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World's largest open-air theatre opens in western Orissa

M I Khan in Bargarh, Orissa

Few people are aware that world's biggest open air theatre festival started on Tuesday in a small town 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 organiser.

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 neighbouring Amapalli village becomes Gopapur, the place Krishna immortalised 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 characterisation 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 organisers 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.

Kans, astride a decorated elephant, goes on a Nagar Parikrama every morning. During the tour, he imposes fines on businessmen as well as government departments for violation of rules. He also holds a durbar to listen to the grievances of his subjects and reprimands or awards officials, including the collector and the superintendent of police, who become his court officials during the festival.

In short, anyone who dares to cross his path gets the royal rap, no one is spared, this dictatorial power enlivening the whole drama.

Anyone can be hauled up by the king, from chief minister down to the poor and landless labourers. In 1994, for instance, the then chief minister Biju Patnaik, who attended the yatra was summoned to Kans's durbar. Patnaik not only obliged but even deposited a fine for a punishment served on him.

According to scholars ,the origin of 'Dhanu Yatra is obscure. Some say it was very popular in the 18th century, while others argue that it started in the 16th century. Although the festival celebrated its golden jubilee last year, there is evidence to believe that the yatra was restarted during the British regime.

Unfortunately, despite the annual festival, Bargarh has not become a major tourist attraction on the map.

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