“Deshta kore bhagabhagi, abar cholchey jhogra jhati,
Bharot holo shoshan, hey panchanan, purey hinshar oi aguney.”
(The country was divided up, now people continue to bicker,
India has become a crematorium, O Panchanan (Shiva), engulfed by violent flickers.)
“Sommilito jatipunjer niom bhengey
Dhonsompoder ohankarey korchish Baghdad akromon
Besh to khush, ohey George bush, nei ki tor hush
Bhashey bisshomata oshru joley.”
(Flouting the rules of the United Nations,
Driven by the arrogance of wealth you attack Baghdad;
You seem so content to push, O George Bush, haven’t you got any sense to lose?
Mother World is drowning in tears.)
A common perception about folk culture is that it is timeless, unchanged by time or circumstances. In the case of India, folk culture is often seen as “authentically Indian”, and considered likely to be preserving the “genius of the Indian tradition and cultural heritage in its very pristine form.” This argument about the unchanging nature of folk culture has been challenged by scholars. G.M. Foster, for instance, argues that “Folk cultures continually incorporate significant parts of the sophisticated, intellectual components of their own tradition, or of traditions that have been assimilated in the past, or which are part of a super (as contrasted to a national) culture area. Such a concept emphasizes the dynamic rather than the static qualities of culture.” An analysis of Gambhīrā, a localized folk performance, that originated in Maldah, and is now performed on both sides of the Indo-Bangladesh border, principally in Maldah in West Bengal in India and Rajshahi in Bangladesh, complicates the understanding of folk culture as timeless and unchanging.
Gambhīrā, as it is performed today, is a form of dialogic theatre. It begins with an invocation to Lord Shiva. This is followed by a heated discussion on some social or political matter among four individuals, usually farmers. When the discussion turns into a debate, Lord Shiva is called to resolve it. The performance ends with a report or Saltamami, usually performed by two characters, who present a report of the important events that have happened in a year. The folk performance of Gambhīrā that today deals with non-religious issues, however, had religious beginnings. It has its origins in Gambhīrā festivities held in the month of Chaitra (March-April) that involved singing of songs and hymns to Shiva. These festivities included the performance of agrarian rites and rituals and were performed primarily by ‘low-caste’ farmers.
The name ‘Gambhīrā’ itself has religious connotations. In medieval times, houses of worship like a Chandī-mandapa were called Gambhīri or Gambhīrā in this region. Later when Chandī came to be regarded as one of Shiva’s consorts, Gambhīrā also became a place of worship for Shiva and became associated with Gambhīrā worship. It is interesting to note that despite its religious linkages, Gambhīrā performance has historically been immensely popular in Maldah, which has had a significant Muslim population, and continues to have so even today. Many Muslims have also been notable Gambhīrā composers. Sufi master, a Muslim, is regarded as a legendary Gambhīrā playwright and composer.
An analysis of Gambhīrā effectively challenges the idea that folk culture is a “pristine” culture and demonstrates that folk cultures not only evolve but also exist in relation to their political contexts and are shaped by them. Gambhīrā transitioned from being songs and dances associated with a religious and ritualistic practice, to a form of folk theatre that deals with secular themes that reflect both local and national concerns (and even international). While scholars agree that this transition happened in the post-First World War period, the reasons for the same are a matter of debate. Dr. Phani Pal argues that this transition happened because the Maldaha Jatiya Sikhsha Samiti began patronizing Gambhīrā songs rather than its ritual aspects. Gambhīrā songs, given their immense popularity, could be used to raise social and political awareness among the masses. Gambhīrā songs could also be used for spreading nationalist ideas as they could deconstruct complex ideas and present them in a simple manner, thus, making them comprehensible for the common people.
While the modern Gambhīrā may be markedly different from the Gambhīrā festivities of earlier times, it nevertheless continues to use a number of elements of the earlier form. While during the Gambhīrā festivities, farmers prayed to Shiva in the hopes that he might grant their wishes, the modern Gambhīrā cleverly uses the figure of Shiva to voice grievances of the common people. Gambhīrā, therefore, has been and continues to be used as an important tool of resistance. Today, Gambhīrā performers continue to offer critiques of politicians and other powerful people under the guise of songs and dances around Shiva. Through jokes that apparently contempt and ridicule the God, the tradition marks dissent and resistance of the common people. Gambhīrā, thus, has not only been shaped by its political contexts but the aim of its content has also been to raise social and political awareness. This will further become clear if we look at a few Gambhīrā songs.
Hay Bangali gaddha tora
Naiko toder unnoti
Golamgiri chakri peli
Hai ki toder durgoti.
(O Bengalis, you great fools
Progress will never be yours,
Yoked forever to wage slavery
Your misfortunes are assured.)
This particular song was written by the notable Gambhīrā composer Sufi master to arouse nationalist feelings among the local population of Maldah in the wake of the Swadeshi Movement. The vivid political commentary of Gambhīrā as they are performed at present is evident from this particular song:
“Kelenkarir protijogitay Olympic e jai hey
Shona pabe man rakhbe durnitir khelay hey
Amla, mantri aar CBI
Durniti korle bharat poyla number e.”
(In the Olympics of scandal, they’ll proudly go
Gold in corruption, honour defended, their efforts will show;
Bureaucrats, ministers and the CBI
In this game, India can’t be matched by any foe.)
The folk performance of Gambhīrā has been transformed not once but twice. The second transformation took place due to the partition of British India into the Hindu majority state of India and the Muslim majority state of Pakistan. Maldah and Rajshahi, the principal centres that lay on the Indo-Bangladesh border were also affected by the partition, with Rajshahi going to East Pakistan and Maldah remaining in India. Many notable Gambhīrā composers moved to East Pakistan. It was thought that the figure of Shiva, so very important in Gambhīrā, would not be suitable for the Muslim majority population of East Pakistan. Hence the Gambhīrā composers and performers made small but significant changes in the structure of Gambhīrā. The divine figure of Shiva was replaced with the figure of an old Muslim peasant who was hailed as nānā (grandfather). Conversations between the nana and his nāti (grandson) replaced the conversations between Shiva and the farmers. This Gambhīrā too, however, addresses similar social and political concerns as the Shiva Gambhīrā of Maldah.
The folk performance of Gambhīrā, thus, clearly demonstrates that folk cultures are not timeless and unchanging but rather they are rather shaped by their political contexts and exist in relation to them. Gambhīrā evolved in tandem with political and social developments and was significantly transformed twice. Once after the First World War when it was stripped of rituals, and once after partition when the figure of Shiva was replaced in what is now present-day Bangladesh. Gambhīrā songs are also a rich source of history as they have reflected both local as well as national concerns and are composed by those who are from the lower orders of the society.
The evolution and transformation of Gambhīrā has made it difficult to characterise it; it combines songs, dances and dialogic theatre and is reflective of the complex changes that it has undergone. Gambhīrā is both secular and religious. In Maldah it invokes the figure of Shiva but raises political and socio-economic concerns, in Bangladesh, it substitutes the figure of Shiva with the figure of nānā, but retains the name ‘Gambhīrā which has Hindu connotations. Gambhīrā, thus, blurs the division between ‘secular’ and religious’ and is perhaps reflective of the complex region from which it has originated and where it continues to be performed even today. This region has historically had substantial Hindu and Muslim populations, who have interacted and lived in relation and not opposition to each other, and which today forms the borderland between India and Bangladesh—a region marked by assimilation as well tension.
Bibliography:
Printed Primary Sources (Bangla)
Bhattacharya, Ajitesh, ed. Madhuparni: Bishesh Maldaha Jela Sankhya. Balurghat: Sudip Printers, 1985.
Palit, Haridas. Adyer Gambhira. Malda: Maldaha Jatiya Siksha Samiti, 1912.
Secondary Sources
Berti, Daniela. “Political Patronage and Ritual Competitions at Dussehra Festival in Northern India.” In Ritual, Heritage and Identity: The Politics of Culture and Performance in a Globalised World, edited by Christiane Brosius and Karin Polit, 126-148. India: Sage, 2011.
De, Aniket .“Our Songs and Their Songs – Constructing Nation and Tradition in the Indo-Bangladesh Borderland.” St Andrew’s Historical Journal IV, no. 3 (2015).
Foster, George M. “What is Folk Culture.” American Anthropologist 55, no. 2 (1953).
Gambhira Malda. YouTube video. 46:39. Posted by “Biswajit Halder”. November 27, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjob2jLDwhc&list=PLXxKLhgwzqjUPTQghrRN0C8xLbrlrrzZS&index=2&t=0s.
Karim, Rejaul. “Gambhira: A Study of Socio-Political Institution of Common People after Independence.” Exploring History 9 and 10, no. 1 and 2 (2018).
Sarkar, Binoy. The Folk Element in Hindu Culture. London: Longman’s, Green and Co., 1917.
Shome, Susmita. Maldaha Bhasa-Siksha, Sahitya-Sanskriti. Kolkata: Sopan, 2016.
Asmita Sarkar studies History at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.
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