Dance, music and story come
alive in India’s unique story telling traditions, writes Asha Malatkar of Story
Walks
Harikatha is a very demanding
art form in that it borrows from dance, storytelling, music and has different
flavours emanating from a variety of genres. Harikatha performers have a deep
understanding of Indian mythology and their evocative performances are
immensely popular with international audiences too because of their style and creative
expression.
A three day Harikatha festival
in Bangalore recently, curated by Shrivatsa Shandilaya saw six women showcasing
their craft.
The Harikatha culture has been known
to be in existence for hundreds of years and it is difficult to say if the
various dance forms had their own origins or had their genesis in Harikatha or
vice –versa. This question led dancer Rajeshri Shirke, a Kathak dancer to
research the origins of Kathak which she found was in the Harikatha tradition.
Hailing from Maharashtra, she
has amalgamated the art of Harikatha, and Kathak with the energy of lavani to
infuse meaning and emotion into her perception. Rajeshri and her expressive
team members had excellent percussion and vocal accompaniment and the audience
was on their feet with tears of joy and appreciation for the beautiful story of
Kanopatra, a beautiful courtesan who gave up her life to Lord Vithoba rather
than submitting herself to the ruler of Bidar.
In contrast Parvati Baul’s
bucolic version of man seeking the meaning of life, was quiet and very
stirring. In pursuit of the meaning of life the poetic presentations were
touching in their appeal. The simplicity of the ektara providing both drone and
rhythm was a rare treat for urban music lovers.
Parvathy Baul’s long matted
hair touched the ground and her saffron clothes are complimentary to her deep
and emotional voice, accompanied by the ektara and the duggi drum tied to her
waist. Her dance movements are enhanced by the sound of the ancient anklets
that adorn her feet and her face wore a faraway look, transcending her from the
here and now. The never ending exploration for the divine is a blissful
preoccupation taking her away from the mundane world.
Parvathy’s expression is based
on poetry about deep philosophical questions in simple words, phrases and
metaphors and songs of the baul singers who seek to spread the message of love of
music. Lalon Fakir, one of the Baul traditions best known poets in the late
1700’s, is credited with hundreds of compositions. The single-minded pursuit
and devotion to the divine is a blend of Hinduism, Sufism and Buddhism’s –
syncretic approach. As a result, the Bauls find everything in this journey of
life commonplace and their lives are most unconventional because of their
singular pursuit.
The Harikatha tradition from
Tamil Nadu by Suchithra Balasubramanian evoked great interest and her musical
abilities along with the sense of timing were fitting. A great performer and a
keen student of Carnatic music and tala, her talent of putting across the
characters of the Vatsala Kalyanam were apt, witty and focused at once. The
audience heard her eagerly and she engaged them fully throughout the katha. In
the Harikatha tradition in Tamil Nadu, there is the pundalikam or an
introduction, panchapadi where the praise of Ganesha, Vishnu, Sarasvati, Guru
and Anjaneya are sung, and the prathamapadam which gives the description of the
protagonist and the last part where the storyteller has to prove the heroic
descriptions given earlier.
Further north in India, in
Mahararashtra, the word kirtan was used for devotional songs earlier and then
came to be used for a new format of devotional musical recitation in Maharashtra
and the first kirtankar was Sant Namdev in (1268-1350). The Marathas then went
to Tamil Nadu in 1675 and Varahur Bhagavatar who gave discourses standing was
the first person who started this tradition there. The main body of the kirtan
was the Nirupana which detailed the story and used songs set to different
metres such as the Dindi, Ovee, Abhang, Lavani and others. Normally the Jalra
or cymbals and chipla or castanets were used as accompaniment and the anklets
on the feet had bells used as rhythm. The beat of 7,5 and usi, common in dance
is used in the Harikatha performances.
The Marathi kirtan is of two
types, the erudite Naradiya and Varkari style. The first is divided into two
types, the Purvaranga and Uttararanga in which stories are told. The Varkari
has compositions mainly by saints, with Padas and the Abhangas, and are sung in
groups and referred to as Namasankeertanas but there is no story telling.
A celebrated Harikatha artiste,
Uma Maheswari from Telangana also brought her talent and vast experience to the
stage. She is the only woman who can perform Harikatha in Telugu and in
Sanskrit. With a garland around her neck and the chipla in her hand she related
stories around Rukmani Kalyanam. Her voice modulation interpreting the characters
in mythology was superb. She is steeped in Carnatic music learnt from her
father and has a beautiful rich voice. Swaying with the lilt of the music and
tapping her feet to the rhythm provided more focus to her dynamic storytelling
instilling the importance of dhyanam, chintanam and smaranam like Swamini
Swathmabodananda Saraswati, the chief guest, held.
V Malini, a Harikatha artist
from Karnataka has the unique distinction of reciting the Ramayana in 1minute
and the Mahabharatha in 1minute and 30 seconds. With nearly 30 years of
experience she has developed a good rapport with local audiences and had an
energetic style of presentation. Her explanation of the various characters made
them come alive and the witty asides were appreciated by the audience. Saraswati
Bai, she said was the first woman harikatha artiste in India and that in
earlier times women artistes were discouraged from taking up this art form but
are now accepted by audiences. Nearly 30
years ago two women artists - Shrimati Bhagirathi and Shrimati Vasanthi,
trained by Shri Upadhya Krisnamurthy a veteran Harikatha vidhwan of
yesteryears, from the temple town of Belur enchanted audiences with their
talent, ensuring continuity and a future for this art form.
The Pandavani performance by
Ritu Verma from Chattisgarh, was conveyed with great emotions and her voice
brought the various characters out alive. The craft of Pandavani uses no props
at all and the artiste has only the ektara adorned with peacock feathers and
small lilting bells. The ektara functions as Bhima’s gadha, the flute of
Krishna or Arjuna’s bow depending on the character depiction. The accompanying
music is provided by the harmonium, kartaal, dholak, manjira and the tabla.
The episode she presented was
the dice game and the sequence of events that led to the vastraharanam of
Draupadi. The story is taken forward with a song or prasang, with descriptions of the various characters of Duryodhana,
Shakuni, the Pandavas and Draupadi which were very expressive. Draupadi’s hurt
conveyed to the Pandavas was touching and her questioning of Shakuni’s support
and berating of the Kauravas brought out her amazing histrionic talents. Her
pleas to Lord Krishna to come to her aid, was heart-rending and peppered
sometimes with light-heartedness bringing the audience into the present.
Pandavani presentations are in
two styles or shaili. The vedamati style where the performance is
done kneeling and the story is in the doha-chaupal metre, like in the case of
Ritu Verma. However Teejan Bai’s shaili
is Kapalik where the performer is
free to improvise on the basic content in both the songs and the storytelling
methodology.
India’s vast story telling
traditions are alive and thriving thanks to these artistes who bring together
several musical and dance forms to tell a story.
