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Bargarh in Orissa organises Dhanu Yatra
by Sarada Lahangir

     Bargarh (Orissa): As the make-up artist gives final touches to the over-bearing persona of Gopal Sahoo, a police inspector in actual life, many children wonder why this man is being transformed into Kansa, the mythological tyrant uncle of Lord Krishna. Well, he is to play a character role from Mahabharata, the Hindu epic, during an annual theatre festival - Dhanu Yatra - in Orissa. Sahoo has been enacting Kansa's role for the past 21 years. Besides an impeccable dialogue delivery in his trademark baritone voice, what has worked for Sahoo, over all these years, is that his portly frame has not changed over the years. In the unique open-air theatre, the "Dhanu Yatra" festival is celebrated at the end of harvest season for 11 days. While the hero of the piece remains Krishna and the "evil" Kansa has to die in the end, Sahoo proudly claims that the memories of his character remains alive through out the year. "(When I dress up as Kansa) I feel as if I am the ruler of the universe and my destiny is to fight Lord Krishna. But once I am ready, all people look the same to me, whether it is a superintendent of police or the collector. I feel the hatred for Krishna is running in my blood," says Sahoo. The modern-day Kansa mirrors his mythological character when he pulls up his "subjects", the audience, to donate whole-heartedly to the cause of the theatre. During the festivities, the remote town gets transformed into the world's largest open-air theatre as different episodes from the epic are enacted at different locations. "We get a real feel of what we have read in the epics. The artists enact the entire episodes ranging from the birth of Krishna to the death of Kansa," says Kanta, a visitor. According to scholars, it is not clear when the "Dhanu Yatra" celebrations commenced in Bargarh. Some people say, it was very popular in the 18th century while others argue that it started in the 16th century. In Hindu mythology, Kansa was a vile king, who brutally wiped out any resistance to his oppressive rule. Legend has it that Kansa put his sister and Krishna's mother Devki in jail and killed all the eight children she gave birth to in prison. He did so because a soothsayer had told Kansa that one of Devki's children would eventually kill him and bring an end to his evil rule in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. But despite all his attempts, Kansa could not kill Lord Krishna and he himself was eliminated by Lord Krishna.
-Jan 21, 2006