Ranga Shankara Fest '10: Gondhal (day 3)

A Gondhal performance is dedicated to Renuka Devi and Tulaja Bhavani. The story goes that Parashurama killed the demon Berasura and beheaded him. He threaded Berasura's muscles through the secret hole at the top of the skull from where the soul escapes after death. Playing on this instrument held against his shoulder, he went to his mother Renuka. From this obeisance sprang the tradition of Gondhal. The instrument Parshurama made was the prototype for the one-stringed instrument that gondhalis play called Tuntune, accompanied by the Sambal, a small two faced drum in which one face yields the high note and the other the low note.

The chief Gondhali's dress is a full skirted robe (made of 25 metres of cloth), a red scarf round the waist, a necklace of cowries and a large Pagdi on the head. Like all folk theatre forms, the Gondhal too is divided into two parts, the Purvanga and the Uttaranga. The performance is musical with a few dance steps used as punctuation. The light precision of these steps is a delight to watch. During the narration, the waist scarf is used in multiple ways. When turned it into the child Krishna and rocked gently, one's eyes fill up!

**Video courtesy Maya Productions

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• ranga shankara
• theatre
• drama
• gondhal
• folk
• Lokshahir Vithal Umap Theatre