A huge mustachioed figure, wearing a crown and riding a caparisoned elephant-- someone straight out of the pages of mythology-- emerges from the early morning mist on the National Highway which runs on the edge of Bargarh town. The man, from his high perch, flags down a loaded truck on his way from Kolkata to Mumbai. As the puzzled driver cranes his neck out and looks at the man in bewilderment, the figure shouts, “How did you enter my kingdom without my permission? You are fined 50,000 swarna mudras (gold coins),” he pronounces the verdict miffed at the driver’s temerity.
As the drivers tries to recover and size up the situation, someone from the group of locals enjoying the fun advises him to pay Rs 100 and drive off. He obliges and speeds away without even bothering about a receipt.
“Who owns this shop?” the huge man demands to know as he enters a narrow street. “Why has he kept the place so untidy? He is fined 20,000 swarna mudras,” he says delivering on the spot punishment as the shop owner is allowed to go after paying Rs 51.
The man on the elephant marches ahead followed by a crowd of curious people. Kansa’s minister Akrura, another character in the drama, follows his ‘master’ around in a separate decked up elephant adding flavour to the whole proceedings by instigating the ‘king’ and humouring the masses.
Though it looks a bit weird to the uninitiated, for the people of Bargarh it is 11 days of fun. They are in the midst of the famous Dhanu Yatra festival, one of the biggest in western Odisha, which ended on January 21.
It is the time of the year when ‘King Kansa’ virtually ‘rules’ the town which transforms itself into what is now come to be known as the ‘world’s biggest open air theatre.’
The theme of the festival is based on the mythological ‘Krishna Leela’ in which King Kansa invites his nephews, Krishna and Balaram, to witness a yatra with the intent of killing both. But Krishna turns the table on the tyrant king ‘killing’ him and ‘freeing’ the people of the ‘kingdom’ from his rule.
But the ‘subjects’ of Bargarh do not mind the ‘tyranny’ they are made to go through during the festival. Incidentally, the festival was started in 1947-48 to celebrate the country’s independence and symbolize ‘victory of good over evil.’
The residents participate in the festival in large numbers and as the spontaneous drama unfolds in various nook and corners of the town, ordinary people unwittingly become part of the ongoing show. Based on themes of ‘Krishna Leela’ and ‘Mathura Vijay’, the entire Bargarh town transforms itself into Mathura, the adjacent river Jeera is taken as Yamuna, and the nearby hamlet Amapalli is decorated as ‘Gopapura’ where Krishna ‘grows up.’
Kansa’s ‘durbar’ is held every evening in the town’s main market place with a high platform in the middle. The ‘tyrant king’ shouts his orders as he enjoys a variety of entertainment programmes which includes the fascinating Sambalpuri dance by maidens and performances by a large number of troupes drawn from various parts of Odisha and outside.
The humorous side of the whole show is that politicians, businessmen, Government officials and ordinary citizens willy-nilly get sucked into the drama, which, at times, borders on the hilarious. Once in the early 1990’s, Kansa summoned the then Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik to present himself at his durbar. Patnaik flew down to Bargarh in a chopper to appear before the ‘tyrant king’ for an audience and ‘to discuss issues of the kingdom.’
The character of Kansa is carefully chosen by a jury of the Mahotsav Committee after the actors are made to go through an audition. Gopal Sahu, an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police, donned the role of Kansa for 22 years before he passed on the mantle to others.
During his elephant ride through the agrarian town, which boasts of a cement plant and is a business hub, nothing escapes Kansa’s scrutiny, be it public utility services like power supply, drinking water or sanitation. Officials of various departments or the civic body of the town function in top gear during the festival so that they do not attract the tyrant king’s displeasure as he could summon them to his durbar for a tongue lashing in public.
Once, a Bhelpuri seller attracted Kansa’s wrath as garbage was found next to his stall. As he could not pay the fine imposed on him, he was asked to dance to a Bollywood number.
Many local problems do get solved during the festival due to Kansa’s intervention. “No offence is taken and no one holds any grudge,” said a resident of the town.
The tyrant king also enjoys immunity from the local authorities as he pulls up people including officials. Contemporary and social issues and sarcasm become part of the festival which, however, revolves around mythology.
(The writer is a Bhubaneswar-based senior journalist)