<The Myth of Harishchandra and Chhou Performance: Interplaying of Memory, Mask and Music>

In Indian cultural traditions, the body is considered important because, without the body, one cannot even begin to think of cultural articulations. The numerous cultural forms of India, like the song, dance, storytelling traditions, and rituals are expressions of embodied cultural memories. These cultural forms are predominantly responsive in nature. Whenever Indian culture receives any myth, it responds and reflects upon it and re-enacts the myth in diverse ways, which gives birth to multifarious cultural forms; and what helps them to respond and reflect upon these myths is the cultural memory. In his Cultures of Memory in South Asia: Orality, Literacy and the Problem of Inheritance, D. Venkat Rao speaks of cultures that sustain their traditions through embodied cultural memories. He configures them as “cultures of memory” or at times “mnemocultures”. According to him, “mnemocultures” emerge and disseminate memories through the media of speech and gestures, or song and performative compositions” (Rao 8). For millennia, the cultures of memory have exhibited a strong inclination towards bodily performances. 

Chhou dance, which is one of the celebrated performative traditions of Purulia, West Bengal, is one such “mnemoculture” or culture of memory that has been preserving and disseminating generationally transmitted memory stored in the organic body of Chhou performers. When people of Purulia come across any myth, they compose Chhou palas based on them. They receive the myths and transform them into different palas (episodes) of Chhou dance with the help of a-lithic memories.

The myth of Raja Harishchandra is quite popular in India and is repeatedly appropriated by various performing traditions. This paper attempts to examine how the myth of Raja Harishchandra gets transformed into a particular episode of Chhou dance in Purulia, choreographing the myth into the performance narrative. The myth of Raja Harishchandra is an ancient Indian legend that tells the story of a righteous king who is put to the test by the gods, and who eventually proves his worth by his unwavering commitment to justice and the truth.

The main difference between the Chhou version of the myth and the written version is the engagement of the body; while one is the inscriptional or lithic memory [written one], other is the non-inscriptional or a-lithic memory. The a-lithic memory is articulated by foregrounding the body of the performer. A-lithic memories are always dynamic, and that is why there is no particular, fixed version of any of the Palas of Chhou dance. Every time a Chhou pala is performed, it generates and re-invokes something new. The process is unending, an ever-evolving and continually changing process, as the performers of Chhou dance add their own flavours to the inherited performance with the help of their bodily movements and gestures. The myth of Raja Harishchandra, through Chhou dance, gains an enormous amount of popularity and importance in Purulia because of this dynamic character of the mnemocultural form, which always provides something new to the audience, unlike the written version. 

The myth of Raja Harishchandra in the Chhou dance starts with a brief narration by the Sutradhar (narrator) who narrates how Raja Harishchandra, with his disciples, went to a dense forest for hunting. This narration ends in a Jhumur ¹ song. The Jhumur song is followed by another short narration wherein the characters are introduced to the audience. Once the introduction ends, the soldiers of king Harishchandra enter the stage. The characters begin to perform in sthitalaya (slow pace) known as chail, which are delicate, stylised gaits. These gaits are included under the category of gati in Natyashastra. Bharata, in his Natyasastra, categorised gati in the following way:“sthitam madhyam drutam chaiva samavekshya layatrayam/Yathaprakriti natyajno gatimevam prayojayet” (73). According to Bharata, the three gatis—sthita (slow, delicate), Madhya (medium paced) and druta (fast)— are performed by the natyajno (one who is experienced in drama) according to the situation. All these movements can be seen in the Chhou version of the myth.  The dance movements of the soldiers show that they are anxious about their king who has been out hunting for a very long time. After dancing for sometime, the soldiers decide to go in search of their king, and they exit the stage. 

After that, the Sutradhar informs the audience that an apsara is coming to the flower garden of Vishwamitra Muni. As soon as the apsara enters, she dances with Jhumur songs. All these diversions, halts and multiple interruptions help Chhou dance to stand apart from the written version of the myth in the Bengali version of Ramayana by Krittibas Ojha. Therefore, the embodied performance of Chhou dance provides a more immersive experience to the audience as they can visualize and feel the story unfold in front of them. While plucking the flowers, the apsara’s hands get tangled with the climbers of the garden, due to the curse by Vishwamitra. The apsara is finally released by Raja Harishchandra. 

Vishwamitra Muni enters the stage after the apsara exits. He has come to visit his flower garden. Muni’s makeup, his mask with matted hair, and lota–kalash (a brass metal pot to keep holy water) in the left hand make him resemble a sage. The necessity of using masks in the Chhou dance lies here. If a Chhou performer does not look like what he is going to play, it becomes difficult to portray the character for the Chhou artist, as the character becomes inconceivable to the audience as well. This is one of the most crucial reasons for using masks in the Purulia Chhou. As Dr. Bhattacharya rightly points out, “use of mask is integrated into the dance itself everywhere, and all the techniques of the dance have developed by its use of the masks” (33). The Muni becomes very angry looking at the condition of his flower garden, and then travels to Raja Harishchanda’s kingdom and questions him regarding his act of releasing the apsara who was imprisoned in the garden of Vishwamitra. Harishchandra tells the Muni that he could not bear the pain of the apsara who was continually screaming for help to get released, and that he has released her out of sympathy. The Muni instantly responds “bhuuuuul korechho tumi Harishchandra” (You have made a great mistake Harishchandra).

The most striking differences between the written version of the myth and the Chhou are the dialogue, and the voice modulation by the Sutradhar in the Chhou dance. When Harishchandra speaks, the voice is so humble that it sounds like he’s crying during the dialogue; a distinct tone of committing some grave mistake and pleading for forgiveness is apparent here through the excellent intonation by the Sutradhar. The same Sutradhar, when he utters the dialogue for Muni, changes his voice suddenly to express anger. The way he drags the pronunciation of the word ‘bhul,’ which means mistake, by saying “bhuuuuuul korechoooo”, the audience can easily feel the expression of anger. These voice modulations or the mood of a particular character during a certain time are more apparent in the Chhou performance than in the written version of the myth. The written version lacks the voice and the body, and thus lacks the appeal and attraction.

The Muni claims the entire kingdom, including the treasury, as dana (donation), as Raja Harishchandra has committed a grave mistake, to which the king agrees. After receiving the kingdom, the Muni asks for some dakshina. When Harishchandra orders his attendants to fetch eight hundred crore gold coins from his treasury, the attendants are stopped by the Muni, who reminds the king that he has no more right over the treasury as he has already donated the entire kingdom. 

The Muni gives seven days to Harishchandra to fulfill his dakshina, and if he fails, he will be cursed by the Muni. The Muni also advises Harishchandra that he should leave his royal attire and leave the kingdom in the guise of a beggar with his wife and son. The Muni exits the stage by proclaiming these words at Harishchandra in a powerful and supercilious voice.  Raja Harishchandra now starts his journey to Kashi along with his wife Shaiba and son Ruhidas. A Jhumur song accompanies the very entry of Harishchandra as a beggar. This song does not say anything directly but conveys the gist of what is going to happen in the later part of the story. It can be said that from this part, the dominant Rasa of the Chhou performance is Karuna Rasa. Chhou performance is always seen and considered to be influenced by a single Rasa i.e. Vir Rasa, which is not entirely true; if we pay serious attention to the Chhou Palas, it becomes clear that the performance has other Rasas as well. 

Harishchandra wears a black dhoti, and the upper part of the body is bare. His wife is dressed in a tattered sari, and his son is in a yellow dhoti. Karuna Rasa is evoked by their gait, make-up, masks, and Jhumur melodies, which are constantly interplaying during the Chhou dance performance. Harishchandra and Shaiba’s masks have unkempt hair, which resemble street beggars. These masks are dull in colour and lack a sophisticated, shiny appearance; rather, they have a washed-out appearance akin to an abandoned mask that fits the circumstance Harishchandra is going through. The Chhou version of the myth is distinct from the textual version due to the Chhou performers’ impoverished visual depiction. 

Since they have all been starving for seven long days, their son Ruhidas is unable to continue walking. Harishchandra begins to cry and beg in front of the audience. The audience feels sympathetic as a result of the Chhou artists’ gentle, vulnerable motions, and as a response, the audience from all sections come up on the stage to help the performers, forgetting that the performers are actually playing the role of mythological characters. The boundary between the audience and the performers becomes blurred, as the audience come to the stage to help the characters of the Chhou performance. 

During Harishchandra’s begging, the Muni comes on the stage, and reminds him that he has to give dakshina and advises him to sell his wife and son to meet the debt.  Harishchandra sells his wife for four hundred crore gold coins to an old Brahmin. His son Ruhidas also accompanies his mother. Harishchandra then gives the Muni four hundred crore gold coins, but the Muni refuses to take it because it is half of the promised amount. Harishchandra then sells himself to Kaluhari, who makes him the in-charge of the cremation centre and asks him to take care of the herd of pigs. 

The Muni enters the stage once again and demands his dakshina from Harishchandra, who gives the rest of the four hundred gold coins and becomes free from the Muni’s debt. The joy of being free from debt can be seen in the performance. The person, who was walking very gently and delicately, suddenly metamorphoses into a transcendental state as if some energy booster has been infused into him. The tempo of the music gets fast. He starts laughing and jumping dynamically out of sheer delight. His happy moment is well expressed, and well-articulated through tandava nrtta. These nrttas include various types of acrobatic jumps. Though these vigorous jumps and swirling do not contribute anything directly to the storyline, the natya gets accomplished through these nrttas. 

Harishchandra exits the stage, and his son enters the stage to collect flowers from the garden of Vishwamitra Muni. Ruhidas’s mother finds him lying down in the flower garden and discovers that he has been bitten by a venomous snake. She takes her to the cremation centre. As per the instructions of the owner, Harishchandra asks for money for completing the process of cremation. The mother begins begging by holding the border of the sari to offer the last rite and complete the funeral process for her son. This Jhumur song gets an overwhelming response from the audience, who give money to the ill-fated, helpless, destitute woman. The presence of all the features of Karuna Rasa and the enactment of Chhou performers generate such feelings among the audience even though the story is not their own. This is a peculiarity of the Chhou performance.

Harishchandra finally comes to know that the woman is none other than his wife Shaiba, and the dead child is their son Ruhidas. Finally, Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwar) bring their son back to life. Muni Vishwamitra appears on the stage and wants to return the kingdom to him, but Harishchandra does not accept the kingdom. Harishcandra says that what he has already given cannot be taken back; the Muni, not having any other option, crowns his son Ruhidas as the king.  All the characters dance together for a while and the performance comes to an end.

This live performance was recorded on 15^th April 2014.² Thus, we can see how the myth of Raja Harishchandra gets transformed into a Chhou dance performance. What makes this particular Chhou Pala different from the written or oral version of the myth is the vibrant bodily movements of Chhou performers and the excellent voice modulation of the Sutradhar, which influence the audience overwhelmingly.  Therefore, we can see the people of Purulia receive a particular myth and respond to the myth through performative tradition like Chhou dance. Dr. D. Venkat Rao argues that memory which is stored in the organic body of human beings, that is, the embodied memory, plays a crucial role in the proliferation of a vast array of Indian performing traditions. As Dr. Rao says:

As mnemocultures embody and enact/perform memories they put to work the body persistently. Mnemocultures move in musical rhythms and performative reflections. Musically and acoustically composed verbal utterances and gestural inflections articulate these reflections. Thinking comes forth in embodied enactments, which in turn bring forth other such, but variant rhythms of thought. (Rao 68)

Thus, the Chhou performance, which is essentially a performance text or the mnemotext, uses several symbols of body movements, gestures, masks and memory, and expresses a particular myth in diverse ways through the bodily engagement and enactments, which enable the performers to convey a wider range of feelings and emotions, to interpret, transform and transmit a particular myth in numerous ways. A. K. Ramanujan’s concept of myth was based on the idea of “contextualization,” which he defined as the process by which a myth is adapted and transformed to fit a particular cultural context. He argued that myths are not fixed and unchanging, but are constantly being reinterpreted and reimagined by different communities and individuals. As myths are not fixed, it can be seen that the myth of Raja Harishchandra has been smoothly reinterpreted by the Chhou performers of Purulia to awaken the suppressed feelings of their audience

Conclusion

Myths are used to communicate cultural ideas, values, and customs. Myths have a significant role in Indian culture and are closely related to religion, philosophy, and spirituality. In India, myths are frequently employed to explain the nature of the cosmos,  to offer a sense of continuity, a connection to the past, and a connection to other people who share the same culture and also to offer direction on moral principles, societal norms, and ethical action. In this way, myths offer inspiration and direction to people in their day-to-day existence. 

 Myths, therefore, play a significant role in the life of the locals of Purulia, influencing people’s beliefs and behaviours for ages. Raja Harishchandra is renowned for being trustworthy and sincere. The significance of these ideals in a person’s life is emphasized by the myth of Raja Harishchandra. It teaches us to constantly uphold our ideals, regardless of how challenging the situation may be.  Raja Harishchandra’s determination to give up everything—including his family, and his kingdom for the sake of his values sends a strong message about the value of giving up if necessary. It teaches us that we occasionally need to make challenging decisions and be ready to sacrifice for a greater cause. The myth shows us that moral values can support us through trying circumstances. That is why Harishchandra does not accept the kingdom when Vishwamitra wishes to return it to him towards the end of the Chhou Pala. Therefore, the myth of Raja Harishchandra teaches us important lessons about honesty, truthfulness, sacrifice and moral values. As many locals of Purulia do not get a scope to take recourse to literacy, performative traditions like Chhou dance help the locals of Purulia to delve deeper into these myths, as the Chhou performers reiterate the popular myths through their dynamic bodily enactments. Therefore, it can be seen that myths also serve as a catalyst for artistic, literary, musical, and other forms of cultural expression. They offer a plethora of meanings and imagery that can be incorporated into new works of art and performing traditions. 

The overwhelming response towards the end of the pala where Shaiba was begging to perform the last rite of her son and the audience was coming onto the stage to help her by literally helping her monetarily clearly shows how myth can play a significant role to inculcate moral and social value to the people of the locality. Myths, therefore, play a significant role in cultural heritage because they give people a means to connect with their history as well as to comprehend their present.  Thus, myths are a rich source of inspiration and creativity as they continue to shape us even today.

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