Martial Art as Ritual or Dance Practice: The Chhau Phenomenon on the Chhota Nagpur Plateau (Eastern India)

Abstract

The article offers an analysis of the history, cultural context, and social function of Chhau—one of the traditional performing arts in India, widespread on the Chhota Nagpur plateau (a number of territories in the modern states of Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal), which has been acknowledged on the Indian national level during the last half-century. The author argues that Chhau—as a sophisticated performing tradition and style—was created in the Seraikela princely state in the 1870s–1880s, initially appearing under different names (amdaliya-jamdaliya, sadhan / pharikhanda, paikali, rukh-mar-nacha, yuddha). Chhau included purely ritualistic elements, “grassroots” entertainment, rehearsal (movements of preparation for battle), as well as highly artistic variants. Initially, Chhau was timed to an important annual calendar festival, Chaitra Parva, and is closely related to the customs of the local princely court, and also local rituals and cults. This art was formed in such a way that it would look like a martial art, in which movements associated with the skills of hunting and peasant everyday life were also visible. Chhau developed as a peculiar form of elite art, which has absorbed many heterogeneous elements, imitates and reproduces a number of folk elements and the kinetics of martial practices. The “royal”, “high” form of the Chhau is well-traced in the appearance and repertoire of the Seraikela and Mayurbhanj styles, while in the Purulia region the “common”, rustic format prevailed, with a significant, albeit indirect, influence of Bengali theater and the cult of the goddess Durga. The Chhau performers everywhere always belonged to different social strata, to both urban and rural residents. Now this style is open for training for everyone, and is actively used by dancers of different styles, especially modern dance, to expand the repertoire and to improve technique.