Mahakali pyakhan
Mahakali pyakhan ( newari , from Mahākālī , one of the incarnations of Durga and pyākhan , "dance") is a traditional dance theater style with masked dancers, the Newar during the week-long Indra Jatra (" Indra procession / festival") every year at the end of the rainy season in September in Kathmandu , Nepal . The name also stands for the only drama belonging to this style, the origin of which is placed at the end of the 14th or the beginning of the 15th century. The mythological tale comes from the third chant of Devi Mahatmya , an episode of Markandeya Purana from the 4th or 5th century. The great goddess Durga appears in three different forms, whose task it is to ward off the disorder of the world, caused by the attacks of evil Asuras on the heavenly gods, and to destroy these demons in tough battles.
The Mahakali pyakhan dance troops , consisting of at least 15 members, are stationed in Bhaktapur . The instrumental musical accompaniment of the performance includes the double cone drum pashchima and the double reed instrument mwali (a form of the shehnai ), reinforced by the straight natural trumpet kahan in battle scenes .
history
Mahakali , the "great Kali ", is the Hindu goddess of time and death. It is a terrifying, terrible form of the Durga and represents the negative aspect of this female deity, highly revered in India and Nepal, which goes back to the cult of an ancient Indian mother goddess. In her protective function, Durga holds her hand over the royal dynasty under the name Taleju and regularly incarnates in human form in the girl Kumari . According to tradition, King Harisinha Deva from northern India conquered the Kathmandu valley in 1324 and introduced the worship of Taleju as the patron goddess. In other aspects, Durga is benevolent (Ambika), combative (Mahishamardini) or horrific ( Chamunda ). Mahakali is depicted with black or dark blue body color, skull garland, sometimes several heads with tongues hanging out, ten arms and legs, flame hair and attributes of Shiva such as trident ( trishula ), skull staff ( khatvanga ) or sword.
The Mallas dynasty established and secured the rule of the Newar in the Kathmandu valley from 1200 to 1769. This period is divided into an early period up to 1382 with unclear rulers and changing seats of government and a later stable phase. The Malla kings were Hindus but still promoted Buddhist cults. According to the myths of both religions, human history begins in a heavenly world populated by gods, demigods and ascetics, in which some still live Buddhas and others worship Pashupati as lords of the past golden age.
The dance for the goddess Mahakali was performed in the seclusion of Buddhist temples from the reign of King Ari Malla Deva (around 1200-1216) until King Ananta Malla (ruled 1274-1310) made the event accessible to the village population. One of his successors, Jayasthiti Malla (r. 1382-1395), achieved rule over the entire Kathmantu valley, he carried out extensive social and cultural reforms and reorganized the caste system . The Orthodox Hindu had temples built and art and literature promoted. It is said that the king himself wrote a dance drama called Kulayana and other dramas from the material of Markandeya Purana , one of the 18 great Puranas , and had it performed publicly. The pieces should serve to spread his propagated religious ideas, moral values and social norms. They are performed in Nepal to this day.
The dance drama Mahakali pyakhan is based on the 67th chapter of the same Purana entitled Devi Mahatmya ("The Glory of the Goddess") or Durga Saptashati . Named saptashati , the work consists of "seven hundred" verses divided into 13 chapters. The entire work is ascribed to the sage ( Rishi ) Markandeya , who is said to have lived in the 5th century . On this basis, the dance drama is said to have been brought into its present form at the end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th century.
content
The Mahakali pyakhan is about the cosmogonic story of Vishnu as Narayana , who, at a time when the world was not yet created, rested on the world serpent Shesha stretched out on the primal water . A lotus blossom grew out of his belly button , on which the small, future creator god Brahma sat. When Vishnu heard the hum of an insect, two Asuras (demons) Madhu and Kaitabha were born from one of his ears. When the two Asuras had become too powerful and even began to threaten Brahma, he called the goddess Mahamaya for help. She began a five-thousand-year struggle until she succeeded in waking Vishnu. During this time, two other Asuras, Sumbha and Nisumbha, were born. The two were particularly dangerous demons because they had received from Shiva the promise to be immortal and in this self-assurance even dared to rise up against the gods.
In the drama, the gods Mahakali, Kumari and Mahalakshmi (all three aspects of Durga) fight against the evil demons Madhu, Kaithaba, Sumbha and Nisumbha for supremacy. In addition to Hindu mythology, there are other spirits and other minor characters from local folk beliefs.
In a comparable Kali myth, the gods in South India deal with the malevolent creature Darika, who was promised immortality by Brahma, who was subsequently about to conquer the world and was about to defeat Indra. Here the goddess Bhadrakali emerged from Shiva's third eye and defeated the demon and his companion Danavendra. In the temples of Kerala , hymns ( kalam pattu ) are sung for the corresponding ritual .
The legend about the ultimately victorious good gods experienced a special twist in Nepal, which explains why King Ari Malla introduced a dance drama at the beginning of the 13th century. Accordingly, in earlier times, at the request of Vishnu, Brahma and Maheshwar, the goddess Mahakali appeared in the form of the buffalo killer Mahisasuramardini to kill the buffalo demon Mahishasur with the help of a personified snail horn ( shankha ) according to the well-known story . Long afterwards, Shumbha, Nishumbha and other Asuras (or more precisely Daityas) attacked gods and believers. The great goddess was asked once again for assistance and, after bitter fighting, defeated all demons. When further malevolent characters appeared afterwards and chased the believers, Mahakali showed himself in a dream to King Ari Malla, described the fight between her and the demons and asked him to make this fight a drama and to show it to his people. After this drama was performed, the demons' influence declined noticeably and peaceful times began.
Performance practice
Indra Jatra ( Nepali , in Newari Yenya ) is one of the three major annual festivals in Kathmandu. It is held for the rain god Indra for a week in September at the end of the rainy season and just before the harvest. A common feature of many festivals with a cultic background, such as the Chaitra Parva festival in East India, where the chhau dance drama is performed, is the erection of a ceremonial post at the beginning of the event. The sacred wooden post called yasin in the square in front of the Hanuman Dhoka Royal Palace has a flag on its top. Indra is said to have received it from Vishnu, which explains its protective function. The high point of the festival is the procession of the incarnate virgin goddess Kumari. This girl leaves her palace district only once a year for the occasion.
Preparation and course of the event
The center of the Mahakali pyakhan dancers is the city of Bhaktapur , 15 kilometers east of Kathmandu, which is home to numerous annual religious festivals and other music and dance groups. Around 1980 seven groups with usually 15 male members were active there. The dancers belong to the castes of Gubhayu (family priests), Syesya (traders) and Chhipa (dyers); in fact, besides trading, they mainly work in agriculture or in the metalworking industry. The caste membership of the musicians is also clearly regulated, they are mostly Saymi (oil pressers) or Jogi (full-time musicians and tailors). The head of the troupe takes care of the costumes and keeps the musical instruments in a room in his house. He receives the money for the performances from the king (the city administration), covers the expenses and pays the troupe members. Next to him there is a lead dancer who leads the other dancers and can represent all characters.
In addition to Mahakali pyakhan, other dance theater performances and processions take place in Kathmandu during Indra Jatra . So the popular figure Lakhe walks through the streets. According to local Newari legend, Lakhe, embodied by a mask bearer from the dyer's caste, was a demon who kidnapped children every day. Several types of lakhe pyakhan (lakhe dances) take place in Kathmandu. Another dance style from Bhaktapur is the nava durga ("nine Durgas"). With this type of god worship, a priest of the Taleju Temple has to breathe life in the masks to be used and then remove them again. The nava durga dance is closely related to the city of Bhaktapur, where the masks are not kept by the head of the troupe but in the Nava Durga temple and are venerated there by the visitors.
A new member of the dance troupes can come from the families of the performers or equally from outside. The newcomer should be accepted by the group, which is the case when an astrologer's prophecy ( joshi ) has given a favorable forecast. Classes then begin on a Thursday or Sunday, the religiously significant days. Before the student leaves the house on the first day of his class, he directs a prayer to the goddess Kumari, on the way to his teacher he makes a short stop at the roadside temple shrines of Nasa Deo, Ganesha and Bhairava . The recognition as a fully-fledged dancer takes place in two stages: After the first progress, he receives a ghangla (anklet of the dancers with bells, in northern India ghunghur ) in a ritual . In another ritual after a few months, the gods are invoked and the teacher gives his pupil a costume or mask that he himself has been wearing before. The student thanks his teacher with a dance performance and other dances in the Nasa Deo temple.
The actors begin preparing for Indra Jatra in July or August shortly after the rice has been planted. Before that, the gatha muga ritual (also called gathemangal ) takes place on one day , during which the evil spirits are banished from the urban area. Subsequently, the group members meet every evening in the home of their leader, where they practice into the night. Each time they begin with an invocation ( nasa ge ) to Nasa Deo, a manifestation of Shiva and the patron saint of dancers and musicians. They sacrifice a chicken or a goat on the first day and a few eggs on the following days.
Each of the Mahakali pyakhan groups participating in Indra Jatra registers in the Hanuman Dhoka Palace in the afternoon of the first day , where they arrange the individual locations for the evening and nightly performances. These are several public spaces, open spaces or inner courtyards selected according to individual requirements. The performances last during the entire week of the festival from evening to dawn. The festival ends when the ceremonial post is dismantled on the last day, after which the performers return to Bhaktapur.
choreography
On the side of the gods, the goddess Mahakali is in the first place in the struggle for a just victory, but most of the demons are killed by the virgin Kumari and by Mahalakshmi , the wife of Vishnu. These three goddesses are among the Nava Durgas worshiped in Bhaktapur .
Each of them has several unpleasant companions in the dance drama, including the vetala (also beta ), spiritual beings who live in a corpse and can leave it at will. Kankal s (also Kawan ) are dancing skeletons that appear in dark alleys at midnight. Bhutas are present in popular belief throughout South Asia . These spirits are invisible, greedy eaters in Nepal, devouring everything edible that is within their reach. There are different types of bhutas that can kill or make people sick. It is said that when responding to the childlike voice of the bhutas, people die. In Mahakali pyakhan, the bhutas feed on blood and human flesh.
The khyak , small, stocky and hairy goblins with tongues that stick out widely, live in the apartments and bring good luck to the family. One imagines her with pockets full of money in her hands in the vicinity of the goddess of luck Lakshmi. Only occasionally does a dark trait induce the Khyak to choke people at night, but without killing them. In the drama they roll around on the stage, make intercourse-like contortions and make the audience laugh. The marginal figures are familiar manifestations of everyday folk beliefs for the audience, secularize the religious and ritual core theme of the great battle of the gods and turn it into an enjoyable entertainment program.
Ten scenes advance the plot:
- Jati nritya (“Jati dance”): The three goddesses meet with their swarm of companions to discuss measures to be taken in the fight against the demons.
- Daitya nritya ("demon dance"): The demons rejoice after their supposed victory over Indra, the supreme god of heaven.
- Mahakali daitya nritya : Mahakali fights bitterly against the demons who ask Mahakali to give up. The demons have the upper hand.
- Beta nritya : The beta ghosts of the dead appear, inquire about the course of events and encounter amounts of blood and dead bodies on the battlefield. In the break that follows, the double-cone drum plays pashchima .
- Kumari Nishumbha nritya : The Asura Nishumbha asks Kumari, attracted by her beauty, to marry him. The goddess refuses and emerges victorious from the subsequent battle.
- Kawan nritya : The skeletons accompanying the Kumari cheer their victory over the demon (and his comrades). The skeletons devour the dead demons with enthusiasm and drink their blood.
- Mahalakshmi Shumbha nritya : The enraged Asura Shumbha swears vengeance on the gods after the death of his brother. He throws himself into a death-defying fight against Mahalakshmi, which he ultimately loses.
- Bhuta nritya : The helpful spirits of the goddesses rejoice in victory, eat the flesh and drink the blood of the fallen demons. In the following break the bowling oboe plays mwali .
- Khyak nritya : After the world is in equilibrium again, the stage belongs to the goblins ( khyak ), who are allowed to let off steam to the delight of the audience.
- Samuha nritya : In the finale, the characters appear together with a lion and proclaim peace and prosperity for the new age.
Certain movement patterns are typical for individual characters. The goddesses wave their swords when they press their swords on the chest of a demon it is clear that they have killed him. Otherwise the goddesses whirl in a circle and make small jumps. The skeleton Kankal scratches his crotch and the beta ghost of the dead wiggles his right knee, throws himself on the ground and tries to lick up the blood from the battlefield.
Masks and costumes
The masks consist of paper and fabric as a basic structure, which is coated with clay and then painted in color after drying for several days. Their production is in the hands of Chitrakar caste members in Bhaktapur, who also refresh the colors of the masks every year before the festival. The field of vision is surrounded by metal crowns that are decorated with gold and silver-colored foliage, fabric appliqués and feathers. The crowns are stabilized by bamboo strips or iron rods. The masks are quite heavy, the Mahakali one weighs about ten kilograms, so that only a strong man can take on this role. She also has a long black wig. The color and design allow the masks to be clearly assigned to the corresponding characters. The Mahakali mask is red with protruding tusks and a high build-up of hair. The mask of the Kumari is also red, the Mahalakshmi mask is yellow.
The secondary characters can be recognized in the same way by their masks. The Bhutas wear brown and black masks, the Betas have a red tongue hanging from their yellow face and the Kankal skeleton can be identified by its white face with red skeletal stripes. The mane of the unicorned lion is five-colored black, white, red, green and yellow. The bad guys have blue face masks. The colors correspond to those of the nava durga dance and have the same meaning. Blue-black symbolizes power and energy, white is the color of purity and death, red stands for all kinds of blood and anger, while yellow, the least powerful color, belongs to the gentler deities.
On the screen ( chhatra , also honor umbrella as the crowning of a stupa ) above the masks of the goddesses lotus (corresponds to the cosmos) and moon (god) are shown. The actors of Kumari and Mahalakshmi wear a small Mahalakshmi figure on the back of their heads. The costumes of the three goddesses match the color of the masks, the hem is highlighted by five different colored lines. They also wear black scarves decorated with silver embroidery around their hips and chest. They have tied chain bells ( ghangla ) at the ankles and arms and around the hips . The demons and ghosts wear similar clothes, but are less well equipped. Kankal and Beta appear bare-chested. The black clothes of the goblins (khyak) are made of jute, as are the costumes of Mahalakshmi's mount, the lion dog Sinha and Mahakali's mount, the tiger Dhun.
music
The accompanying music is purely instrumental. The hand cymbal ( chusya jhali ), which consists of two slightly hunched bronze plates with an outer diameter of just under 20 centimeters, serves as the rhythmic instrument throughout the duration of the music making . The player pushes four fingers (without thumbs) through the strap attached in the middle and rubs the two plates against each other at the edges. Chusya are not beaten flat , as is usual elsewhere in pair pools in military orchestras . Slow beats are called dhila , fast chalaka .
In addition, the double-cone drum ( pashchima ) struck with the hands plays a complex rhythmic pattern. Often the pashchima begins with a fast-paced prelude before the only melodic instrument that uses the mwali . Mwali is the Newari name for a bowling oboe, which is called shanahi or shahane in Nepali . The instrument has seven finger holes and is around 50 centimeters long as an average shehnai, which is widespread in northern India . The straight natural kahan trumpet is only used in battle scenes . The kahan with its slender copper tube is about a meter long. It is held close to the upper end with the right hand and, when blowing, is also hit with the left hand with an equally long bamboo stick. A special blowing technique creates a vibrating sound. The kahan only produces one, non-melodic tone and, like the semicircular narsimga played on special occasions in the Kathmandu valley, is therefore not a melodic instrument. Another percussive effect is created by the dancer's ghangla bell chains . Similar melodic and rhythmic structures can also be found in other dances or folk music pieces.
literature
- Keiko Okuyama: Aspects of Mahākālī Pyākhan. In: Richard Emmert u. a. (Ed.): Dance and Music in South Asian Drama. Chhau, Mahākāli pyākhan and Yakshagāna. Report of Asian Traditional Performing Arts 1981. Academia Music Ltd., Tokyo 1983, pp. 167-174
Individual evidence
- ↑ Anneliese and Peter Keilhauer: The visual language of Hinduism. The Indian world of gods and their symbolism. Dumont, Cologne 1983, pp. 207, 209
- ^ Peter Löwdin: Food ritual and society among the Newars. A Study of Social Structure and Food Symbolism among the Newars. Uppsala University 1985, Chapter 2: The Newars. ( Memento from April 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Kumar Prasad Darshan: Session V: Mahākālī Pyākhan. In: Emmert, p. 47
- ↑ Manohar Laxman Varadpande: History of Indian Theater. Loka Ranga. Panorama of Indian Folk Theater. Abhinav Publications, New Delhi 1992, p. 35
- ↑ Okuyama, pp. 168f
- ↑ Okuyama, pp. 169f
- ↑ Members and Items Performed. In: Emmert, p. 11f
- ^ Felix Hoerburger: Studies on Music in Nepal. (Regensburg Contributions to Musical Folklore and Ethnology, Volume 2) Gustav Bosse, Regensburg 1975, p. 66
- ↑ Okuyama, pp. 170-172