Sankat Mochan – cultural skills and Incredible India

March 23, 2018 01:15 am | Updated 01:15 am IST

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE Scene from Hagalu Vesha performance

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE Scene from Hagalu Vesha performance

The puppetry and impersonation arts of Hampi present an interesting amalgam of mythology and performance skills

India, the land of perpetual festivities is set to celebrate the birth of one of its most popular Hindu God – The monkey-faced Hanuman. A central character in the epic Ramayana, Hanuman features in the other Hindu texts – Mahabharata, Puranas, Jain and Sikh texts and symbolises - loyal devotion, divine courage, knowledge, strength, celibacy and remover of obstacles – S ankat Mochan .

The World Heritage site of Hampi located in North Karnataka is one of the largest and perhaps best preserved medieval cities in India. Ruled by Hindu rulers of the Vijaynagar Empire (14th-17th Century) also happens to be the birthplace of Hanuman. The range of spectacular ruins against the Tungabhadra river marked by granite outcroppings has multiple meanings of past landscapes that span mythological canvases and interplay of power. It is encased in factual and oral histories that echo in the lived picturesque beauty of the natural setting.

The mythological association of Hampi along with the Tungabhadra River, locally called Pampa, forms the anchoring identity of the location that provided the Vijaynagar Kings legitimacy of power through ritual associations one related to the fourth chapter of the Ramayana Kishkinda Kand and the other to the mythology of Shiv-Paravati.

A scene from Hagalu Vesha performance

A scene from Hagalu Vesha performance

Kishkinda Kshetra – Ramayan’s sacred geography in Hampi

Following the Valmiki Ramayan, the mythological space is believed to be one where Ram created his alliance with the Monkey Kingdom. “My grandfather told me This was the Monkey Empire of Bali and Sugreev where 77 crore monkeys lived, where Hanuman was supreme commander of forces, and among a large number of places where events related to the epic happened, there are four places which are important – Anjaney Hill the birth place of Hanuman, Madhuvanti where Hanuman stayed for some time and so did Ram and Lakshman, Rishimukh was the place where Hanuman met the two brothers, and then there is location of Sugreev’s cave which is where Ram shot the arrow that killed Bali; We also give importance to Jambuvan, the big lone bear in the Monkey’s army who reminded Hanuman of his special powers which the monkey god forgot due to a curse. In his honour is a mountain, a temple and even a special project in the form of the Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary,” says Kondapalli Ramu, an artist impersonator.

23dfr Map Hampi

23dfr Map Hampi

Sustainable development and performance skills

The Kishkinda Kshetra provides a unique opportunity for sustainable development. The array of existent performative cultural skills associated with its mythological landscape are in neglect. Among several expressions, there is puppetry, impersonation and magic. Ramu, who hails from the impersonation tradition Hagalu Vesha (like Beharoopyia in north India), says, “We are the Bugajngam community and have been entertaining local communities as mythological actors from the epics and the Puranic stories.” Initially residing in tents, moving from one village to another they now live a more settled life. “We perform at different pilgrimage sites, processions, market and now I have a small 12 male actor’s company. Earlier, the women used to set up tents, but they are also storytellers who use hand puppets and perform door to door and for their performance, they are given rice.” Rituals characterise their transmission and performance systems. “For example, on Hanuman Jayanti we have special rituals since Hanuman who is like our community deity. We wash our costumes, and other accessories like the Gada (mace) place them in front of our altars and pray. As craftsmen, we make our own costumes and sets but the income is not enough and we have to do something else.”

Narayanappa, who is a shadow puppeteer ( Togalu Gombeyaata) is a National awardee under the Sangeet Natak Akademi and whose small company consisting of his family enact tales from the traditional literature and creates elaborate leather puppets, says, “Although I am now creating puppets as home articles like lampshades, and wall hangings, our tradition is on the brink. There is so much happening to repair the ruins of Hampi, but we who are part of the same environment do not count.”

23dfr Shadow Puppetteer Narayanappa

23dfr Shadow Puppetteer Narayanappa

Traditional skill sector in India is self-organised, where knowledge is transmitted through centuries-old oral education system, where expressions vary with differing cultural environments, and where most culturally skilled people are multi-skilled in a manner that in order to address them one has to transcend multiple ministries. Strategies to conserve these skills through concepts of qualification packs and the national occupational standards cannot be addressed through written courses as one has to give value to oral education. Blueprint on cultural skill mapping needs to be addressed by first creating pilot livelihood programmes to prevent de-skilling and erosion of intangible heritage. Execution of these programmes will address skill upgrading, the creation of micro-enterprise, strategies to reconnect with markets and enable simultaneous realistic cultural mapping.

Hanuman Jayanti a symbol of a God representing sankat mochan reliever of trouble, can be an appropriate occasion to merge Incredible India with skills development and cultural mappingto illustrate the dynamic idea of the starting lines of Hanuman Chalisa - Jai Hanuman Gyan GFun Sagar, Jai Kapi Tihun Lok Ujagar – (Victory to you O Hanuman- the ocean of wisdom, fountainhead of power - your energies illumines the cosmos) possibly to augment the value of a World Heritage Site!

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