Indiaarts : Theatrical Art of India
Theatrical Art of India
There always have been different ways of entertainment since prehistoric age. Theatre is one of the most evolved form of indian art. India has richest tradition in theatre. Origin of Indian theatre is closely related to the ancient rituals and seasonal festivities of the country where people used to please the deites by performing varios dances and acts. The traditional account in Natya Shastra gives a divine origin to Indian Theatre
As Per legend, Duruning tranformation from Golden Age to Silver Age, and people became addicted to sensual pleasures, and jealousy , anger, desire and greed filled their hearts. There was no mental peace around . God Indra,along wit rest of the gods, approached Brahma, and asked for a mode of recreation accessible to all classes of society. Brahma acceded to this request and decided to compose a fifth Veda on Natya. From the four Vedas he extracted the four elements of speech, song, mime and sentiment and thus created Natyaveda, the holy book of dramaturgy. He asked Indra to pass the book to those of the Gods who are skillful, learned, free from stage fright and given to hard work. As Indra pleaded the gods' inability to enact the play, Brahma looked to Bharata and revealed the fifth Veda to him by God Brahma himself. Thus, when the dramatic art was well comprehended, the first drama was enacted on the auspicious occasion of Indra's Banner Day.
The Natya Shastra legend indicates an intimate relation between the idea of dancing and dramatic representation. Dance has an important role in the birth of Indian theatre. As dance is a function of life, even from the primitive to the most cultured community, drama finds a semi-religious origin from the art of dancing.
The Indian Theatres are also known for cross dressing. The fiercely conservative social system of India did not encourage co-ed theater and it became common to have all male or all female actors/actresses during a play. But thats old saga modern theatre encourages all the genders to participate.
There are many states in India with rich culture of indian theatre, to name a few Maharastra, Karnataka and Bengal comes to my mind. In Maharashtra, Tamasha or folk-theater -- like Jatra in Bengal and Yakshagana in Karnataka -has great rustic appeal, and has a vigorous dance and music format. Nowadays Tamasha includes modern themes along with older customary embellishments, and is extremely popular. There are many other states who depict and matured theatre culture.
The Puppet shows which everyone is fond of, can also be considered as a part of local Indian theatre.