Bhaandara loot and Rathayatra at Guptipara 

Jagannath dev being placed in chariot 

A day before the Punaryatra or ‘ulto roth’ceremony of Jagannath dev , the village of Guptipara is abuzz with signs of activity . Men busy oiling themselves up for a fight . To wrestle with each other not caring for injury or bruises that may come in the way . Within the walls of Gundicha temple various cooked food items have been horded . Each recipe carefully cooked and filled in new earthern pots numbering more than 400 . Each pot capable of holding 5 kilograms of food . They have all been offered ritually to Lord Jagannath dev  and now lie as prasad .  Some contain warm ‘khhichree’ or ‘pulaao’. Ohers filled with ‘Maalpua’ , Fries of different kinds , fruits ,  ‘kheer’,  ‘paayesh’ , sweets and what not ! Now the final moment arives . As soon as the temple is opened , hordes of people barge inside and try to forcefully take as much prasad as they can ! Sounds of blows can be heard from outside the walls too ! A total anarchy and fight for Jagannath prasad ! It has been said that there is no sin in stealing prasad . In fact it is considered good to be greedy for prasad . Concesrated food of Jagannath is the holiest of holy and is capable of purifying us inside out . Which is why there is no harm to fight over it ! This is how Rathayatra has been celebrated for 280 long years in BrindavanChandra mutt in Guptipara of Hooghly district !

Balabhadra being lifted 

The present mohant head of the mutt , swami Govindananda Puri says that the tradition originated with a puranic lore . Jagannath had a fight with his wife , Lakshmi and left home for peace at his aunt’s place in Gundicha temple . Lakshmi became suspicious of this hasty departure and became anxious of ‘parakiyaa’  or extra martial affair of her husband ! Then she comes to know from Vrinda devi that her lord is now residing as his aunt’s place . In order to turn his attention towards her , she goes to gundicha in secret and scatters black mustard seeds ( sorshe pora ) with incantations in the house . However the black magic failed to work any wonder . Then at the request of Lakshmi , Vrinda devi sends her people to investigate whats going on in the house . Upon arrival , the men sees all the doors shut from inside . They barge their way in and loots the food that was inside .

Records say that in 1858 , one lakh people arrived to witness this festival of ‘Bhaandaaraa loot’  !


Guptipara rose to prominence in 16^th century as a place of learning and culture . Brahmins pundits and vaidyas made this place their home and eventually it developed into an important place for cultivation of nyaaya and smriti shastras . In the second half of 1500s , a certain Satyadev Saraswati , a monk belonging to dasanami order of Shankaracharya founded a mutt here . He is said to have brought the wooden deity of Brindavanchandra from a house in Shantipur and had it installed within a remote forest called Krishnabaati , on the fringes of Guptipara . Later the deity was transfferred to new place . 

Sri Brindavanchandra jiu 

Old homes such as these bear testimony to a rich past

Brindavanchandra mutt 

The present temple complex has been built over a period of 500 years starting from the time of Mughal emperor Akbar . The main temple of Brindavanchandra stands on a 5 feet high plinth . To the west of Brindavanchandra temple is another temple dedicated to Radha Krishna , called Krishnachandra temple . To the east lies Ramchandra temple . A dilapidated Jor bangla styled temple dedicated to Gour nitai deities has now been renovated . It had been lying abondoned for many yeas  in past .  It is probably the oldest temple of Guptipara dating back to times of Akbar . The bulk of terracotta carvings of this temple was severely eroded with age but  provided a wonderful evidence of terracotta works of early period . But  sadly , they have now been entirely covered in a plaster of cement and brick dust . Yet another case of restoration blunder !

Jor baangla temple dedicated to Gour nitai is built in 1500s now stands renovated , although at the cost of its terracotta carvings 

KrishnaChandra temple is built is classic ‘aat chaalaa ‘style in 1785 by the ninth mohanta of the mutt, in times of Alivardi Khan .  Ramchandra temple is in ‘ek ratna’style and is covered with intricate terracotta carvings  on its front and southern walls .  This temple was built towards the end of 18^th century by the rajah of Sheoraphuli – Harishchandra Raay .

Raas mandala eroded sculpture with my hand for a sense of proportion

Ramchandra temple 

Deities of Ramchandra , Sita , Lakshman and Hanuman

Ramchandra durbar in terracotta panel

The Brindachandra temle was built in 1810 by NayanChand Mullick . This temple is of prime importance because it is one of those very few temples in bengal to have been decorated with murals paintings of various gods and goddesses on its interior walls . The paintings show influence of both classical mughal and later british styles . But they have been retouched by modern painters which has distorted the original stylisation of the works to a considerable extent . But an expert eye would still be able to find out the old from the new . 

Murals inside the sanctom sanctorum of Brindavanchandra temple 

Brindavanchandra temple built in 1810

Murals inside the sanctom sanctorum of Brindavanchandra temple

Krishna leela mural inside the sanctum sanctorum of  Brindavanchandra temple

Mural of Lakshmi 

The painted ceiling of the aisle in front of Garbha griha

a highly damaged painting

Shiva reclining on a bolster

Saraswati

Detail of the Lakshmi mural

The deities of Jagannath Balabhadra and Subhadra stay in this temple and is taken out every year for the grand rathayatra . Guptipara’s rath is one of the new original wooden rathas of antiquity still existing in Bengal . Although repeated renovations have evidently  caused some alterations to the original look . It is also one of the largest rathas of Bengal and is 280 years old . The ratha is pulled by people with the help of four ropes which are almost 300 feet in length .

Wooden ratha 280 years old

locals forming human pyramid

Congregation of devotees

The pull . . . 

The temple has been badly renovated …. The deities just manage to get a very basic seva ….. the haydays of the past is long over . But the centuries old Rathayatra have kept alive the spirit of jagannath in this ancient settlement of Guptipara . 

PADAVALI KIRTAN  -- The birth and death of classical music of Bengal

Emperor Akbar and Miyaan Tansen Visit Swami Haridas 

INTRODUCTION --

In the deep scrub forests of Brindavan there lived a recluse sadhak named Haridas . Some years back he had found the deity of Vankim Vihaari in Nidhi-Van with whom he now spends most of his time in sadhana . Apart from his intense love of god , Swami Haridas was also famous for his prowess in Hindustani classical music . His most illustrious disciple was Miyaan Tansen , the musician of Akbar's court . Brindavan had been an important center for music for some time now and ancient ragas such as Brindavani sarang still bear the old names . 

And now , a young man from eastern Bengal had come to him , seeking his guidance in music . This young man who had become a renunciate was named Narottam Dutta , son of Krishnananda Dutta , the rajah of Kheturi in east Bengal . Under watchful eyes of Haridas , Narottam evolved into a musician par excellence , learning the finer nuances of the ragas , the rythm of the taalas and their application . After his long stay at Vraj , Narottam returned to Bengal . But being a vairagi , he chose not to re enter his palace . He built a straw hut at Kheturi and stayed there instead .


It was mughal times . Emperor Akbar  had managed to restore some peace in his empire . Bengal had been witnessing a dramatic socio religious movement from the last couple of decades -- The bhava andolan of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu . Every year , new people were coming under the aegis of Gaudiya Vaishnavism . Music and chanting of the names of Krishna is an important step in Vaishnav sadhana . But this music was not organised . 

Narottam summoned a conference of all vaishnavs at his native Kheturi village on the day of Phalguni purnima , to celebrate the 'pratistha' installation ceremony of six deities -- Sri Gouranga , Shri Ballabhikaanta , Shri Krishna , Shri Vrajmohan , Shri RadhaRaman and Shri Radhakaanta . All the leaders of gaudiya movement took part in this grand celebration which was funded from the royal estate of Narottam's father - Krishnanada Dutta . It would go down in gaudiya history as kheturi mahotsav .

Sankirtan movement of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

The most important figure of this conference was Sri Jahnava Mata , the wife of Sriman Nityananda prabhu and the supremo of Gaudiya vaishnavas of the day . It was at this conference that , under the proposals put forward by Narottam , the rules of do's and dont's of kirtan was codified and sanctioned by all present Vaishnav acharyas . Prior to this , bengali kirtan was largely unregulated and disorganised . But this event would see the physical birth of the spectacular body of music and poetry , which would be known in later times as Padavali kirtan or Mahajan padavali .

But the actuall history of kirtan in Bengal starts way before Narottam , or even Chaitanya Mahaprabhu !

Kirtan at Raas yatra utsav , Shantipur

ORIGINS --- 

There have been isolated couplets and musical poetry in use since the Buddhist times in Bengal . But those cannot be classified as kirtan .The earliest work on Radha Krishna love lore on bengali soil is the much celebrated Geetagovindam by poet Jayadev . This work in Sanskrit rapidly gained popularity all across India and began to be sung at temples . This may be called the rightful origins of Kirtan tradition . In Chaitanya Charitamrita we find mention of Mahaprabhu listening to songs of Chandidas and Vidyapati , which indicates that some elementary form of padavali singing was already in practice before the life and times of Mahaprabhu . Chandidas’s book Shri Krishna kirtan shows strong influence of folk culture , especially Jhumur gaan .

In medieval Bengal the strongest literary and musical force was perhaps the ‘Mangal-Kavyas’ . These were big literary works composed by diverse authors over a long period of time , in simple poetry format which glorified a particular god or goddess . Songs from such works were sung in public as a part of religious excercise . They were called Mangal gaan . Chandi Mangal gaan , in glory of the goddess Chandi used to start on a Tuesday and continue for the next eight days upto the upcoming Tuesday . The remnants of this tradition can still be seen in ‘joy mangal baar vrata’ which Bengali ladies perform during summer months . For a long time , songs dedicated to shakti or the goddess used to be popularly called ‘Chandi’r Gaan’ . The terms ‘Shyama sangeet’ or ‘shakta geeti’ are of recent origin . Similarly mangal kavyas were written in honour of other gods too like Krishnamangal , Dharmamangal , Manasamangal etc . Chaitanya Mangal , in honour of Mahaprabhu is also a mangal kavya .  Mangal gaan can be said to be the true precursor to Vaishnav kirtan . And it is likely that mangal gan got merged into padavali style over the years .

The next most influential factor in Bengal’s padavali comes from neighbouring state of Mithila . From the famous poet Vidyapati .  Vidyapati was a poet par excellence .He composed his works in Maithili , the local dialect . Mahaprabhu was said to be very fond of his songs . In post Chaitanya times , the poets of Bengal would try to imitate the language and style of Vidyapati , giving rise to an entirely new literary language that was never spoken outside in real life ! This was called Vraja-buli – the tongue of Vraj . In reality however , Vraja-buli was not the spoken tongue of vraj ! It was a concocted language which took the essence of Vidyapati’s maithili language and mixed it with dialect of Vraj and colloquial Bengali . Vraja buli would continue to fascinate poets and lay men of Bengal throughout ages ... and it continues even today !

Scriptures assert – “Naam-leela-gunaadinam uchhairbhasaa tu kirtanam” . The chanting aloud of the name , pastimes and characteristics of lord Shri Hari is kirtan .Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is considered the father of sankirtan , not just within Bengal , but in the whole religious scenario of India . For it was he who worked upon this simple act of chanting and singing and turned it into a self sufficient and sure way of self realization . No one before had stressed the importance and beauty of kirtan as him . We find mention of Mahaprabhu’s men splitting in seven groups or sampradayas and taking part in kirtan during rathaytra in puri . This is a strong indication that kirtan music was already popular and somewhat organised during the time mahaprabhu . But the most important attempt to organise it was done by Narottam Dutta in Kheturi Mahotsav .

From now on , kirtan would begin with an ode to Gauranga , the supreme lord of Gaudiyas . This is usually an invocation to Guru , Gauranga , Nityananda and their main associates and is called ‘gaurachandrika’ . This would be followed by ‘Taduchita Gouranga’ – singing of the concerned leela in context of Mahaprabhu’s life . So if the kirtan is about hori leela , it would begin by describing the hori pastimes of chaitanya mahaprabhu in Nabadwip . From there the music would eventually enter from Gour leela into Vraj leela , by drawing parallels in the life of Govinda and Gauranga . This transition is almost effortless and spontaneous . Thereafter the music would take its main course in describing the leelas and dialogues of Krishna and Radha . At the end , the music starts reaching a crescendo and tapers off by describing the union of the divine couple accompanied by a small naam kirtan and haribol . Kirtan always ends with the union or ‘milan’ or the divine couple . In gaudiya philosophy , Radha and Krishna in combination forms the complete whole . 

Kirtan is of two types – The naam kirtan , which sings the holy names of Krishna and the leela kirtan – the music describing the pastimes of Krishna . When it comes to padavali kirtan it usually means the latter .

Contemporary leela kirtan performance 

Narottam Thakur ( Dutta ) was a musician of first order . He structured the kirtan style to follow rules of classical music .The two main shri-khol ( drum ) players of Narottam was called Gaurangadas and Devidas . The two accompanying vocalists ( dohaar ) were Shridas and Gokulananda . This pattern of kirtan as laid down by Narottam Thakur would be henceforth followed everywhere . His style of singing , heavily based on Dhrupad style would be known as ‘Gorerhaati gharana’ or ‘Goraanhaati gharana’ based on the name of the pargana ( Gorerhaat district ) in which Kheturi was situated .


The second major Gharana would evolve from Raardh desh ( region of bengal southwest of Ganges) , which had been an important site of musical learning since ancient times . This area have had its own style of music for long , the origins of which may be traced in Buddhist and Jain music traditions . After Mahaprabhu , the Vaishnava acharyas would found new institutions of education in these places and greatly restructure the local music , bringing it under the aegis of classical music as laid down in Kheturi conference . Srikhanda and Kandara was two such ancient places of musical learning . And Moynaadaal village went on to become the mecca of kirtan learning , attracting students from all over Bengal . It had its own paathshala where music students were taught the padas of kirtan as well as taal vaadya . All three was situated in Birbhum district . Kandara was situated in the Manoharshahi pargana , and this gave rise to the name of the second gharana of Kirtan music – Manoharshahi gharana or Manoharsaai gharana . It is compared to ‘khayal’ of Hindustani music .

The third Gharana would emerge from a small village called Reneti in Ranihaati pargana in Burdwan district . Famous singer Bipradas Ghosh named a local tune used in the region after the name of this place . This saw the birth of Reneti or Ranihaati Gharana of kirtan . This is similar to Thumri of Hindustani music . Although it was not as complex as the other two Gharanas , it had its own charm .

A few other types of tunes were also popular in old kirtan songs . Mandarini sur was an adaption of very ancient tunes once used to sing Mangal gaan . Jhaarkhandi sur bore influences of folk traditions .  In kirtan sabhas more than one kirtaniya used to sing on the same topic or leela . In such a situation a kirtaniya never described the union ( Milan ) of Radha Krishna towards the end of his performance but used to finish it off using short jhumur styled songs . The next performer would come on stage and start his version of the same leela . This would go on until the last performer draws the end by describing ‘milan’ and naam sankirtan haribol .

A typical Kirtan song has five limbs or angas . They are -----

1 – KATHAA ... meaning the main song . It also means short descriptions or dialogues which the kirtaniya uses to explain the bhava of the song or to link two different padas .

2 – DOHAA ... literally meaning two . We also find the word in Hindi literature . It may have given rise to the word Dohaar . After the main singer sings a pada , his attendants repeat a line or two. This act of repeating is called dohaari and persons who does them are called dohaars .

3 – AAKHOWR ... Aakhowr is a concept difficult to describe . Rabindranath Tagore described it as – “ a taan formed using words “ . It is unique to padavali kirtan and is a principle means to enhance the sweetness of the music and highlight the bhava of the topic . It may be described as a small phrase or a sentence which the kirtaniya uses in middle of his song , interrupting the flow of the original pada , but singing it in a emotive style , so as to highlight a particular emotion of the scene that he is describing but taking care not to break the emotional continuity of the original pada . Aakhor is not written down or codified like the padas . They are usually handed over from the guru to the shishya through generations . Sometimes , master kirtaniyas meditate on the pada and the bhava of the song and invent them . At yet another times they are impromptuously uttered right in middle of the concert by the kirtaniya ! It requires a complete mastery over the topic of the padavali and a thorough understanding of its music and talas .

4 – TUK ... Short isolated sentences or couplets , usually composed by anonymous poets are called Tuk . They are usually handed down by Guru parampara .

5 – CHHUT ... Rythm or Taal is also known as chhut .

Singers wanting to pursue serious music would often turn to padavali kirtan in those days . Rasik Das was one such famous kirtaniyaa . His fame spread to all corners of the state and other musicians used to refer to him as ‘boro mul gaayen’ – the great singer . Others famous names included Sachinandan Das, Krishnadayal Chanda and Nandakishore Das . We are unfortunate that these singers predated the advent of Gramophone , which is why we do not have a chance to listen to their voice today .

Boro mul gaayen Rasik Das

IMPACT ON BENGALI CULTURE ---

Kirtan has been hailed as the first music of Bengal . While there can be no denying that songs and music must have had existed even before , It was kirtan which gave Bengal a first organised body of music firmly based on Raagas and rules of classical music . Right after the demise of Mahaprabhu a renaissance took place in the social life of Bengal . This saw an outburst of literary activity , the crown jewel of which is the padavali sangeet .  Poets like Gyandas , Gobindadas , Lochandas and others started composing spectacular poems of madhura bhava . The body of padavali music started to swell by leaps and bounds . The universal appeal of padavali genre was in the fact that the poems were written in a way to appeal both the devotee and the lay man . For the devotee the songs are often a reflection of their own longing for Krishna . A lay man , on the other hand accepts padavali as the music of love . This interesting duality ensured its long popularity in the plains of Bengal .

The god of mangal kavyas is a fearsome god . Often wrathful and busy in propaganda . Padavali gave Bengal the first touch of a loving personal god . Someone who does not sit distant in heavens , but lives amongst us . The different leelas are nothing but a reflection of our own social life  . The characters are portrayed more as Bengali common folk than residents of Vraj  . Boraai buri or Bari maa is the quintessential benevolent old widow of the village . The gopis are nothing but cowherd maidens ( Gowyaalini ) . When Yamuna is described as swelling in high tide , it reminds the reader of the river systems of Bengal . Strong tidal waves and deluges are features peculiar to lower course of a river and not to be found in Yamuna which is basically in the middle course further upstream . Overall , padavali literature explores and paints a beautiful picture of medieval Bengali society . Padavali also gave Bengal its first romantic poetry , not only from the viewpoint of conjugal love ... but also the mystic romanticism of nature . 

It had a paramount influence in giving rise to another body of literature and music , which in modern times we call Shakta Padavali . Late 1700s onwards , a new style of music started rising in Bengal . These were ‘sadhan geeti’ . Songs written as a supplication of a sadhak to his chosen ishta , usually a form of the goddess . The trend received impetus after the massive popularity of Ramprasad Sen and it is a continuing tradition even today . Shakta padavali , like its vaishnava counterpart also explores the 'human' side of gods through the rich vaatsalya rasa of agamani songs and shyama sangeets .

Throughout the middle ages Kirtan and padavali enjoyed royal patronage of zamindars and royals . It was truly the music of all classes . With its abundant devotional themes it readily attracted the common masses . And its classical based tunes and lofty bhava gave it a loyal set of aristocrat admirers . Rich zamindars used to employ famous padavali singers in the temples installed by them . The singers were required to sing to the deities twice everyday .

DECLINE ---

However , in this temporal world , nothing is meant to last long . The massive popularity of Padavali started to dwindle from 20^th century . Several reasons may be attributed to this decline . A major cause was change in tastes of people due to the strong influence of western ideals . The rise of alternative non religious music was also responsible . Rabindranath Tagore was especially fond of padavali and his music has strong influence from the latter . However , in long run , Rabindrasangeet as a genre largely replaced the position of importance that padavali kirtan once enjoyed in the Bengali psyche .

Another major contributive factor was the apathy of Bengali intelligentsia in giving padavali its due acknowledgement . In late 1800s and early 1900s India was undergoing a period of transition . India was struggling to re piece its forgotten ancient history and culture . People were trying to pinpoint ‘classicality ‘ in Indian civilization , just as the west had catagorised a set of music as being ‘classical’ in 1850s .

The big question is –what is ‘classical’ and whats not ?! . Till date there hasn’t been any single satisfactory answer . But keeping all points in mind we may say that the word ‘classical’ is used in context of a golden era of ideal standards . Something ( arts , education etc ) which have been continuing for long under proper systemised way of conduct . Something that is aesthetic , polished and accepted as sophisticated by elite standards .

If these are the criterias of determining ‘classicality’ then padavali kirtan surely falls into the category . Just like Manipuri dance is very different from Bharatnatyam or kathakali and yet all three has been classified as ‘classical’ owing to its continuing legacy and codified laws of performance . Interestingly , Manipuri dance is also a product of gaudiya vaishnavism which grew in popularity in Manipur under patronage of its king . Hindustani classical also has influences from regional folk . Tunes which are accepted as ragas today were often folk in their origins ! 

Kirtan had also similarly imbibed and absorbed local traditions and tunes and evolved over the years . The final resultant form may be very different from the music of the hindi belt ( Hindustani ) , but by the previous logic , clearly qualifies to be deemed as classical . However the 20^th century Bengali musicians were reluctant to classify kirtan as ‘classical’ . Bengal had been a hot bed of Hindustani marg sangeet , owing to Islamic influence and patronage from numerous royals and feudal zamindars . With the massive popularity of Hindustani music , kirtan got sidetracked as ‘folk’ . No one cared to investigate if folk music could have gharanas or be based on ragas !

 1950s onwards there had been a rapid downslide in the popularity of kirtan . Kamala Jharia , Krishna Chandra dey , Rathin Ghosh , Radharani devi and Chhabi bandapadhyay were some of the last kirtan singers .Chhabi Bandopadhyay was the last great kirtan exponent of modern times . She led a life of celibacy and strict austerity . She was also an artist and used to sculpt clay idols for her personal worship . She had learnt Kirtan from  Nabadwip Chandra Brajbasi . With her death in 2012 , and entire era of Padavali music has come to an end .

Geetashree Chhabi Bandapadhyay , the last great kirtan
exponent sculpting a clay image .

In modern world interest in kirtan is shared by two classes – the inquisitive/urbanised researchers and the lay devotees from lower sections of the society . No modern truly talented musician attempts to learn kirtan . Ones that do , cannot rely solely on it as a profession . The result is a catastrophic fall in the singing standards . Modern kirtans by low grade singers sounds more like rustic story telling than fine music ! As with all dying art , a few talented singers still do survive . But they alone cannot take forward a tradition ailing from public apathy and ignorance .  Perhaps the era of padavali music has finally come to an end . But even if it is to go completely , introduction of gramaphones records , cassettes and Cds have made it possible to store away the voices of yesteryears . So we can still hope that these recorded music would continue to play , even after a lapse of a hundred years from now and enable the listeners of future to communicate directly with the haunting tunes and to soak in the spirit of Radha Govinda leela .

They say , nothing is completely exterminated in this universe . A bhava remains in dormant form and again revitalises itself when the time is ripe . If that is to be believed , we might as well hope and pray for a revival of Padavali . Who knows ? 

Govinda kripahi kevalam ....

A contemporay Padavali kirtan set up