage at Purulia chhau and cheer on the dancers. The most widespread melody instrument is the mahuri , a cone oboe related to the shehnai also played in classical music , occasionally a tikara or tuila , a single-stringed plucked zither without frets, or a bamboo flute ( bansi ) can be used. The rhythmic accompaniment is divided into three usual speeds: slow ( vilambit ), medium ( madhyama ) and fast ( druta ). With the change in speed, a dramatic development takes place.

Purulia Chhau

Since its “discovery” in 1961, Asutosh Bhattacharyya and others have thoroughly investigated and described Purulia chhau , and because of this and its particularly powerful and lively staging, it has probably become the best-known chhau style. A dance group usually consists of 15 dancers and 10 accompanying musicians. In addition to the spring festival , Purulia chhau is performed in the dry season that begins in mid-June to entertain several hundred groups in villages; most of them are made up of farmers who do not have to work in the fields during this time. The center of Purulia chhau is Baghmundi.

The dancers wear elaborate costumes with long, wide trousers and embroidered velvet jackets, which can be seen in a similar way in the Bengali folk theater jatra and in theater forms of the 19th century. The performance starts in the late evening and can last all night. It usually takes place in a clean-swept area in the open air, with the spectators sitting around on the outside floor, separated by men and women. The place is marked by posts at the four corners; Without a stage background, the audience's attention is focused entirely on the dancers.

music

Ghunghur bell chains worn on the ankles

The dancers have tied bell chains ( ghunghur , also ghanghura ) around their ankles , with which they complement the musical rhythms, especially when stamping with their feet and making short vertical leaps. In addition to the drums, the musicians also play kartal ( cymbals ) and occasionally a clarinet instead of the shehnai . Most of the musicians belong to the lower caste of the cathedral. Drummers who perform in religious and secular ceremonies come from a special sub-group of the cathedral. The melody structures are taken from the Bengali folk music style jhumur and the folk theater jatra . Jhumur is one of the religious chants ( kirtan ) that were originally composed for the worship of Vishnu and that contain melodic elements from tribal traditions.

The performance begins with lively welcome music, played on the shehnai and the drums. The musicians enter the dance floor and walk around it a few times. As soon as they have stopped playing, a singer joins them and sings a folk song in the jhumur style. Here he first asks the good luck Ganesha for his assistance, then he briefly explains the content of the following dances. The drummers resume their playing by reciting drum beats in syllable language ( bol ), which they then perform on the drum. Now the dances begin.

Up to six dhamsa players are playing at the same time. They sit with their large kettle drums on one side at the edge of the stage. The dholak and shehnai players move behind the dancers in the square.

dance

The semi-sitting basic position of the dancer, as it is also found in Kathakali and other classical dances, is called hantu-muda ( hantu, "knee", muda , "fold"). There are two categories of step sequences: deva chal (“god step”) for the gods shown and asura chal (“demon step”) for their opponents. Asuras fight against the gods due to their unfortunate fate, but otherwise behave quite inconspicuously. They are heroes with human abilities. The rakshasas , for whom the rakshasa chal is available, are completely different , they are thoroughly evil and even eat human flesh . Their gait is correspondingly unwieldy and cumbersome. Animal characters from the great epics, especially the monkey Hanuman , are depicted with the push chal movement style . A distinction is made between styles for bears ( jambaban ), lions ( bagh chal ), snakes, frogs and others. Female characters have their own styles, named after the respective goddess ( Lakshmi , Sarasvati , Kali). Secular characters do not appear in traditional Purulia chhau . The gentleman walking in the babu chal style is a more recent development and does not belong to the recognized canon.

Powerful, sweeping movements are characteristic of the choreography , for example Rama , the hero of Ramayana, appears as a warrior who proudly wiggles his shoulders when entering the dance floor. Rama's companion Sita and Princess Draupadi from the Mahabharata also appear masculine in their roles played by men. During the battles, good and bad chase each other in a circle across the square with swords raised threateningly and only stop to shoot imaginary arrows at each other. In a duel with an exceptionally evil demon, it can happen that both dancers roll across the floor and throw stones at each other.

The dhol, dholak or dholki player acts as a kind of referee on the stage, running around screaming as if he had to instruct the dancers. The drummers are actually responsible for the timing. Through their fixed playing style they bring the dancers onto the stage and without their rhythm the dancers cannot move because they lack the temporal structure.

Masks were used at all times, originally they were made of wood. In some houses Bhattacharyya saw old, heavy wooden masks kept. Today, lighter paper mache and clay masks are put on, which allow the wearer more freedom of movement and use for up to an hour.

Seraikella Chhau

The home of dance theater is the Seraikela Kharsawan district in Jharkhand. In contrast to the Purulia Chhau the princes of the small kingdom promoted Singhbhum the Seraikella Chhau over the centuries until independence. For the spring festival Chaitra Parva , a flat dance floor is being prepared from tamped clay mixed with cow dung. Members of the royal family and visitors from the cities come to the evening performances. In addition to the spring festival, there is another dance festival in Seraikela at Dashahara in honor of the goddess Ma Paudi, a form of Kali and patron goddess of the local Raja dynasty. In the 1980s, three or four dance groups were active in Seraikella.

The pre-dancers often belong to the upper class, other Jatis (such as Pattanaiks, Kabis or Dubeys) also take part. The leading members of the Seraikella dance groups emphasize the constant supportive role of the royal family and the democratic character of their dance tradition, in which - unusual for India - caste differences take a back seat. Nevertheless, the drum players naturally belong to a lower caste. During the Chaitra Parva festival, several dance groups compete against each other. The local name for dance groups akhara ("wrestling arena ") refers to the martial tradition of sword fighting. The Raja used to preside ( sabhapati ) the event.

For the first time in 1941 a woman took part in a dance performance in Shantiniketan . She had taken on a male role. When Rabindranath Thakur, who was watching , mistook the dancer for a male dancer representing a female character, the time seemed to have come to allow women to be trained in mask dancing.

music

The music stays more in the background in this style, sung or spoken insertions appear even less in Seraikella chhau than in the other styles. The melodies are borrowed from well-known Oriya folk songs, but interpreted purely instrumentally. Drums are the dhamsa , whose slightly smaller design is also called nagara in Seraikella , and the dhol . In addition to the shehnai , a harmonium and the bamboo flute bansi are used as melody instruments . The dancers also make their footsteps audible through ghunghur footbells .

The individual dances are assigned their own rhythmic ( talas ) and melodic structures ( ragas , female form ragini ). According to tradition, every dance performance begins with the jatraghata (denotes melody and dance). The Radha Krishna dance is performed to a melody in raga bhairav with the trital (16 beats). The dancers memorize the dance steps by learning the associated drum language ( bol ) by heart.

dance

The repertoire consists of around 60 dance pieces, most of which were composed between the 1930s and 1950s. The central element of Seraikella chhau is the pharikhanda exercise style ( phari, "shield" and khanda, "sword"). The dancers carry a sword in their right hand and a shield in their left hand. A distinction is made between ten (or 18) sequences of movements ( chali ): forwards, backwards, crosswise and sequences of steps that are based on the gaits of animals. For example, mota gati means walking straight forward with sword and shield in hand, tinpadi chali three steps at the same time, bagh chali the gait of a tiger, hati gati the elephant gait , gomutra chanda the gait of a urinating cow and sagar gati represents the movements of ocean waves .

More complex dance sequences are based on around 36 (or 50) known upalayas (basic principles). The upalayas do not define the movements actually performed on the stage, they represent a system of basic patterns that are later developed into a dance sequence through the choreography. Some upalayas are dhan kuta ( dhenki kuta ), threshing rice straw; gobar kudha , collecting cow dung on the ground; gadhubar , to submerge in water; ghunte dia , painting a decorative pattern on the floor ( Rangoli , Kolam in South India ); sindur tika , putting a point of red colored powder ( tilaka ) on the forehead; cheli dian , jump of a goat; chand dhara , to catch the moon; guti kudha , picking up pebbles with your toes; mayur panikhia, a peacock drinks water and garudasan , a sitting eagle.

The movements are studied as pharikhanda exercises under the guidance of a teacher ( guru ). The first basic position is dharan , the dancer stands with straight legs and a swollen chest.

The Seraikella chhau repertoire takes up themes from the Mahabharata and the Puranas , it ranges from epic depictions of battles to love poetry. A particularly expressive fighting scene from the Mahabharata depicts how Bhima, one of the five Pandavas, competes against Duryodhana, the leader of the 100 Kauravas who are enemies of the Pandavas. The duel represents the climax on the third day of the entire battle, in which Bhima kills his opponent with a mace .

In contrast, the Chandrabhaga dance is in the lyrical tradition of pure dance pieces ( nritta ) in Bharata Natyam. It tells the tragic love story of the young woman Chandrabhaga, who is having fun on the beach until the sun god, drawn by her beauty, begins to pursue her. She rejects him several times and finally jumps into the sea and drowns. Chandrabhaga is one of the most finely developed dances and leaves room for philosophical interpretation.

The dances can be divided into two categories according to the way in which they implement their content: In the first category, the choreography remains close to the topic without any particular interpretation. These include Arati ("offering light"), Sabar ("hunter"), Eklabya ("archer") and Dheebar ("fisherman"). The second category includes the more stylized dances in which the theme is symbolically understood and subjected to interpretation. Examples are the dance themes Mayura (“peacock”), Nabik (“boatswain”), the aforementioned Chandrabhaga, Sagar (“the sea”), Hara-Parvati (Shiva with his wife Parvati ) and Hamsa, the mythical swan.

There are also simple dances, such as those performed by children with or without masks, and modern art forms such as the dance piece Koch-O-Devyani (“Passionate Love and Devyani”), which is based on a poem by Rabindranath Thakur. State funding programs have supported the production of further modern dances based on Thakur's stories and an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth as a chhau mask dance since 2005

Mayurbhanj Chhau

The center of the dance style is the city of Baripada , former capital of the princely state of Mayurbhanj and today the administrative seat of the district of the same name in the northeast of Odisha. Like Seraikella chhau , the stories of Mayurbhanj chhau are based on a martial tradition, the movements are almost as lively as with Purulia chhau . What the martial pharikhanda exercise forms from which the choreography is developed in Seraikella is called rukmar in Mayurbhanj style . Over time, the range of topics expanded and mythological content, descriptions of nature and everyday life were added. Today's themes are taken from the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Krishna and Shiva legends. The big difference to the other styles is the lack of masks, although the facial expression of the dancers remains relatively rigid. In addition to the references to the other chhau styles, there is also a relationship to the jatra folk theater of Bengal and Orissa, which traveling performers perform with stories from Radha and Krishna.

An opportunity to perform Mayurbhanj chhau is the Dashahara festival in October and the more significant Chaitra Parva spring festival. The dance performance begins with the rangabaja ceremony behind a curtain or in front of the audience. There the musicians tune their instruments and then play a musical invocation on dhamsa , dhol and mahuri ( shehnai ). The performers take the stage to the melody that follows. In this section called chali ("to go"), the characters identify themselves by their respective gait. Before the actual dance performance begins, two figures called Kaji-Paji enter the stage and, in the tradition of the narrative fool, begin a dialogue that is a mixture of spoken text, facial expressions and movement and is called Vidusaka Pranalika . The male ( nata ) and female ( nati ) figures in ancient Sanskrit theater represent something similar .

The following section with rhythmic dances is denoted by the Oriya word after , probably derived from nritta . The topic is already known, but the dances do not yet contribute to the development of the plot. Later, when the drama has reached a climax, the final dance phase natki is performed at an accelerated pace .

The musical accompaniment consists of the leading percussion instrument, the barrel drum dhol , the kettle drum dhamsa, the small cylinder drum chadchadi, which, like the dhamsa , is struck with two sticks, the cone oboe mahuri, the single-stringed rod zither tuila and occasionally a bansi (bamboo flute). The melodies are similar to folk music in Orissa, but also contain ragas from classical North Indian music. Here, too, the musical focus is on the rhythmic structures ( talas ), which the dancers learn and represent in the form of the syllable language bol .

Midnapur Chhau

The least known chhau style is cultivated by various Adivasi groups in the Jhargram subdivision in the Pashchim Medinipur district of West Bengal . It is also called chho , which means "fun" or "joke". The most famous annual festival at which Midnapur chhau is performed is the Gajan festival held in honor of Shiva . The dances contain only a few episodes from the Puranas or the great Indian epics, they are more about the representation of everyday situations and stories. Characters that appear are fishermen, weavers, a lord ( Babu ) and animals such as the monkey Hanuman, a lion, a tiger or a bear. The scenes are more lyrical and less combative and wild than in the other chhau styles.

The hardly remarkable masks are made of clay, more rarely of wood. They represent, among other things, Ganesha, Kali, Kartikeya , the spirit of a deceased ( bhut ) and other malicious spirits. New masks are rarely made, after a few years the worn masks are refreshed by applying a layer of clay and fresh paint.

Masks

Purulia Chhau

Purulia chhau masks. The modern frame drums are atypical

The masks for Purulia chhau are mainly made in the village of Chorida, a smaller center is the village of Domordi, where some families from Chorida emigrated at the beginning of the 20th century. To make the paper mache clay masks, a mold is modeled out of clay and laid out to dry. A layer of wet paper (newspaper) is placed on top of this form, which is coated with a flour paste. The next layer consists of a soft layer of clay into which scraps of fabric are incorporated. A wooden spatula is used to model the edges. After drying, a base color of lime and clay sludge is applied before the visible layer of paint and finally the design of the eyebrows and mouth area with a fine brush.

The Jati (sub-caste) of the Chitrakars are usually occupied with paper design and painting in West Bengal, they make almost all objects used for festive events from paper and clay. In Chorida, however, families of the Sutradhar make the masks that were originally responsible for wood processing. From this it can be concluded that the masks for Purulia chhau used to be made of wood. According to local historiography, sometime in the 18th century a mahut (elephant guide) of the Rajas fled from Baghmundi in Purulia to Seraikella, where he learned the masquerade. After his return, he performed the rajas chhau mask dances to the enthusiasm of the rajas , whereupon the raja had Sutradhar craftsmen who had learned abroad come to make masks from simul wood ( Salmalia malabarica, genus Bombax ). It is unclear when paper and clay were introduced as the basic material for masks instead of wood. This probably only happened in the 19th century, because paper was hardly used in Bengal before.

About 40 families are involved in the manufacture of masks in Chorida. The design of the masks is said to have developed in the 18th century in the style of Krishnagar . The basic colors symbolize the individual characters. The masks of male and female heroes are white with some fine blue and green stripes on the forehead and jaw. The masks of Rama and Arjuna are light green, those of Krishna are blue with white detail drawings. The hero figures have high head structures that are part of the overall appearance of the mask. Silver pearls hang from them, the outer edge ragged with multicolored feathers. The god masks include the attributes common in Hinduism. Durga shows an elegant smile on her white face, the menacing black Kali drips red blood from her wide open mouth. The distorted faces of the demons are shown in green or red with bloodshot eyes and thick nostrils. Thick black beards envelop the male demon faces.

Seraikella Chhau

The masks are made in a similar way. After drying for two to three days, the clay mold is thinly sprinkled with carbon powder and then wrapped in gauze. A layer of newspaper is wrapped over this with flour paste, followed by a thin layer of clay. Another layer of gauze is placed in the clay. After one day of drying, another layer of paper and finally clay, which is smoothed and painted after drying, follow.

The Seraikella masks are less varied than those from Purulia, but are much more uncomfortable to wear. While Purulia masks could be worn for up to an hour, a Seraikella mask wearer is exhausted after a few minutes. The clay-paper masks leave little air for the dancer to breathe because the mouth is always closed with the masks and only air can get in through the nostrils and eyes. The eye openings do not always match the dancer's eye position, so his field of vision is severely restricted. Most dance pieces last five to seven minutes, the maximum of both styles is 15 minutes.

As usual, Krishna is dark blue and wears a high peacock feather crown, Shiva's face is white, Durga is gold, Ganesha is red, Hamsa is white and the deer is yellow. Ratri (goddess of the night) has a blue face and can be recognized by her sleepy, half-closed eyes. The injured deer Banabiddha has frayed eyebrows on his face. The other animal figures are also represented with human faces, in which their emotional state is expressed. The headdress is as elaborate as in Purulia.

The masks have been made of clay and paper since the beginning of the 20th century. It appears that earlier masks were made of wood, clay, pumpkin skin ( calabash ) or strips of bamboo. The wooden masks were much heavier and restricted the dancer's mobility. The mask makers mainly belong to the Mahapatra family in Seraikella, who live near the palace.

literature

  • Richard Emmert et al. a. (Ed.): Dance and Music in South Asian Drama. Chhau, Mahākāli pyākhan and Yakshagāna. Report of Asian Traditional Performing Arts 1981. Academia Music, Tokyo 1983.
  • Andrew Tsubaki, Farley P. Richmond: Chau. In: Farley P. Richmond, Darius L. Swann, Phillip B. Zarrilli (Eds.): Indian Theater. Traditions of Performance. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1990, pp. 359-383.
  • Kapila Vatsyayan: Mayurabhanj Chhau. In: Eknath Ranade (ed.): Vivekananda Kendra Patrika. Distinctive Cultural Magazine of India. Vol. 10, No. 2 ( Theme: Dances of India ) August 1981, pp. 93-117.

Web links

Commons : Chhau  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 5.COM 6.15. UNESCO
  2. ^ Vatsyayan, p. 93.
  3. ↑ Suresh Awasthi: Traditional dance drama in India: An Overview. In: Emmert, p. 75.
  4. ↑ Asutosh Bhattacharyya: The Social Background of the Chhau Masked Dance of Purulia. In: Emmert, p. 95.
  5. ↑ Tsubaki, Richmond, pp. 372f.
  6. ↑ Bhattacharya, Ashutosh. Banglapedia
  7. ↑ Ashutosh Bhattacharyya: Session II: Purulia chhau. In: Emmert, p. 24.
  8. ↑ Suresh Awasthi: Traditional dance drama in India: An Overview. In: Emmert, p. 77.
  9. ↑ Tsubaki, Richmond, pp. 360-362.
  10. ↑ Beatrix Hausner: From Oral Tradition to "Folk Art". Reevaluating Bengali Scroll Paintings. Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 61, 2002, pp. 105-122.
  11. ^ Vatsyayan, p. 95.
  12. ↑ Rajkumar Suddendra Narayan Singh Deo: Expression and Movement in Seraikella Chhau Dance. In: Emmert, p. 127.
  13. ↑ ML Varadpande: History of Indian Theater. Vol. 1. Abhinav Publications, New Delhi 1987, p. 252.
  14. ^ Masatoshi A. Konishi: Masks and Masked Performing Arts in South Asia. With Special Reference to Chhau of East India. In: Emmert, pp. 78-88.
  15. ↑ Tsubaki, Richmond, p. 363 footnote
  16. ↑ Tsubaki, Richmond, pp. 363-365.
  17. ^ Danda Nata, Folk Dance of Orissa. Indian Net Zone
  18. ↑ Suresh Awasthi: Traditional dance drama in India: An Overview. In: Emmert, pp. 73-76.
  19. ↑ Madal. In: Laurence Libin (Ed.): The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments . Vol. 3, Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2014, p. 357
  20. ↑ Kapila Vatsyayan, Maria Lord: India IV, § IX, 2 (i) a. In: Stanley Sadie (Ed.): The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians . Vol. 12. Macmillan Publishers, London 2001, p. 267.
  21. ↑ Balwant Gargi: Jatra. Folk Theater of India. ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.yakshagana.com
  22. ↑ Jhumur Songs, West Bengal. Indian Net Zone
  23. ↑ Izumi Hasumoto: Musical Aspects of the Chhau Dance of Purulia. In: Emmert, p. 107f.
  24. ↑ Tsubaki, Richmond, pp. 374f.
  25. ↑ Ashutosh Bhattacharyya: Session II: Purulia chhau. In: Emmert, pp. 25-27.
  26. ↑ Introduction to Traditions Presented. In: Emmert, p. 4.
  27. ↑ Rajkumar Suddendra Narayan Singh Deo: Session I: Seraikella Chhau. In: Emmert, p. 20.
  28. ↑ Rajkumar Suddendra Narayan Singh Deo: Session I: Seraikella Chhau. In: Emmert, pp. 18f, 22f.
  29. ↑ Rajkumar Suddendra Narayan Singh Deo: Session I: Seraikella Chhau. In: Emmert, pp. 18, 20; ders .: Expression and Movement in Seraikella Chhau Dance. In: Emmert, p. 128f (here the numbers in brackets)
  30. ↑ Kimiko Ohtani: An Analysis of the Structure and Movement of "Chandrabhāgā" in the Chhau of Seraikella. In: Emmert, p. 136.
  31. ↑ Bhattacharya) .pdf & contentType = volumeDtl & downFileId = 401 Heritage and Creative Enterprise - International Journal of Intangible ... Ethnos Project, Final Project Report 2010, p. 23.
  32. ↑ Tsubaki, Richmond, pp. 367, 369.
  33. ^ Masatoshi A. Konishi: Masks and Masked Performing Arts in South Asia. With Special Reference to Chhau of East India. In: Emmert, p. 83f.
  34. ↑ Vatsyayan, pp. 94-96.
  35. ^ Masatoshi A. Konishi: Masks and Masked Performing Arts in South Asia. With Special Reference to Chhau of East India. In: Emmert, pp. 85f.
  36. ^ Masatoshi A. Konishi: Masks and Masked Performing Arts in South Asia. With Special Reference to Chhau of East India. In: Emmert, pp. 84f.
  37. ↑ Tsubaki, Richmond, pp. 376-380.
  38. ↑ Suresh Awasthi: Traditional dance drama in India: An Overview. In: Emmert, p. 76.
  39. ^ Masatoshi A. Konishi: Masks and Masked Performing Arts in South Asia. With Special Reference to Chhau of East India. In: Emmert, p. 84, Tsubaki, Richmond, p. 369-371.