Bhaona
Encyclopedia
Bhaona is a traditional form of entertainment, always with religious messages, prevalent is Assam, India
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

. It is a creation of Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankardeva, who created the form to convey religious messages to villagers through entertainment. It is a simple drama which shows the victory of truth at the climax, generally using fictitious or mythological kings, queens, demons, Gods, soldiers etc. The story generally depicts some initial superficial triumph of evils over good, but it shows the ultimate victory of good with intercession by the Gods.

Performance

Real men and women play the roles of different characters. They speak dialogues in an artificial language
Constructed language
A planned or constructed language—known colloquially as a conlang—is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary has been consciously devised by an individual or group, instead of having evolved naturally...

 called Brajawali/ Brajabuli (often in lyrical form); also created by Sankardeva (because the Sanskrit, which was the original language used in the Hindu religious text
Religious text
Religious texts, also known as scripture, scriptures, holy writ, or holy books, are the texts which various religious traditions consider to be sacred, or of central importance to their religious tradition...

s, was difficult for common people; on the other hand, he wanted the language spoken in the drama to be somewhat different, to keep the divine touch). Nowadays, though, Bhaona is performed in spoken Assamese language
Assamese language
Assamese is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language. It is used mainly in the state of Assam in North-East India. It is also the official language of Assam. It is also spoken in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and other northeast Indian states. Nagamese, an Assamese-based Creole language is widely used in...

 in upper Assam. The good and bad
Goodness and evil
In religion, ethics, and philosophy, the dichotomy "good and evil" refers to the location on a linear spectrum of objects, desires, or behaviors, the good direction being morally positive, and the evil direction morally negative. Good is a broad concept but it typically deals with an association...

 characters indulge in fighting, depicted with ancient weapons like bow and arrow
Bow (weapon)
The bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.-Description:A bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles by means of elastic energy. Essentially, the bow is a form of spring powered by a string or cord...

 and swords. The entire drama is performed in the middle open space of Namghar {also a creation of Sankardeva; an open house, with imaginary God's seat established towards the North or East end (called Manikut), and the rest of the house is used for performing devotional songs or other religious festivals}, surrounded in three sides by audiences (they sit on mats), having the side towards the Manikut kept open. Different parts of the drama are connected by lyrical songs performed by an anchor (called Sutradhar/ Sutradhari), dressed in special dresses and his companions. Nowadays, in many places, Bhaona is performed in raised stages too.

The main drama is generally proceeded by a performance of the Gayan-Bayan. Its a musical, performed with traditional instruments
Folk instrument
A folk instrument is an instrument that developed among common people and usually doesn't have a known inventor. It can be made from wood, metal or other material. It is a part of folk music...

 (Khol, Taal, Doba and Nagara; all the instruments were also created by Sankardeva); with different hard and fast sequences, and formulas, which are also named differently.

The day before the Bhaona is called Ganica; characterized by a similar but long instrumental musical.

Bhaona is performed in the night. After the musical, the anchor enters the performance area and explains the story in short to the audience in Brajawali in the form of songs and dances. Thereafter most of the actors enters, dancing in special tunes and dresses according to the role. Most of the times, the first entry is Bishnu, the main God of Hindu. He dances in a special dance form too. Thereafter, the main story begins.

History

Bhaona was created by Sankardeva. He himself wrote seven dramas (called Onkia Naat) for performance in Bhaona. The first Bhaona was Chihna-yatra, where he himself played the role of Bishnu.

The particular form of religious school established by Sankardeva is called Eksaran Bhagawati Dharma (literally meaning religion of devotion to single God). He had been for pilgrimage twice to most of the Hindu holy places twice and had observed the folk-music and culture of many religious and cultural schools. Then he created Bhaona picking up ingredients from all those cultures.

Later, many of his followers (including Madhabdeva, the most famous disciple of Sankardeva) also wrote numerous dramas for Bhaona. There are also many anonymous dramas available, mostly in hand-written form.
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