Folk Art in an expression of rural people which manifests itself through various forms of songs, dances and plays. Though Orissa is more known for it beautiful classical dance 'Odissi', it also attracts attention to its varied forms of folk arts cultivated by millions of village people. Folk life and folk art are inseparably attached to each other. Therefore, the villagers themselves are the participants and their patrons.
It has been an active work of the Orissa Sangeet Natak Akademi to encourage and support the folk performing groups who have kept alive the traditon. At the same time attempt is being made to record their origin. history, nature of performance etc. through books and book-lets. The present book 'Folk Theatre of Orissa' is such an attempt.
I thank Shri Dhirendra Nath Pattanaik, a well known authorty on the performing arts of Orissa for giving the Akademi an opportunity to publish this book which I believe is the result of long and devoted work.
With the rapid urbanisation of the country affected by the vast industrial growth and other developmental works, the cradle of 'Folk culture is no more the rustic hamlets of the country-side. It's various forms are now more frequent in the suburbs than in the villages where they grew. It is because, large sections of village people, the unlettered and little lettered are being drawn to the cities and towns in search of livelihood where they are setting up temporary homes. But they do not derive that much of pleasure or entertainment from a sophisticated cinema show, a theatrical performance, a racital of classical dance or music as they remain basically rural and thereby rustic and traditional. Therefore, inspite of the rapid urbanisation 'Folk Art' still remains the art of the unletterd and the little-lettered people living both in the rural as well as urban areas.
If one is to understand the spirit of rural India, he must have to go through the folk-arts of the country which have grown over the centuries and are an intimate part of the life and culture of the rural population. They have an authenticity and a charm of their own and are among the most valuable legacies of our long and varied heritage of rural culture. Folk Arts in the form of songs, dances and dramas have nourished a rich tradition. Though many of them have become extinct by now and some are languishing, there are surviving expressions still preserved and fostered by the rural folk.
The history of folk arts of any country is obscure and therefore, it is extremely difficult to determine the exact time or period when they came into existence. It is because, folk arts always adapt themselves to changing times and accordingly loose something of their original form. So, it becomes difficult to recall their traditional history. Only through study and repeated seeing we can visualise to certain extent, their original form and the historical evolution. It is on this basis only that the attempt is made to discover the origin, growth and development of the folk dramas in Orissa.
Prior to the advent of Leela, Suanga and Yatra, the most popular folk-plays of Orissa, there existed a number of folk-dances closely associated with the mass religious culture of the people. Some of them are still performed in the rural areas as they are traditionally essential for the ornate religious rituals to complete. All these folk-dances are called Nata (1) in Oriya which means both acting and dancing. In all these dances the dancers are required to sing their dialogues and dance. Therefore, they are called Natua (유), the word that combines the virtues of both an actor and a dancer. Till now, the actor in folk drama excepting the Yatra which is more modern, is required to sing. dance and act.
Danda Nata is a ritual dance prevalent all over Orissa among the low-caste Hindus. Through this dance the people propitiate Lord Shiva and His consort Gouri. 'Chatti Ghoda' (Dummy-horse dance) is prevalent among the fishermen community who propitiate the horse-headed deity Baseli, a local form of Bhairabi. The dance which is most sanctimonious of all is the 'Patua Dance' involving painful physical strains by the dancing-devotees. It is connected with the worship of Lord Shiva and Sarala, Charchika, Chandi ete the terrific aspects of Shakti. The Chhow dance of Mayurbhanj assoiates itself with the worship of Bhairava, the terrorstriking image of Lord Shiva; and in Seraikela it is associated with godess Paudi. From the close association of these dances with the worship of gods and goddesses in which people take part in votive dedication, one can easily infer that they were once inspired by Shaivism and later by Shaktism when Tantrism had spelt a termendous influence over the masses.
The Kesari Kings of Orissa ruled over the land for a continuous period of six hundred years (474 A.D. to 1132 A.D.). They fostered Shaivism as the state, religion and made all possible efforts to wipe out the deeper influence of Buddhism that gripped the minds of the people because of its popular approach. The kings started building innumerable temples of Shiva and Parvati throughout their territories, and Bhubaneswar alone, developed as a great seat of Shaivism with hundreds of temples all around. The rulers fostered Pasupata system of Shaivism founded by Lakulisa in the first half of the 2nd century A.D. as evident from the epigraphic records. In Pasupata Sutra of Lakulisa we find instructions regarding the religious practices of the Shaivas. Here, the devotee is enjoined to dance and sing standing to the south of the image with face turned towards north. He is also enjoined to act as a lover at a public place. Thus, we find that the fine arts of architecture, sculpture, dance, music and acting were very closely related to Shaivism and its rituals, from a very early period of our history. Therfore it leaves no doubt that all these folk dances of Orissa noted above grew out of this religious fervour. Gradually, a series of complex rituals, fasting, cermonial procession etc. were attached to the dances as a mark of religious austerity, and festivity as well.
Not only in India, but in the whole of Asia, folk plays are inextricably connected with dance and music. They are all essentially poetic: Therefore, the genesis of folk-plays of any country can be traced in its folk dance where the dancers not only dance, but also sing their dialogues. Like wise, in Orissa, the folk-dances have given birth to new forms of folk plays, the song dialogues or the songs being the basic element of drama.
Orissa is the proud possessor of a number of indigenous folk plays which are still cultivated by the rural people. Excepting few all the folk plays are religious and puranical in character. When Ramleela draws its inspiration from Ramayana and Krishna Leela and Ras Leela from Bhagavata, the Prahlad Natak, Bharat Leela, Suang etc. draw their themes from Mahabharat and other Puranas. Though originally Yatra leaned heavily on mythological and historical themes it has now only social plays to perform, sometimes plots drawn from the popular Hindi films.
While Yatra is fully professional we have semi-professional groups in Prahlad Natak, Bharat Leela, Radhaprem Leela and Suang. But Ramleela, Krishna Leela, Ras Lecla, Moghul Tamsha, Dadhi Nata and Chadaya Nata are still an amateur activity. They survive only with the love, devotion and patronage of the rural people.
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