Once a radiant beacon of cultural expression, this treasured folk theatre tradition grapples with the shadows of obscurity

The traditional Bhand Pather, our chief source of entertainment in the bygone era mirrored the society satirically, at a time when there was no social media. As a community of folk artists, the Bhands travelled from village to village in their colourful outfits carrying the dhol, nagara and surnai (a wooden flute with a bell-shaped outlet at the bottom) with them to incorporate their performance of singing, acting and storytelling to earn their livelihood for their skits, usually voluntary.
Varied greatly by region, community, etc, the term Bhand Pather is a derivative of two Sanskrit words: Bhand means a ‘jester’ and Pather, ‘performance’ where often, one performer going around the audience, collected money on a play-what-you-can basis whilst the others continued their performance mitigating the main objective of producing satire, evoking laughter, correcting people and making them morally strong.
As an ancestral endowment of families, Bhand Pather is believed to have entered Kashmir from Iran through 14th-century Muslim courts and then spread to the rest of India, the earliest mention of Bhand Pather is to be found in the shruks (sayings) of a famous mystic Sheikh-ul-Alam (RA) and in Sir Walter R. Lawrence’s travel book The Valley of Kashmir.
Based on mythological stories and narratives earlier, mostly Hindu originated, Bhand Pather mainly commemorated the lives of rishis and kings to enlighten the righteousness and reveal their firm faith in God. Without involving any backstage sound, a single artist acted live before the audience, danced and played music to make viewers laugh. Escorted by Magun (a multi-talented leader) with a female role played by a male artist dressed up in womanly clothes, the art form took on new elements and continued to survive, alas precariously!
At its heart, Bhand Pather was the enactment of both Muslims and Pandits to demonstrate secular belief. Patronized by many Hindu kings until the 10th century with performances in a diversified form, the artists are still alive; though the shows they acted in to entertain audiences have declined.
Kashmir, being the heart of this tradition in different districts with Wathora (Budgam) the epicenter, fostered many versions of this art with layers of meaning and metaphors are Haenz Pather (performed by fishermen), Angrez Pather (performed by English couple), Bakerwal Pather (acted by shepherds and nomads), Shikargah Pather (shows stories related to wildlife), Watal Pather (performance by cobblers), Gosain Pather (regarding Lord Shiva and the Shaivites of Kashmir), etc.
Mostly the performances were held in the open air, under Chinar trees, and in courtyards especially on occasions like harvesting, Eid, marriages, etc. Earlier, no bride or groom would get ready to marry without Bhand tamasha (show). But now among so many theatre groups, only a few function as the arts have surrendered before Bollywood movies, are seen on screens.
While the predominant language of the art form was Kashmiri, yet, there were other languages used to create dramatic effects and incompatible expressions. Epic in its quality with the audience knowing the action well, the sudden decline of this popular folk art, has made artists shift to other professions leaving it grappled with the shadows of obscurity. Yet, it craves to flourish & find space with an assured income for the practitioners who save it from facing extinction. Let’s, preserve this art and face no identity crisis.
The writer can be reached at [email protected]

Manzoor Akash