Nagamandala
Nagamandala is a religious ritual theater in the cultural region of Tulu Nadu in the southwest of the Indian state of Karnataka , in which the Hindu snake god Naga is conjured up with a dramatic staging, dances, music and a large, circular floor image ( mandala ) . The magical dance ritual, which lasts all night, is a variant of the snake cult that is widespread in large parts of India and also in Southeast Asia, which is called Tulu Nagaradhane in the regional language and is related to the worship of spirits ( Bhutas ). The two main actors acting with and against each other are the dancer possessed by the snake spirit ( Patri ) and the singer playing the drum ( Vaidya ).
origin
One of the origins of Hindu ritual theater are ancient Indian sacrificial rituals, as already described in the Rig Veda . The classic Sanskrittheater emerged from them . Century gradually disappeared in favor of regional-language theater styles. At the same time there is a shamanic line of tradition handed down in popular belief, in which sometimes elaborate ritual theaters are organized, in which the main actor falls into a state of obsession with the addressed spirit or with the deity. A group of spirits is worshiped in the southern coastal region of Karnataka by certain low- caste people in possession ceremonies called Bhuta kola (also known as Bhutaradhane ). A basic distinction is made in such rituals as to whether the performers belong to a lower caste or an upper caste close to the Brahmins . In the state of Kerala to the south, for example, mutiyettu and Ayyappan tiyatta are among the rituals of possession cultivated by the upper class .
The ritual dramas ( kola ) for the spirits are carried out in a simple manner or on a large scale, depending on the financial possibilities of the temple administration. A dramatic staging, dances, costumes, make-up or masks and music are essential in any case . Regardless of the aesthetic or entertaining quality, the performance always retains the character of a religious ritual.
Bhutas are demons, helpful lower deities or spirits of deceased ancestors. The Tulu Nadu region includes the Dakshina Kannada , Kasaragod and Udupi districts . Here Bhuta kola represents the most popular popular religious cult, which is closely connected with the honor of the dead ( shradda ) and Hindu ideas of god sacrifices. The Bhuta ritual belongs to the same tradition as Nagamandala, both are considered sources of inspiration for the dance theater yakshagana in Karnataka, which represents an artistic form freed from its ritual origin. In the Bhuta ritual, a priest draws a magical floor picture ( oddolaga ) in front of the idols of the spirits set up at an altar before the Bhuta performer begins his dance ritual. In Kerala, such an image ( kalam ) is at the center of the ritual theaters mutiyettu and Ayyappan tiyatta . Yakshagana performances dispense with a floor picture, instead the word oddolaga has found its way there and now describes the introductory dance in which the youthful god figures Krishna and his brother Balarama explain the subsequent drama to the audience.
A rare ritual drama in the Dakshina Kannada district, which is only performed in a few places for the spirits of two hunters, is called jalata . The two ghosts can be seen sitting on a throne at the beginning, after two assistants have suddenly removed a red curtain stretched in front of them. In a similar static opening scene, Radha and Krishna sit on the throne behind a curtain at Ras lila , as do the dancers in yakshagana and kathakali dance style .
The same myths, religious ideas and forms of representation shape many ritual traditions and migrate from there to modern entertainment theaters. The Bhuta cult and Yakshagana are connected by a similar, halo-like headdress of the main actors, similar gestures and dance steps with heavy anklets and the accompanying drum music. The Bhuta cult is closely related to the worship of trees and snakes. Temples are often surrounded by sacred groves ( nagabana , "snake garden " in Karnataka, kavu in Kerala , kovil kadu in Tamil Nadu ), which must be protected from human interference as a retreat by protective spirits and snakes. The places of worship of the Bhutas are often next to those of the snakes, for which stone monuments with snake heads ( nagakals ) are set up. Like Bhuta kola , Nagamandala is said to protect the believers from malevolent spirits and bring health and prosperity. Both rituals involve worship through dance, nartana seve .
Similar rituals in Tulu Nadu, in which the snake god is worshiped in a mandala drawn on the floor, are Ashlesha bali ( ashlesha , "the entangled ", bali , Sg.baliya , for example "figure", "image", "ceremony") and Sarpam thullal ("snake dance"). The actors in the Nagamandala and most Indian possession rituals are male, an exception in the region is Siri jatre , an annual festival for the Siri spirits, during which numerous female members of this cult fall into a state of possession at the same time. With the Pulluvan in Kerala, men and women also act together in the snake worship ritual nagakalam . This cult of possession includes a floor painting and songs, which are accompanied by the single-stringed fiddle pulluvan vina , the plucked drum pulluvan kudam and the pair of cymbals elathalam .
Performance practice
At the center of the Nagamandala ritual is the 4.5 × 6 meter floor picture. In the early morning, the mandala draftsman ( Vaidya ) begins to use various colored powders on the floor of a temple hall in front of the shrine to create a symmetrical picture depicting the intertwined serpent bodies and heads. The colors are yellow (turmeric powder), red ( turmeric with lime ), white (rice flour), green (certain leaves), and black (charred rice straw). During the course of the day, in addition to his colors, he designed the picture on the edge with other ritual objects that his client had brought to him: large quantities of flower heads of the betel nut palm ( Areca catechu ), coconuts and oil lamps . In this image of the snake world, which is completed by evening, magical powers are evoked. Betel flowers are expensive, the nuts of the palm are a profitable commodity. The arrangement of these things is a sign of respect for the image.
Such a geometric orientation to a center according to a yantra can also serve as the basis for a healing ritual in Indian floor paintings or as a template for the cosmogonic basic plan of Indian temples . The basic pattern of the Nagamandala is an eight-fold knotted figure ( Sanskrit parvita, "colander", "sieve") made up of two serpentines connected in a ring, which show an endless pattern with no entry or exit and the view of the five-headed cobra steers in the middle. A frequently used but less powerful mandala is four-sided (“quarter mandala”). The “whole mandala”, which was rarely made in the past due to its size and effort, has 16 pages, in which the five snake heads have become 15 heads. When the Vaidya has completed the picture, he temporarily withdraws. Now it is the task of a brahmin dancer ( patri ) to conjure up the energy gathered in the picture and to express it later in the ritual dance. Vaidya, who has meanwhile returned, guides and accompanies him.
actor
In the six-hour ritual dance, which begins two to three hours after sunset, the two characters mentioned are at the center of the action: the trance dancer Patri and Vaidya (also Ardhanari), who now appears in a costume in the role of musical director.
The Patri or Nagapatri embodies the snake spirit, he enters the ritual place in the temple in a red silk dhoti and a naked torso. His hair is disheveled, his face is bare of make-up, and he holds betel flowers in his hands, which trickle onto the portrait when he bends over them. He is accompanied by members of his family or other Brahmin priests.
Vaidya is the name of a special caste group of medicine men who are considered the descendants of a Dravidian group of shamans who specialized in the treatment of eye diseases, poisoning and labor pains. Today, Vaidyas provide the performers and musicians in Nagamandala and Bhuta obsession rituals. In addition to over 100 Patris, fewer than a dozen Vaidyas are active in the region. Vaidyas belong to the Hindu Smartha teaching tradition (which is based in name on the Smriti literature). They worship Ganesha, Vishnu in his aniconical form as Shila ( shila-murti , a black stone find ) or Linga and the goddess Kali as Ammanavaru.
The alternative name Ardhanari des Vaidya refers to Ardhanarishvara , the bisexual god, whose one half of his figure is formed by Shiva and the other half by his wife Parvati . The male-female appearance becomes clear in his costume. He wears a red (female) sari , a blouse and a (male) turban. His wrists and ankles are hung with metal chains. In one hand he holds the small, bronze hourglass drum dakke , with the other he shows various mudras (symbolic hand gestures). The dakke corresponds to the form of the idakka in Kerala, both enjoy a sacred status because of their relationship to Shiva's drum damaru . The dakke is venerated like an image of a god and accordingly receives food (milk and fruit) as offerings ( naivedyam ). Vaidya's companions include two or more adult musicians and perhaps a boy in everyday clothes (dhotis) who play the cymbals ( tala ), the cylinder drum chande and the double reed instrument nadaswaram .
The androgynous costume allows speculation that male shamans might originally have adopted a previously female ritual, such as the worship of a mother goddess by female priests. Today the mother goddess is worshiped as Bhagavati in the region. The cult of the “Seven Mothers” (Sapta-Matrikas) as opponents of the seven Brahmanic gods is widespread in India. In the Somanathesvara Temple in Haralahalli Village ( Davanagere District ) the Sapta-Matrikas are worshiped as Naga together with Subramanya.
While the Patri is simply dressed, does not speak and appears natural, the Vaidya wears a costume and plays a role without falling into a trance. According to a schematic allocation, the snake actor Patri embodies the male, Hindu part compared to the female, animistic mandala draftsman and musician Vaidya. As structuralist pairs of opposites, the trance and obsession of Patri acting as a medium and, on the other hand, controlled action and role play in Vaidya come into consideration. The Vaidya controls the dance steps and movements of the ritual with his drum rhythm.
procedure
As usual for many religious dance theaters and rituals, the performance begins with an invocation to the good luck god Ganesha , who is supposed to ensure success. Hymns to Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma are then sung for several of their manifestations. The hymns to the female gods Kali and Durga last even longer and end with a poem of praise to Naga- Subramanya , which in Hinduism represents a connection between the serpent cult and the son of Shiva.
When the introductory rituals are over, the patri very quickly changes his posture in front of the floor picture and expresses progressive signs of possession. He speeds up his movements, begins to tremble and scurries up and down his torso like a frightened snake. In this stage of the trance he gets up and rubs his upper body and face with betel flowers, their scent has a stimulating, trance-promoting effect. The pollen stick to his skin through sweat. In the snake dance, the patri hops wildly around the floor picture, on the edges of which the oil lamps shine. He seems ready to attack any moment. Most of the time he moves backwards. After he visually tied the knot in the first part of the complex dance act, i.e. brought the mandala to life, the magical image now lives through his play act, imagined as opening the knot. The mandala now passes into a state of consciousness for the dancer through body movements and the rhythm of the music.
The musicians accompany him with prize songs on the snake, which are performed in Kannada and Sanskrit, as a kind of choir in the background that has no rhythmic relationship with the drum beats of Vaidya. They improvise according to the state of the trance Patri. In a "Hymn to the Naga" there is a reference to the transformation of the mandala in the consciousness of the Patri when the palace and the life of the Naga in the underworld are described first, followed by his anger, the adversities on his journey through the different worlds. The hymn evokes the world-encompassing snake god Vasuki and euphorically celebrates the wild dances of the Naga until he returns to the underworld at sunrise.
Between the patri and the vaidya a two- way dance of mutual challenge breaks out ( jugalbandi , a term also used for instrumentalists who inspire each other in classical music ). The Vaidya irritates and provokes the snake spirit, a moment later he tries to please him with songs of praise. The two perform a playful duel as if between two lovers trying to please each other. Some interpreters of this scene have seen it as an embodiment of the principles of Purusha (male, spirit, original soul, here Patri) and Prakriti (female, original matter, the playful creative role of Vaidya). There are parallels between the gestures in Nagamandala and Yakshagana dance drama, as well as in the classical Indian dance style Bharatanatyam .
At midnight, a Brahmin priest performs a special ceremony by pouring copious amounts of water and turmeric over the patri with his hands. In addition, the Patri trembles wildly and utters snake-like hissing sounds while the music climbs to its first climax. All bystanders step back except for the Vaidya, who in his androgynous costume takes over the dance of Patri.
Just before dawn, the patri finishes his dance and all tension disappears from him. The musicians stop playing so that the believing audience can concentrate fully on the Patri, who is now in a special sacred state of consciousness and has power to predict the future and give other advice. This is typically the final act of Indian possession rituals. The patri is believed to be able to cure infertility, skin diseases, and even leprosy at this stage .
Ultimately, the floor picture has to be destroyed because it has done its magical task. After the nightly dances around the mandala, the Vaidya strides right into the middle, swirling the colors around and wiping them together to form a single-colored, gray heap. The believers pass by and have some powder put into their hands as a prasadam for the way home.
Except for the interaction towards the end, the audience behaves relatively uninvolved throughout the nightly performance. The believers respectfully listen to the hymns of praise at the opening, while during the ritual dances they walk back and forth in the temple courtyard, eat, drink and chat. Above all, they take notice of the high points in the performance. All Hindu castes and also Muslims are allowed, as belief in the power of the Nagas is cultivated across all religions. It is not the ritual that is of interest, but the healing treatment or prophecy that emerges as a result.
Social and cultural background
Usually the patri inherits the profession of a spirit medium to his son, in individual cases a young successor can also be selected through a horoscope and based on his special ability to concentrate. At around 18 years of age, the student is initiated into the secrets of the Naga cult and meditates regularly in the snake temple. In addition to being a medium in ritual, a patri fulfills certain religious tasks for the community. He is visited in order to use horoscopes to predict the future and especially favorable wedding dates.
It is unusual that patris belonging to the Brahmin caste lead a folk religious ritual such as the Naga cult. All other of the dozen or so rituals associated with an obsession with the main actor in this culturally fragmented area in southern Karnataka are performed by non-Brahmin caste groups. In Kerala, members of the lower Pulluvar musician caste are responsible for the Naga cults (and the folk song genre villu pattu ).
Even if the ritual is presented as theater with dance, dramatic staging and music, it does not need the relationship between the performers and the audience in order to be effective. Many believers only attend the ritual because they know that the magical power evoked in the ritual will ultimately give them something in the form of the sacred colored powder mixture. In order to attract the attention of the audience as a theatrical performance, an at least partially functional shift from a religious cult to an entertainment art must take place. For the actors this means the transition from trance and religious immersion to a performing game. The Yakshagana dance theater is such a further development and an example of the coexistence of the rituals performed with theatrical means and the ritualized forms of theater.
In the play Naga Mandala , the Indian writer Girish Karnad (* 1938) deals with the significance of myths for today's social role of women in India.
literature
- David ER George: India: Three Ritual Dance-Dramas (Raslila, Kathakali, Nagamandala). Chadwyck-Healey, Cambridge 1986, pp. 65-78, ISBN 0859641848
- Manohar Laxman Varadpande: History of Indian Theater. Loka Ranga. Panorama of Indian Folk Theater. Vol. 2. Abhinav Publications, New Delhi 1992, ISBN 978-8170172789
Web links
- Nagaradhane, South Indian ritual. Indian Net Zone
- Nagamandala Dance Form, Karnataka. Indian Net Zone
- Lakhs of devotees witness the final rituals. Mangalorean.com, April 7, 2007
Individual evidence
- ↑ Varadpande, pp. 53f
- ↑ Lea Griebl, Sina Sommer: Siri Revisited. A Female ›Mass Possession Cult‹ without Women Performers? In: Heidrun Brückner, Hanne M. de Bruin, Heike Moser (eds.): Between Fame and Shame. Performing Women - Women Performers in India. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2011, pp. 135–152
- ↑ George, pp. 72f
- ↑ George, pp. 74-76: Translation from the Kanada text by AV Navada (ed.): Vaidyara Hadugalu. ("The Doctor's Songs") Udupi 1985
- ↑ Varadpande, p. 55
- ↑ George, p. 72
- ↑ George, p. 77
- ↑ George, pp. 69f, 77f
- ↑ Tutar ESWA Rao: Mythical Elements in Indian Plays: A Study of Naga-Mandala of Girish Karnad. In: Orissa Review, November 2011