CHAPTER III

THE THEATRICAL HYBRIDITY: YAKSHAGANA IN HAYAVADANA

From among the well-appreciated stories of Hari,

I narrate a few.

Spurred by my love for the Lord,

I am unskilled, a mere child.

To the wise, I pray,

Forgive my faults,

And make known my work

To the people of this earth

(Karanth 55)

Resplendent with its radiant, colourful, striking, enigmatic, culture, costumes and customs,

Southern India has a rich theatrical tradition to sport, both classical as well as the folk. A

distinctive blend of both the traditions, find manifestation in Yakshagana, generally termed as

the traditional/folk theatre of Karnataka. Unlike the other folk traditions Yakshagana is very

much alive and throbbing. The form with its sub genres has been creatively used by many

modern dramatists, of which Hayavadana by Karnard is a case in point. Swept along the

under currents of the theatre of the roots movement Karnad blends the folk and the modern to

create a distinctly new genre which Erin Mee terms as a hybrid theatre. Monika Fludernik

states that hybridity, ―The term‘s constitutive concept of crossing of different species has

moreover been appropriated for metaphorical use, particularly for the designation of

philological composites from different languages and, more generally, for ‗[a]nything derived

from heterogeneous sources, or composed of different or incongruous elements‘ ‖. The

chapter thus aims to provide a brief insight into the traditional art form thereby streamlining it

to its creative use in Hayavadana by Girish Karnad.

The following study of Yakshagana is based on Martha Ashton and Bruce Christie‘s

Yaksagana.A Dance Drama of India. Shivarama Karanth‘s, Yaksagana, Varadpande‘s

Traditions of Indian Theatre, and Balwant Gargi‘s Folk Theater of India, and the interview

of the researcher with Keremane Shivananda Hegde.

Yakshagana is the traditional and religious dance drama of Karnataka also spread in

some parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu. The term ‗Yaksha‘ refers to heavenly,

supernatural beings or a demi god whom Karanth compares, to the likes of Gandharva,

Kinnara and Kimpurusa in Hindu mythology, the term ―Gana‖ commonly refers to song or

music. In Karnataka the term ‗Yakshagana‘ represented both a ―style of singing and a dance

drama which employs this style of singing.‖ The form is believed to have originated in the

fourteenth or the fifteenth century, around the town of Udipi, during the Vijayanagara

Kingdom, which through the collapse of the kingdom spread to other parts, one finds similar

forms in the surrounding regions, we have the Melattur Bhagavata Mela in Tamilnadu,

Chindu Yakshagana and Kochipodi Yakshagana in Andhra, we have the Dashavtara in

Maharastra and Goa regions. Yakshagana itself was formerly known as ‗Dashavtara ata‘,

‗Bhagavatara ata‘, where the term ‗ata‘ means, a play. The former dealing with the ten

avatars or incarnations of Lord Vishnu and the latter based on the Bhagvat Purana and

dealing with the life of Krishna. Most of the south Indian forms come under the umbrella

term of Yakshagana, but they are quite different from each other.

Ranganath in Karnatak Theatre remarks,

The term Yakshagana is of particular significance while discussing the antiquity of the

folk theatre. As Govinda Dixita suggested, Yakshagana must have represented a

specific type of gana or music, perhaps vitalised with some vigorous dance. Yakshas

are believed to have been the inhabitants of South, Kubera, their lord, having been

defeated by Ravana of Lanka himself a Yaksham is said to have fled with a section of

Yakshas to the North and settled in Alakavati at the foot of the Himalayas..... ‗Yaksha

Gana‘ might have been the original ‗desi‘ music closely associated with the Yakshas.

The fact that ‗Yakkalagana‘ or ‗Jakkalgana‘ was extant only in South India and that not

a trace of it is found in the North, suggests that it was essentially what could be

Dakshina Gana, or the Music of the South. (Ranganath 24)

The form as believed by some scholars, seems to have originated and derived heavily, from

the Bhakti and the Lila tradition. Karnataka itself is home to different variations of

Yakshagana, there‘s the Moodalopaya and Paduvavalopaya Yakshagana. Moodal means East

and Paduval means West pre, therefore two diversions, the eastern and the western. Bhargava

provides an insight into the difference between the two,

The Moodalpaya verses are sung by the Bhagavatha and a group of co-singers sing the

chorus. The dialogue is written and the artists speak out the ready made that material

by-heart from the text. The natural instruments maddale or mridanga and cymbals(tala)

are also used in Moodalapaya. In the place of chande used in Paduvalapaya, one foot

long pipe called mukhaveena is used in this tradition. This instrument makes a very

good atmosphere for the show. In costumes too Moodalapaya varies from that of

Paduvalapaya. The crowns (kireeta) shoulder wears (bhuja keerti), chest wears

(edehara) waist belts (nadupatti) and veeragase are glittering wooden ornaments despite

of being heavy. In dance and music also Mudalapaya differs from that of Paduvalapaya

in certain aspects. The dance is vigorous. Perhaps the music is more melodious. A

distinguishing feature of Moodalapaya is that the demon type characters come on the

stage from admist the audience, holding torches and dancing to the tune of the village

drums. (Bhargava 353)

There are three other varieties, called the Tenkutittu, Badagutittu and Badadagutittu.

Badagutittu again has two styles, the term ‗badaga‘ means ‗North‘ and ‗tittu‘ means style. So

it covers almost the south of India. The other forms associated are Bayalata and Tala

Maddale, where ‗Bayal‘ means ‗in open space, field or plain‘ and ‗ata‘ means ‗play‘,

meaning play performed in open space or outdoors. Tala Maddale on the other hand refers to

a performance with the artists sitting around a Bhagvata, it does not have the elaborate and

extravagant costumes and dance of a typical Yakshagana play and wherein the dialogues are

extempore.

The plays are usually performed from November to May, till the rainy season comes, whereas

the Tala Maddale is performed from June to August. Like all other folk theatres the plays are

performed on social and festive occasions, wherein the places of performance include temple

yards, field or any open space. The form heavily relies on singing and music, dance, costume

and make up.

The announcement of the play to be performed, is made in the village with drumming the

‗Chande‘ or ‗Maddale‘ wherein Chande and Maddale are types of drums. The rituals of the

performance begin with the right from the green room that is called the ―Cauki‖ where the

Ganesh Puja is first performed by singing songs and aarti, it is after pooja only that the start

the preparations for the performance. They begin their elaborate make up and dressing only

after the pooja. Like the Sutradhara of the classical theatre, the stage manager of Yakshagana

is termed as the Bhagavata. He is the stage manager, director, chief singer and considered the

first and most important vesha of the play. According to Karanth the plays are revolve around

Vishnu and his incarnations, he remarks, ―Lord Visnu one of the three legendary gods of the

Hindus, is called Bhagavan. His exploits are detailed in the Bhagavata. The person

conducting on the stage a drama concerned with Bhagavan is called the Bhagavata. To him

the performance is an act of devotion to Bhagavan‖(38).

The Bhagvata along with other artists, then proceed from the green room i.e. the Cauki to the

Cauka, i.e. the stage. The prologue is termed as Sabbhalaksana. The Bhagavata is followed

by the Hanumannayaka also known as the Hasyagara or the buffoon who is the equivalent to

the Vidushak of the Sanskrit theatre and a group of Kodangis to the stage. The term

Kodangis, means monkeys, who are young boys, and the purpose of both is to enter into a

funny repartee, thereby producing humour. Again a set of rituals are followed on the stage,

Ganesha is worshiped and then other local deities are worshiped, each ritual and worship is

accompanied with song and dance.

This is followed by the entry of strivesas, i.e. woman characters, played by male

actors, assumed to be Satyabhama and Rukmini, and the Balagopalas, two young heroic lads,

known as Krishna and Balarama. The young Krishna and Balarama to will dance and sing in

praise of God Vishnu or Ganapati. Their exits bring in the Hanumannayaka along with his

Kodangis and the Bhagavata‘s and have a witty, funny and light hearted conversation. One

can get a view of the nature of the conversation from the following,

1st KODANGI. Oh it fell

BHAGAVATA. What is that fell?

1st KODANGI. A jackfruit, in Rama Bhatta‘s compound.

2nd

KODANGI. Oh, it fled!

BHAGAVATA. What was it that fled?

2nd

KODANGI. Shepherd Kenca‘s dog.

BHAGAVATA. What was it that entered?

1st KODANGI. Deva‘s black dog straightway entered Ramayya‘s verandah.

2nd

KODANGI. Oh, it leaked!

BHAGAVATA. What did leak say you?

2nd

KODANGI. An oil-pot in Sama‘s house.

1st KODANGI. Oh, caught!

BHAGAVATA. What caught what?

1st KODANGI.. Both water and climate caught Sankappa too well (meaning that the

climate agreed with him)

2nd

KODANGI. It is all settled!

BHAGAVATA. What is settled?

2nd

KODANGI. Day after tomorrow‘s performance is settled! (Karanth 44-45)

This is followed by another set of similar rituals and invocation, all replete with song

and dance. After the exit of the Strivesas , comes the play proper consisting of the main story,

known as the Prasangas. ‗Prasanga‘ means ‗incident‘, ‗event‘ or ‗ocassion‘ and is adapted

from ancient epics and Puranas. Prasanga‘s are nothing but small stories taken from

Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana. Each ‗Prasanga‘ begins with an ‗Oddolaga‘.

The term Oddolaga in Kannada means ―a court of a king or god‖. The chief characters are

presented and introduce themselves, or are introduced by the Bhagavata, accompanied by

song and dance or body movements, from behind the curtain. The curtain plays a very

important role in Yakshagana, it performs the basic function of the entry and exit of the

characters, apart from the characters are introduced part by part, may only the legs or the

hands, or the headgear, slowly one by one, thereby increasing the curiosity of the audience.

The introduction of the characters in the play will always begin with a positive character, for

e.g. if the story is taken from Ramyana, Rama and Laxman will be introduced first, if it‘s

from the Mahabharata, then it begins with introduction of the Pandavas, if the story is from

the Bhagavata Purana, then it would begin with introduction of Krishna. The character

themselves will introduce the nature, purpose through dialogues and songs. The following is

the song in praise of Lord Krishna,

The god has come,

The god among gods has come

The one who reclines on the great serpent Adisesa

The one who rides the eagle Garuda

The one who blessed Arjuna, the Nara,

The Naryana has come.

The slayer of Putani,

The one adored by thousands,

The one who slew his own uncle,

That Govinda has come.

He who held the Mount Mandara aloft,

The handsome one,

The father of Kandarpa (Cupid)

That kindly one has come. (Karanth 52-53)

Most of the prasangas used in this dance drama are the adaptations from the various Sanskrit

and Kannada versions of the Mahabharata, Jaimini Bharat, Ramayana, Bhagvata Purana and

Skand Purana. Martha Bush Asthon in her book Yakshagana. A Dance Drama of India, lists

down the prasangas as follows.

Prasangas adapted from the Mahabharata,

Draupadisvyamvara (Marriage of Draupadi)

Draupadipratap (Draupadi‘s valour)

Abhimanyu Kalga (Abhimanyu‘s battle)

Karnarjuna Kalaga (The battle between Karna and Arjun)

Bhishma Vijaya (victory of Bhishma)

Chitrasena Kalaga (The battle between Chitrasena and Duryodhana)

Devyani Kalyana (The marriage of Devyani)

Kanakangi Kalyana (The marriage of Kana Kangi)

Subhadra Kalyana (The marriage of Subhadra)

Kicaka Vadhe (The death of Kicaka)

Virata Parva (the story of Pandavas in exile when disguised in the kingdom of Virata)

Lakshmisha‘s Jaimini Bharata was written in Kannada in Ad 1550 (14th

century) Jaimini

Bharat contains an elaboration on those events relating to the Horse sacrifice of Yuddhisthira.

Frequently adapted Prasangas from ‗Jaimini Bharata‘ are

Sudhanva Kalaga (Sudhanva‘s battle)

Babhruvahana Kalaga (Babhruvahana‘s battle)

Tamvradhvaja Kalga (Tamvradhvaja‘s battle)

Chandrahasa and Sesiprabha Parinaya( the marriage of Sesiprabha)

Prasangas from Ramayana consist of

Ramapattabhisekha (The coronation of Rama)

Panchavati Valisugriva Kalaga. (the life of Ram Sita in Panchavati and the battle

between Vali and Sugriv)

Lavkusha Kalaga (lavkusha‘s battle with Surpnakhi and then with Rama)

Ramaanjaneya (Rama and the battle between Anjaneya)

Vidyunmati Kalyana (The marriage of Vidyunmati)

Prasangas from Bhagvata Purana

Shri Krishnavivah (the marriages of Krishna)

Parijata (the story of Parijata tree)

Chandravali (The story of Krishna‘s flirtation with Chandravali)

Rukmanisvayamvara (Rukmani chooses her husband)

Rati Kalyana (the marriage of Rati)

Usa Parinay (the marriage of Usha)

Banasura Kalaga (The battle of Banasura)

Prasanga adapted from Padma Purna is Virmani Kalga (Virmanani‘s battle)

Prasanga adapted from Skanda Purana Rukmangada Caritre (the story of Rukmangada)

Prasanga adapted from Brhatkatha is Ratnavati Kalyana (The marriage of Ratnavati)

Prasangas for which there appear to be no written sources are

Krshnaarjuna Kalga (the battle between Krishna and Arjun)

Minakshi Kalyana (The marriage of Minakshi)

Svetakumara Caritre (The story of Svetakumara)

As visible most of the titles consist of the term ‗Kalaga‘ which means battle and ‗Kalayan‘

which means marriage, therefore most of them deal with battles or marriages. The prose of

the Prasanga is in verse true to the Yakshagana style. An excerpt from the Subahu Kalaga as

provided by Gargi, in Folk theatre of India is as follows,

PUSHKALA. I have prepared for the battle.

WIFE. Aho.

PUSHKALA. I am going.

WIFE. Where?

PUSHKALA. I shall defeat the enemy.

WIFE. Hao!

PUSHKALA. And bring you war trophies.

WIFE. So?

PUSHKALA. Don‘t be sad.

WIFE. No

PUSHKALA. My armor shines.

WIFE. Aho.

PUSHKALA. And my arrows and bow are quivering.

WIFE. Yes.

PUSHKALA. I shall return victorious.

WIFE. No doubt! (Gargi 152)

Dialogues are not scripted but created at the spur of the moment, are impromptu. The themes

of the Prasangas are serious, the humour in the drama is usually introduced through the

buffoon.

The troupes consist of minimum of musicians and actor dancers. They consist of the

Bhagvata, the musicians ―Maddalegara‖, ―Candegara‖, ―Mundasu‖, ―Purusvesa‖, ―Strivesa‖,

―Rakshash‖ and ―Rakshashi‖ vesas, ―Balagopalas‖, ―Kodangis‖, ―Hasyagaras‖ etc. It caters

too all the rasas, Hasya ras, Shringar rasa, Veera, Bhibhitsa etc and the four elements of

abhinaya, Angika, Vachika, Aharya and Satvika.

As the name suggests Yakshagana heavily depends on dance and music. The music

of the form includes the folk and devotional songs of Karnataka and follows the Yakshagana

style of music relying heavily on raga, sruti and tala. Each piece of song is attuned to a

particular tala s like triputa, eka, pure etc and ragas like moona, kabodi, aravi, sanyasi etc.,

though there are a numbers of ragas, around thirty of them are in use in present. The musical

instruments used are Chande, Mridanga, Maddale, Cymbals, Harmonium or Sruti, Mukh

veena etc.

Dance here serves the dramatic purpose to help the audience identify and relate to the

emotions and situations in the story and identify with the characters. Karanth remarks

―Emotion and action are the two basic elements that get maximum expression through

dance.‖ There is a journey dance, hunting dance, war dance, introductory dance etc. which

goes to show its importance in the art form. The very aesthetic nature of the dance has been

aptly described by Karanth,

Where one‘s hands are, there should be one‘s sight;

Where the sight is, there should be the mind;

Where the mind is, there should be the bhava or emotion.

That is the essential nature of the dance. (Karanth 44)

Along with dance come two other elements i.e. costume and make up. Both the

costume and makeup are elaborate and heavy. The form finds similarity in the dressing

compared to that of Kathakali dance, with flared skirts, heavy headgears, ornaments, weapons

etc. The makeup too is heavy and elaborate, the faces of the artists are painted with specific

colours, characteristic to the nature of their characters. Shivanand Hegde mentions that earlier

natural colours were used but now a days the oxide colours that they get in the market are

used, it is mixed with coconut oil and applied so there are no ill effects regarding the skin, the

colours mainly used are Red, Yellow, Black and White. The costumes and makeup are

elaborate and prominent, there is use of masks, props such swords, bows and arrows etc.

The form is a prominent display of music, dance, costume, makeup and acts. Gargi

rightly remarks ―Yakshagana is not a folk art in the sense of being spontaneous expression. It

is self-conscious, highly developed operatic form that demands perfect knowledge of

classical music, talas, epics, and ancient plays. Its rigid classical singing, intricate footwork,

and quotations from Sanskrit texts make it a bit removed from folk. But the virile dancing,

tumbling, acrobatic, extemporaneous speech and the absence of strict abhinaya language give

it a folk character.‖ (162).

The form is very much living with hundreds of troupes performing, with gurukuls set

up for its training, but traditional aesthetic taste can be believed to be on the decline.

Recipient of a number of awards from the Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri to literary

awards like Jyanpith, Sahitya Akademi Award to name a few, has a considerable number of

plays to his credit, which have already been discussed in the chapter one of the thesis. On a

closer observation one finds that most of his plays are steeped in mythology, history, folk

culture and folk literature. Bascom uses the term ‗prose narratives‘ distinguish the forms of

myth, legend and folktale from the other folk forms he further differentiates them on the lines

as mentioned in table that he provides

1 FORMAL FEATURES PROSE NARRATIVES

2 Conventional opening None Usually

3 Told after dark No restrictions Usually

4 Belief Fact Fiction

5 Setting Some time and some place

Timeless,

placeless

5a Time Remote past Recent past Any time

5b Place

Earlier or other

world

World as it is

today

Any place

6 Attitude Sacred

Sacred or

secular

Secular

7 Principal character Non-human Human

Human or non

human

Form of prose narrative Myth Legend Folktale.

(Bascom 101)

Creatively using myth, folktale, the traditional theatrical elements of his region, dramatic

devices such as curtain, dolls, masks and songs Karnad takes us to an enchanted world of

love, lust, deceit and magic realism. Pranav Joshipura remarks ‗Karnad wants to illustrate

man‘s universal predicament in a new twentieth century awareness. As banal methods would

not do for his purpose, as the established myths were found insufficient, he invented a myth

and dramatized it.(104)‖ Anshuman Khanna remarks ―In Hayavadana, myth has been

reinterpreted and redefined on the one hand, and taken with mock seriousness on the other.

The reference to Urvashi, Indumati, Kali, Rudra, Shakuntala, Kalidasa, Vatsyayana, Dolls,

Lava-Kusha, Ram Lakshmana, Krishna- Balarama, Kathakkali, Benaras, Rameshwar,

Gokarn, Hayavadana etc. have overt and covert implication. The way all these are used by the

characters in the play and the conflict between the carnal human passions and the mofigied

social glorification of it; our circumscribed perception of myth and of perception. Thus, the

issues of universal dimension have been invaded through local idiom and popular belierf

making the local, globalised myth and the global, localized myth. (Khanna 113). Inspired,

influenced and affected by the socio political scenario of his times he remarks,

My generation was the first to come of age after India became independent of British

rule. It therefore had to face a situation in which tensions implicit until then had come

out in the open and demanded to be resolved without apologia or self- justification.

tensions between the attractions of Western modes of thought and our own traditions,

and finally between the various visions of the future that opened up once the common

cause of political freedom was achieved. This is the historical context that gave rise to

my plays and those of my contemporaries.

In my childhood, in a small town in Karnatka, I was exposed to two theatre forms that

seemed to represent irreconcilably different worlds. Father took the entire family to see

plays staged by troupes of professional actors called natak companies which toured the

countryside throughout the year. The plays were staged in semi permanent structures on

proscenium stages, with wings and drop curtains, and were illuminated by petromax

lamps.

Once the harvest was over, I went with the servants to sit up nights watching the more

traditional Yakshagana performances. The stage, a platform with a back curtain, was

erected in the open air and lit by torches. (Karnad 1)

The seeds for his modern expeditions were already sown in his childhood. Post

independence, the ongoing nationalist spirit and fervor during the 1960‘s propagated the need

to draw upon the rich traditional theatre of India which many playwrights tried their hands at.

A major question that arose was how to amalgamate and use the traditional elements in a

modern contemporary setting and scenario, above all for a totally modern audience who

might be considerably unaware of it. Karnad was already thinking of the use of masks in

theatre, an idea which he discussed with Karanth on the possibility of making a film which

instead, eventually assumed the shape of a play and was later directed by Karanth. Erin Mee

remarks ― If Panikkar‘s work best exemplifies the rehearsal and production practices of the

theatre of the roots movement, Girish Karnad‘s play Hayavadana offers an opportunity to

examine the characteristics of the new kind of modern play the movement produced. When

Hayavadana was published in 1971 it was immediately taken up as a ‗poster play‘ for the

emerging roots movement. Suresh Awasthi credited Karnad with having evolved ‗a new

dramatic form‘ and singled out Hayavadana as an example of what could be done creatively

with ‗folk forms‘ in an urban setting. (Qtd in Mee 141)

The very term Hayavadana means ‗the one with a Horse‘s head‘, the play is based on a

tale from Kathasaritsagara but Karnad draws heavily from Thomas Mann‘s play The

Transposed Heads based on the same tale. The story in Vetal Panchavimshati and

Kathasaritsagara are almost similar, it deals with Prince Dhaval who is married to

Madansundari who has a brother called Svetapata. While the three are travelling they come

across the temple of Gauri, where Dhavala enters in alone and due to a devotional and

emotional urge, beheads himself and offers his head to the goddess. Svetapata comes to the

temple in search of Dhavala and on finding Dhavala dead cuts off his own head too. While

Madansundari is about offer her head, the goddess appears who asks her to set their heads on

the respective shoulders after which she would restore them to life. In excitement she

transposes the heads. The story ends with question to Vikramaditya by Vetala that ―Who is

Madansundari‘s Husband‖. The answer provided here is the man with Dhavala‘s head is the

husband of the lady.

Thomas Mann‘s Transposed Head is inspired from the same plot, it deals with the story

of two friends Shridaman and Nanda. Shridaman is married to Sita. While the three are

travelling to the house of Sita‘s, Shridaman visits the temple of Kali alone and cuts of his

head. When the Nanda comes down in search of his friend and finds the reality he is scared

that he would be held responsible for the death of his friend and therefore he too beheads

himself. Searching for both the lady comes to temple to find the reality and is about to

sacrifice herself the goddess appears and grants her a boon to restore them to life, only that

Sita has to fix the heads back on their bodies where the blunder is created and mixes up the

heads. Again the question of who the husband is arises, the one with the head or the body. A

sage pronounces the judgment in the favour of the person who holds the head of Shridaman.

But the body starts transforming itself in relation to the head. She starts pining for the other

and in the end Shridamam and Nanda kill each other. Sita commits sati to give her son a

better life.

Havayadana is a story about two best friends Devadatta and Kapila. Devdutta falls in

love with Padmini, wherein Kapila acts as the messenger and mediator for the set alliance.

Devadatta was so attracted to Padmini that he had swore to sacrifice his arms to goddess kali

and his head to Lord Rudra if he is married to her. Both get married, but at a later stage he

feels insecure of the budding closeness of Kapila and Padmini. While three of them go on a

trip, Kapila mentions of Rudra and the Kaali temple on the way, Devadatta is suddenly

reminded of his vows, Kapila and Padmini go to the temple of Rudra while Devadatta

pretends to stay back all alone and then proceeds to the temple of Kali cuts off his head and

offers it to the Goddess. While Kapila reaches the temple in search of him and finds him dead

he too beheads himself too. He is followed by Padmini who is frightened at the fact that

people would blame her for their deaths and therefore she is ready to follow the suit. The

moment she is about to hack off her head, goddess Kali appears and asks her to attach the

heads to the bodies in but in excitement she mixes both the heads, presses the sword and they

are brought back to life. Again the question of who the husband is arises.

The Bhagvata to narrates ― What? What indeed is the solution to this problem. which

holds the entire future of these three unfortunate beings in a balance? Must their fate remain a

mystery? And if so shall we be not insulting our audience by tying a question mark round its

neck and bidding it good- by? We have to face the question and the answer must be sought

with greatest caution‖. The verdict to which is provided in the second act by the Rishi passes

a judgment quoting on the basis of the sacred texts ―As the heavenly Kalpa Vriksha is

supreme among trees, so is the head among human limbs. Therefore the man with

Devadatta‘s head is indeed Devadatta and he is the rightful husband‖. Slowly and steadily the

head starts transforming their bodies to their needs and as a result Padmini finds herself

drawn to Kapila. The solution of the three staying together seems neither acceptable nor

viable and therefore they enter into a fight and both kill each other and she performs sati.

Though the plot for all remain almost the same, the first ends at the acceptance of

head as the supreme part and the problem is solved but a crucial question of incest comes into

picture, in Mann‘s adaptation the bodies adjust and transforms themselves according to the

heads so as to representing their real selves which actually becomes the problem, though on

the surface it seems to be have been solved. This is what Karnad picks up and is highlighted

in his play, moreover he centers his play around Padmini who in a way is responsible for the

tangled relationships. The play centres around the themes of incompleteness, individual

identity, nation, social dogmas, caste conflict etc and also offers the reader with a sub plot of

Hayavadana of a horse headed person, often termed as a play within a play a backing to the

central theme of the play of incompleteness.

Kirtinath Kurtkoti rightly remarks

Karnad uses the conventions and motifs of folk tales and folk theatre-masks, curtains,

dolls, the story-within-a story-to create a bizarre world. It is a world of incomplete

individuals, indifferent gods, dolls that speak and children who cannot a world

indifferent to the desires and frustrations joys and sorrows of human beings. What is

real is only the tremendous, irrational energy of the horse and its rider who move round

the stage symbolizing the powerful but monotonous rhythm of life ( Kurkoti 70).

Dhanavel remarks that the structure of the play has three major frames.

The main plot

The sub (or parallel) plot

The folk form

He opines that ―each of these three frames is necessarily in complete isolation and thus

reinforces the theme of incompleteness that the play symbolizes. The theme motivates the

action of the play. In addition, it must be noted that the plots are encased within a folk form, a

masterly fusion of the traditional Indian and the Western elements of theatre‖. To provide a

better understanding he diagrammatically represents the structure as follows,

The Folk Form

Hayavadana

(Dhanvel 170)

The folk form in the play can be explored on the following lines

Invocation

Mask

Bhagvata

Use of Curtain

Songs

Dolls/puppets

At the very outset it has been mentioned that Karnad had an exposure of the Yakshagana

plays, right in his childhood, moreover as they say a writer‘s work is not devoid of his

experience and it finds manifestation in his creations at a certain stage sooner or later. Karnad

is no exception to the fact. The play borrows heavily from the Yakshagana, Raykar remarks

― Karnad had not employed folk theatre devices on such an extensive scale earlier. It is likely

that Karnad felt that in the ―naturalistc form‖ the play would never achieve the

―universalization‖ of the theme the way it achieves it in its present form. The ―non-

naturalistic‖ form as Karnad employs it is very close to Brecht‘s Epic theatre.‖ Tutun

Mukherjee remarks that Karnad had spoken on many occasions about his interest in the

performance styles of ―folk theatre‖ she further elaborates,

For him, folk theatre exemplifies a continuity of tradition, which was disrupted by the

introduction of western theatre concepts and practice in India. Though he did not

belong to any ‗movement‘ or subscribe to any ideology as such to ‗consciously revive‘

Indian folk forms, he did believe that post-independence India should evolve its own

theatrical idiom considering its rich performance traditions, instead of mindlessly aping

the western styles of drama. Evidently, his interest in the performative styles of

Yakshagana and Bayalata inspired the choice of plots which would enable the use of

masks and puppets, snakes and dogs, as well as folk styles of enactment with ‗framing

tales‘ or the ‗Bhagavat‘. Thereby emerged the perennial favourites Hayavadana (1971)

and Nagamandala (1990). The oral tradition bases of these plots enrich their

interpretive and performative possibilities which have been taken advantage of by both

literary critics and theatre directors. Nagamandala, especially, has been given a choice

of two endings, emphasizing the open-endedness of all folk tale material. Suresh

Awasthi explains, ― An important factor that determines the scenography in this kind of

theatre is the nonrealistic treatment of time and place‖. (Mukherjee 19)

The play begins with an invocation to Lord Ganesha, or the Ganesh Vandana, this ritual of

course can be associated the Purvaranga or the Nandi of the classical Sanskrit tradition and

most of the folk theatrical forms begin their performance with an invocation to the local

deity or Ganesha, moreover in the traditional Yakshagana play the artists worship Ganesha

and a local diety in the green room before commencing their elaborate make up and dressing

and the opening song is also in praise of Ganesha. Gargi opines that ‗Ganesha is never

impersonated. He is not a character; he is the diety, to be worshiped‘ similarly in the play a

mask of Ganesha is brought on stage and kept on the chair, he is neither the character nor is

impersonated further on the stage proper the performance begins with the Bhagavata singing

verses in praise of Ganesha, the play begins with,

O Elephant- headed Herambha

Whose flag is victory

and who shines like a thousand suns,

O husband of Riddhi and Siddhi,

seated on a mouse and decorated with a sanke,

O single-tusked destroyer of incompleteness,

we pay homage to you and start our play.

BHAGAVATA. May Vighneshwara, the destroyer of obstacles, who removes all

hurdles and crowns all endeavours with success, bless our performance now.

( Hayavadana 75)

Apart from being a part of the performance tradition, Ganesha here as Erin Mee

remarks ―remains in his luminal state-part of the performance, but not part of the play that is

being performed. By opening Hayavadana with a Ganesha puja, Karnad instantly places his

play in the context of a Hindu ritual performance‖. Karnad not only uses him a part of a ritual

or practice, of a god bringing good luck and destroyer of the obstacles but he uses him as a

symbol, that his central theme consists of i.e. incompleteness which also is denoted by the

horse headed man. The Bhagavata stresses this fact he says ― An elephant‘s head on a human

body, a broken tusk and a cracked belly- whichever way you look at him he seems the

embodiment of imperfection, incompleteness.‖ But the same god representing

incompleteness is addressed as the ―Vakratunda- Mahakaya‖ and as the ―Lord of Master of

Success and Perfection?‖, which is beyond the comprehension of human mind. Erin Mee

sums up the purpose saying ― The Ganesha puja at the beginning of Hayavadana invites

spectators to rethink their viewing practices, Ganesha operates at luminal points of time and

space- at the beginning of any undertaking, and the entrance of any space. He is the god of

thresholds, of crossing over and, therefore, of transformations. This is underscored not only

in the story of his own creation (where he stands in the doorway to Parvati‘s room), but by

his own personal transformation, in the way he is depicted in sculpture or painting, where he

often looks like a person wearing a mask- a performer- and in the way he is worshipped at the

beginning of many genres of traditional performance including Yakshagana‖ (Mee 159)

An important technique that the playwright uses in the play is the use of mask. Jiwan

Pani remarks ‗In theatre there are two kinds of emotion. The audience may be moved either

by personality or impersonality of the actor. A fascinating kind of impersonality is acquired

by the actor when he puts on a mask as in Seraikela and Purulia Chhau dances or when his

face is created with heavy and stylized mask like make up as in Koodiattam and Kathakali of

Kerala and Yakshagana of Karnataka‘(1). Masks have a functional role to perform, it can

represent a character, hide a character, depict a characteristic trait of a person, be used to

represent a common identity or no identity at all etc. It depends on the playwright and in

performance how a director uses it to his creative capacity. As mentioned earlier, the play

emerged out of the very concept of him using a mask. He says ―As I said, the story initially

interested me for the scope it gave for the use of masks and music. Western theatre has

developed a contrast between the face and the mask- the real inner person and the exterior

one presents, or wishes to present, to the world outside. But in traditional Indian theatre, the

mask is only the face ‗writ large‘, since a character reprsesents not a complex psychological

entity but an ethical archetype, the mask merely presents in enlarged detail its essential moral

nature‖ (Karnad 13)

Its not just one but many characters wear masks at the literal level. As discussed

earlier the theme of incompleteness is projected through the masks of Ganesha and

Hayavadana. The very initial stage directions provided by the playwright is ―At the

beginning of the performance, a mask of Ganesh is brought on the stage and kept on the

chair. Pooja is done. The Bhagavata sings verses in praise of Ganesha, accompanied by his

musicians. Then the mask is taken away‖. (Hayavadana 73) According to the action and

instructions provided hardly any symbolic meaning can be derived from it. The mask here

represents simply lord Ganesha which is very clear and obvious how does then Karnad apply

his theory here is a question. Commenting on the same in the Author‘s Indtroduction to the

play he remarks,

Ganesha‘s mask then says nothing about his nature. It is a mask pure and simple. Right

at the start of the play, my theory about the masks was getting subverted. But the

elephant head also questioned the basic assumption behind the original riddle. that the

head represents the thinking part of the person, the intellect.

It seemed unfair, however to challenge the thesis of the riddle by using a god,

after all, is beyond human logic, indeed beyond human comprehension itself. The

dialectic had to grow out of the grosser ground, and I sensed a third being hovering in

the spaces between the divine and the human, a horse-headed man. The play

Hayavadana, meaning ‗the one with a horse‘s head‘, is named after this character. The

story of this horse-headed man, who wants ot shed the horse‘s head and become

human, provides the outer panel- as in a mural-within which the tale of the two friends

is framed. Hayavadana, too, goes to the same Goddess Kali and wins a boon from her

that he should become complete. Logic takes over. The head is the person. Hayavadana

becomes a complete horse. The central logic of the tale remains intact, while its basic

premise is denied. (Karnad, 14)

A mask then at large becomes more a theatrical device than a part of the literary domain. It

involves the actor and the spectator, here the mask of Hayavadana remains faithful to its

theme of its transformation from the incomplete to complete of his transformation from a

horse headed man to a complete horse. Vanitha provides an interesting religious and

mythological connotation to the term Hayavadana and associates it with a character from

Hindu mythology that of ‗Hayagriva‘ and incarnation of Vishnu with a human body and a

horse‘s head. The same mask at the literal level seems to remain just a theatrical device,

supporting the dramatic action at different levels when the heads are cut off and offered to the

goddess when Devadatta chops of his head the action is revealed in the words ―Cuts off his

head. Not an easy thing to do- he struggles, groans, writhes. Ultimately succeeds in killing

himself. The head-that is, the mask-rolls off and blood flows.‖(99) , when in excitement

Padmini mixes up the heads the action projected by exchanging the masks, revealed in the

following lines ― Eagerly, Padmini puts the heads – that is, the masks—back. But in her

excitement she mixes them up so that Devadatta‘s mask goes to Kapila‘s body and vice

versa‖ ( 103) , and the entire new identity of Kapila and Devdutta with a new and a different

combination of the body and the head revealed in the lines ― Henceforth the person wearing

the mask of Devadatta will be called Devadatta. Similarly with Kapila‖(104) Hence te mask

becomes so important that an individual retains his identity from the mask rather than

oneself, one can also infer the implied leitmotif of the superiority of the head and the

intellect over the other parts of the body, the conflict between the body and soul is also

represented. A minor theme of class distinction is also seems to have been projected in the

lines when Devdutta and Kapila are introduced, it says ―Devadatta enters and sits on chair.

He is slender, delicate-looking person and is wearing a pale-coloured mask. He is lost in

thought. Kapila enters. He is powerfully built and wears a dark mask‖ (83) Devdatta is a

Brahmin, a person from higher caste, considered to be fair and therefore is provided a pale-

coloured mask with delicate features. Kapila on the other hand is the son of an ironsmith,

lower in cast and therefore a dark mask.

An element common to both the traditional as well as modern, to Yakshagana and

Hayavadana, is that of the Bhagavata. According to Karanth ―the person conducting on the

stage a drama concerned with Bhagavan is called the Bhagavata. To him the performance is

an act of Devotion to Bhagvaan.‖ (18). According to Gargi ―The Bhagavata comments on the

action and tells the inner thoughts of the characters. He acts as the detached observer, the

reporter, the commentator, and at times sings on behalf of the character, identifying himself

completely with the role (160). Karnad in the interview with the researcher through mail

mentions that he has just called the Stage Manager a 'Bhagavata', rather than a 'Sutradhara',

but if we look at it in a way both are congruous to each other and an serve an identical

purpose. The Bhagavata of the play performs almost all the functions of the traditional

Bhagavata of Yakshagana. He plays the role of a singer throughout the play, right from

beginning to the end of the play, at the very outset he raises a pertinent question and sets the

audience thinking,

BHAGAVATA. … How indeed can one fathom the mystery that this very Vakratunda-

Mahakaya, with his crooked face and distorted body, is the Lord and Master of Success

and Perfection? Could it be that this Image of Purity and Holiness, this Mangalamoorty

intends to signify by his very appearance that the completeness of God is something no

poor mortal can comprehend? Be that as it may. It is not for us to understand this

Mystery or try to unravel it. Nor is it within our powers to do so. Our duty is merely to

pay homage to the Elephant- headed god and get on with our play. (Hayavadana 73)

He introduces the main characters and their relationships to the audience, he manages the

entire play, he comments on the dramatic action that takes place, as in the comments on the

insecurity and jealousy that creeps in Kapila‘s and Devadutta‘s friendship due to Padmini

expressed in ―Two-friends there were-one mind, one heart. They saw a girl and forgot

themselves. But they could not understand the song she sang.‖ (82), he addresses the

audience ―Need one explain to or wise and knowing audience what followed next?‖ and

informs the audience of the action to follow, he reveals the feelings of the characters as in the

disappointment of Devdatta towards Padmini when she agrees to go for a ride on Kapila‘s

arrival after declining it initially, he says ―Why do you tremble, heart? Why do you cringe

like a touch-me-not bush through which a snake has padded? The sun rests his head on the

Fortunate Lady‘s flower./And the head is bidding good-bye to the heart‖ (95). He summarises

and like a true stage manager concludes the act giving them proper instructions,

BHAGAVATA. What? What indeed is the solution to this problem which holds the

entire future of these three unfortunate beings in a balance? Must their fate remain a

mystery? And if so shall we not be insulting our audience by tying a question-mark

round its neck and bidding it good-bye? We have to face the problem. But it‘s a deep

one and the answer must be sought with the greatest caution. Haste would be

disastrous. So there‘s a break of ten minutes now. Please have some tea, ponder over

this situation and come back with your own solutions. We shall then continue with our

enquiry. (Hayavadana 109).

He is the connecting link between the two acts, he provides a logical solution on the

basis of ‗Sacred texts‘ to a significant question around which the play revolves. The

Bhagavata acts as the distant observer and as a commenter in the main plot, in the second act

he becomes a part and character of the main plot where he advises Kapila not to grieve and

accept fate, and when Devdatta runs to him announcing the baby boy‘s birth. Kapila had

disappeared and is brought back into the time frame, the elapsed events in Kapila‘s life are

clearly revealed by the Bhagavata to the audience in the communication with Kapila,

BHAGWATA. Who? Kapila

KAPILA. Yes.

BHAGAVATA. It‘s such a long time since we met.

KAPILA. Yes

BHAGAVATA. Where are you now?

KAPILA. Here

BHAGAVATA. Here? In this jungle? It‘s difficult to believe any man could live here.

KAPILA. Beasts do. Why not men?

BHAGAVATA. What do you do?

KAPILA. Live

BHAGAVATA. Have you had any news from the city?

KAPILA. Long ago, Father sent word asking me to come back. I said, ‗I won‘t come.

No need for you to come here either! That‘s all.

BHAGAVATA. You mean-you don‘t know your father died last year? – Also you

mother....

KAPILA. (Expressionless) No.

BHAGAVATA. And Padmini has a son.

KAPILA. I see.

BHAGAVATA. Why this anger, Kapila?

KAPILA. What anger?

BHAGAVATA. It shows in the way you stand, you move.

KAPILA. All that is your poetry.

BHAGAVATA. Kapila! Kapila. (Hayavadana 122)

The emotions of Devadatta when he comes to know that Padmini and Kapila are

together and comes looking for them with vengeance, the Bhagavata subtly puts forth

Devadutta‘s emotions and state of mind before the audience in the lines ― Devadatta moves

on. There are only two words which make sense to him now- Kapila and Padmini! Kapila and

Padmini! The words carry him along like a flood to the doorstep of Kapila‘s hut. But he

stops. Until this moment he has been yearning to taste the blood of Kapila. But now he is still

and calm (128). Erin Mee remarks that ― Bhagavata becomes the model for someone

successfully negotiating many different cultural, linguistic, and theatrical realities. He is the

character most skilled at jumping in and out of the different frames or levels of reality that

operate in the play.... who comes up with a solution to Hayavadana‘s dilemma..... Through

the Bhagavata the play suggests that complexity rather than uniformity provides a more

fulfilling answer to the questions of identity raised by Devdatta, Kapila, Hayavadana and

even Ganesha, and that hybridity at all levels is more useful tool for survival and sanity than

nationalistic fervour. ―(167-169).

The Curtain functions as an important theatrical convention in folk theatre and

specifically Yakshagana. The traditional theatre uses a piece of rectangular cloth held by two

stage hands, the characters are introduced from behind the curtain, part by part, may be just

the feet or the headgear or just the face with an aim to arise curiosity and interest in the

audience, it also marks the entry and exit of characters. Karnad uses the characteristic

traditional technique while introducing Hayavadana. He is introduced to the audience from

behind the curtain, first through his sobbing , then revealing his head and finally the entire

body, this can be seen in,

(Two stage-hands enter and hold up a half-curtain, about six feet in height- the sort of

curtain used in Yakshagana or Kathakkali. The masks the entry of Hayavadana, who

comes and stands behind it.)

Who‘s that?

(No reply. Only the sound of someone sobbing behind the curtain.)

How strange! Someone‘s sobbing behind the curtain. It looks as though the Terror

which frightened our Actor is itself now crying!

(To the stage-hand.) Lower the curtain!

(The curtain is lowered by about a foot. One sees Hayavadana’s head, which is covered

by a veil. At a sign from the Bhagavata, one of the stage-hands removes the veil,

revealing a horse’s head. For a while the horse-head doesn’t realize that it is exposed

to the gaze of the audience. The Moment the realization dawns, the head ducks behind

the curtain.)

BHAGAVATA. A horse! No, it can‘t be!

(He makes a sign. The curtain is lowered a little more-just enough to show the head

again. Again it ducks. Again the curtain is lowered. This goes on till the curtain is

lowered right down to the floor.

Hayavadana, who has a man’s body but a horse’s head, is sitting on the floor hiding

his head between his knees.) (Hayavadana 77)

The temple of Goddess Kali is symbolised through the curtain as,

(Two stage-hands come and hold up a half curtain in the corner to which he points. The

curtain has a picture of Goddess Kali on it. The Bhagavata puts a sword in front of it)

(Hayavadana 97)

When Padmini is about to behead herself, goddess Kali appears, her entry is marked in the

play first with her voice, then with her palms and then her complete figure,

(Lifts the sword and puts its point on her breast when, from behind the curtain, the

goddess’s voice is heard)

.....

PADMINI. Who‘s that?

(No reply)

Who‘s that?

(A tremendous noise of drums. Padmini shuts her eyes in terror. Behind the curtain one

sees the uplifted blood-red palms of the goddess. The curtain is lowered and taken

away and one sees a terrifying figure, her arms stretched out, her mouth wide open

with the tongue lolling out. the drums stop and as the goddess drops her arms and shuts

her mouth, it becomes clear she has been yawning) (Hayavadana 101,102)

Her exit from the stage is also depicted through the curtain ― The curtain is held up again and

the goddess disappears behind it‖. The ending of the first act is shown is by the stage-hands

holding a white curtain in front of the frozen characters of Kapila, Devadatta and Padmini.

The second act begins with the removal of the curtain. In the second act when Kapila and

Devdatta enter into a duel and die, Padmini leaves her child with the Bhagavata and ask

therm to give him to the hunters in the forest and after he is five years old to take him to the

Revered Brahmin Vidyasagara of Dharmapura and she leaves to perform Sati her leaving is

depicted through the curtain by placing a curtain in front of Padmini at the sign from

Bhagavata. Her act of performing Sati is also presented on stage through the dramatic

technique of the curtain revealed in the following lines,

(Does namaskara. The stage-hands lift the curtain, slowly, very slowly, very slowly, as

the song goes on. The curtain has a blazing fire painted on it. And as it is lifted, the

flames seem to leap up...) (Hayavadana 131)

The curtain therefore marks the entry and exits of the character, the beginning and ending of

the acts and the play, announces the interval, the dramatisation of certain actions etc.

‗It has often been said that there is no better way of discovering the real feelings and

ideas of people than that afforded by the songs…‘. Songs have always been the integral part

of any folk theatre, as for Yakshagana the term itself contains the word gana and was ‗meant

to be a style of music‘, the plays are attuned to specific ragas and talas, the play hardly seems

to follow the traditional Yakshagana style of music and the text to does not provide a

detailed insight and an appropriate scope for the study of the same, moreover Karnad has

used a female chorus which is a complete deviation from the form. Songs in the play, find

place with a definitive purpose. The songs by the female chorus pours out the feelings and the

emotions of Padmini, it reveals her thought process. One can judge that Padmini is a strong

headed and a shrewd woman. She knows what she wants, though she loves and is married to

Devadatta, she is equally attracted to Kapila because of his strength and physique. She pines

for the love of both, the mind of Devadatta and the body of Kapila, a combination of a perfect

man in ‗intellect and flesh‘. She is indomitable and refuses to be the docile and submissive

woman, she does not suppress her feelings and is courageous enough challenge the

established societal norms by not restricting herself to one, but goes on to embrace both men

turns out to be the one who controls their actions. The following lines by the female chorus

reveal her inner urge,

FEMALE CHORUS. (Sings.) Why should love stick to the sap of a single body? When

the stem is drunk with the thick yearning of the many-petalled, many-flowered lantana,

why should it be tied down to the relation of a single flower?

BHAGAVATA. (Sings) They forgot themselves and took off their bodies. And she

took the laughing heads, and held them high so the pouring blood bathed her, coloured

her red. Then she danced around and sang.

FEMALE CHORUS. (Sings) A head for each breast. A pupil for each eye. A side for

each arm. I have neither regret nor shame. The blood pours into the earth and a song

branches out in the sky. (Hayavadana 87)

When the heads are transposed and Kapila and Devadatta come back to life, on realising the

fact are they are actually very happy as it would make their friendship all the more stronger

as uptil now they were friends but now as Kapila says are ‗blood- relations! Body-relations‘.

The question of identity, of who can be called Kapila and Devdatta is expressed in a very

light manner, they happiness expressed on the transposition in the following lines where ‗all

three hold hands and run around in a circle‘, singing,

ALL THREE. (Together.)

What a good mix!

No more tricks!

Is this one that

Or that one this?

Ho! Ho! (Hayavadana 105)

The first act ends with a question that remains unanswered, its at the beginning of the second

act that the Bhagavata guides the audience logically to a rational solution backed by the

sacred texts which he inturn doubts whether it will be acceptable and appealing to the

modern audience or not, whether the relation of Padmini and Kapila will be acceptable to the

society or not, he sings,

The future pointed out by the tongue

safe inside the skull is not acceptable to us.

We must read the forehead which Brahma

has disconnected from the entrails.

We must unravel the net on the palm

disclaimed by the brain.

We must plumb the hidden depths of the

rivers running under our viens. (Hayavadana 110)

Martha Asthon remarks ‗Music is an integral part of Yakshagana because the words of the

song and poems tell a story‘ she elaborates that not all songs are sung to specific raga but the

folk and the devotional have their own individual melody and rhythm, of the songs used she

lists down a few varieties which include ‗Harake a song for making and offering to God,

Jogula a lullaby, Lavani a work song…, Sobhane and erotic song sung at the wedding, Tillani

(or tillana) a composition in praise of God or kind and Thumri a Hindustani song‘. An

important folk element used in the play is a Lullaby that Padmini sings for the child, though

the song is for the child she talks of a rider clad in white charging forward and disappearing

in a nowhere land, which is nothing but her inner quest and longing for Kapila that is worded

in the following lines,

PADMINI. Here comes a rider!

From what land does he come?

On his head a turban

with a long pearly tail.

Round his neck a garland

of virgin-white jasmines.

In his fist a sword

with a diamond-studded hilt.

The white-clad rider

rides a white charger

which spreads its tossing mane

against the western sky.

Sleep now my baby

and see smiling dreams.

There he comes- here he is!

From which land does he come?

But why are the jasmines on his chest

red O so red?

What shine in his open eyes?

Pebbles O pebbles.

Why is his young body

cold O so cold?

The white horse gallops

across hills, streams and fields.

To what land does he gallop?

Nowhere O nowhere. (Hayavadana 117)

Time has lapsed and Kapila has retired to the forest, Padmini suffocated with life in the town

with Devadatta proceeds with the child to the forest and thereafter to the tree of the Fortunate

Lady, later on she accidently meets Kapila wherein he comes to know of the child and past

emotions spring up which are revealed in the song. Karnad provides a prose rendering of the

song

BHAGAVATA. I spread my wings, and kicked away the earth and flew up. I cover the

seven continents, the ten shore and measured the sky.

Now because you have a child at your breast, a husband on your thighs, the red of rust

on the lips of your late-opening mouth, I pick a picture here, and there a card of fate,

and live for the grace of a grain-an astrologers bird. (Hayavadana 123)

Just when Kapila thinks he has won the battle and has got ridden of his past memories,

Padmini appears to haunt his present, when he asks her to leave Padmini boldly takes a stand

and does what her heart desires she says ‗until my child wakes up, may I sit here and look at

you? Have my fill for the rest of my life?‘ Kapila too can no longer tolerate this dance of

incompleteness, that he with a great effort had tamed and shaped the body according to his

mind but the memories that the body carries, the ‗memories of touch‘ which he is unable to

comprehend and identify with, at a crucial juncture when he thinks has gained control, one

touch by Padmini brings back all the memories and he is back to square one. Padmini coaxes

Kapila to taste and experience the bodily pleasures so as to put an end to the struggle between

the mind the body, this very essence of the struggle and the final fulliment is very beautifully

woven in the song,

BHAGAVATA. You cannot engrave on water

nor wound it with a knife,

which is why

the river

has no fear

of memories.

FEMALE CHORUS. The river only feels the

pull of the waterfall.

She giggles, and tickles the rushes

on the banks, then turns

a top of dry leaves

in the navel of the whirlpool, weaves

a water-snake in the net of silver strands

in the green depths, frightens the frog

on the rug of moss, sticks and bamboo leaves,

sings, tosses, leaps and

sweeps on in a rush-

BHAGAVATA. While the scarecrow on the bank

has a face fading

on its mudpot head

and a body torn

with memories. (Hayavadana 127)

Dance along with music is also an important element of Yakshagana, it not only captivates

and attracts the audience‘s attention but also is the representation of the emotions and the

dramatic action through body gestures and movements in a rhythmical manner. In

Yakshagana Karanth remarks, ―Action is all movement; a province wholly suited to the dance

medium. It may be the picking of a tender flower, with grace and feeling, or a rushforward to

meet a menacing adversary. Sitting, resting, walking, flirting, flying, sporting, travelling,

fighting etc., are movements we usally displays in tender, lazy, hard, cruel or merciful.

Yaksagana prasangas bristle with battles. Most of the themes are called Kalagas or battles.

The romantic prasangas do end in marriage of the lovers; but before they achieve this happy

culmination, they have to cross many hurdles in which battles predominate (107).‖ Similarly

since the idea of all the three of them staying together in harmony will not be accepted by the

society, the fight between Devadatta and Kapila becomes inevitable, to come across a proper

ending or a solution to the play, which not only projects the physical fight in dance but also

expresses the emotions of jealousy, enimity , anger etc through it as is visible in the directions

provided by the playwright, the fight culminates in the death of both the heroes to which the

Bhagavata satirically portrays in the last lines talking of forgiveness which is hard to find,

(Music starts. The fight is stylized like a dance. Their swords don‘t touch. Even Padmini‘s

reaction is like a dance.)

BHAGAVATA. (Sings). Like cocks in a pit

we dance-he and I ...

foot woven with foot

eye soldered to eye.

He knows and I know

all there‘s to be known

the witch‘s burning thirst

burns for blood alone.

Hence this frozen smile,

which cracks and drips to earth,

and claw-knives, digging flesh

for piecemeal death

The rishi who said ‗Knowledge gives rise to

forgiveness‘ had no knowledge of death. (Hayavadana 130)

The female chorus here instead of being a voice of Padmini stands revealing the action to the

audience. Padmini is well aware of the fact that both of them could not have lived together

and as reason they had to die and she proceeds to perform Sati. This act of sacrifice is

presented in the song which ends by bidding farewell to her, which then compares the three

deaths as an offering to the lord, the playwright himself mentions that it is a prose rendering

of the song,

FEMALE CHORUS. Our sister is leaving in a palanquin of sandalwood. Her mattress

is studded with rubies which burn and glow. She is decked in flowers which

blossom on tinder-wood and whose petals are made of molten fold. How the

garlands leap and cover her, aflame with love.

The Fortunate Lady‘s procession goes up the street of laburnums, while the

makarandas tie the pennants and the jacarandas hold the lights

Good-bye, dear Sister. Go you without fear. The Lord of Death will be pleased

with the offering of three coconuts. (Hayavadana 131)

The untimely death of all of the three has an adverse effect on Padmini‘s son, he does not

come across as an playful, ordinary, happy go lucky normal child, he is described as a

serious, sulky child who doesn‘t speak, laugh, cry or even smile. He takes recourse to the

dolls and becomes violent towards anyone who comes near it. The entire conflict can be

attributed to the attraction of Padmini towards Kapila outside the marriage bond. M K Naik

remarks ― The alienation of Padmini‘s child is total. The boy refuses to communicate with

any person but is passionately attached to his dolls, resisting fiercely any attempt on the part

of anyone even to touch them. This suggests his absorption in a world of make-believe from

which he has no desire to emerge‖(140). Similar is the case with Hayavadana, his present

state is the result his mother‘s fascination for the stallion, though the stallion assumes human

form and asks her to accompany him to the heavenly abode she puts forth a condition that she

would agree to it only if he returns to his original form of that being a horse and is cursed by

the Gandharva to become a horse herself, she runs away happily and her child is left to bear

the brunt of being incomplete i.e. half male half horse. Both of them come together at end of

the play where the child suddenly splits into laughter on seeing a horse laughing and breaks

that cocoon that enveloped his anguish. Naik further remarks that ― The suggestion here is

plain. The child and Hayavadana have both learnt the same lesson, but Hayavadana has learnt

it rather late in life, and this has inevitably reduced the quality of his existence, the child‘s

realization has come in time and the future belongs to it. Hayavadana thus presents the typical

existential anguish but does not stop at existential despair; going beyond it, the play suggests

a strategy for the achievement of integration in a world inevitably cursed with absurdity and

irrationality‖(140). The bond between both can be seen when the horse agrees to give him a

ride if he sings a song to him and we come across the same lullaby that Padmini used to sing

for him,

BHAGAVATA. Sing son.

(The boy sings and the horse goes around in a slow trot)

Here comes a rider

From what land O what land?

On his head a turban.

Sleep now, sleep now.

Why his chest

Red O red?

Why his eyes

Pebbles O Pebbles?

Why his body

Cold O cold?

Where goes the horse?

Nowhere O nowhere. (Hayavadana 137)

Karnad uses different means to bring out the psyche and thought process of the characters,

specifically that of Padmini. At regular intervals we find the Bhagavata and the female chorus

laying bare her heart, he further uses dolls as a device to unfold the nuances of the action to

the audience, identifiable though not with Yakshagana but with the traditional Puppet theatre

of India. Karnad mentions that the dolls could be played by two children. ‗A puppet may be

defined simply as an inanimate figure which is articulated by human agency‘, once comes

across Gombe-atta as string puppet theatre prevalent in Karnataka and which follows

Yakshagana. Jiwan Pani remarks ‗ Puppets are ―actors‖ though not human beings. Nor are

they merely bits of wood and rags….. we may consider puppet as ―the other being‖, since it is

endowed with such extraordinary life of its own, it can carry drama to heights beyond the

reach of human actors‘(5). The Dolls reveal the turn of events, at the very beginning through

their conversation they bring out transposition of Devadutta‘s head with Kapila‘s worked out

robust body , when they converse,

Doll II. …. with his rough labourer‘s hands.

Doll I. Palms like wood …

Doll II. A grip like a vice ….

Doll I. My arms are still aching …

Doll II. He doesn‘t deserve us, the peasant. (Hayavadana 114)

The pregnancy of Padmini revealed ―How she was swelling! Day by Day! Week by week! As

though someone were blowing air into her …‖, the birth of the child ― And then comes this

son of a satan ..‖ ―… this lump of flesh‖, even the new born child is presented on stage

through a wooden doll. The notion of the head as the centre and that it controls the body is

subtly represented as the both the bodies undergo transformation according to the thought

and need of the mind which is manifested in the lines,

Doll II. Why? What happened?

Doll I. He touched me, and ….

Doll II. Yes?

Doll I. His palms! They were do rough, when he first brought us here. Like a

labourer‘s. But now they are soft-sickly soft – like a young girl‘s.

Doll II. I know. I‘ve notice something too.

Doll I. What?

Doll II. His stomach. It was so tight and muscular. Now ….

Doll I. I know. It‘s loose …

Doll II. Do you think it‘ll swell up too? (Hayavadana 116)

Padmini was smart enough to transpose the heads and fend for herself a complete man in

terms of the intellect of Devadatta and the physique of Kapila but the happiness does not last

long as Devadatta‘s body transforms itself to the original body of Devadatta it is at this

juncture the Padmini again starts thinking of possessing Kapila and starts yearning for him,

the feelings that she is unable to express in real life find way through her dreams. Freud

remarks ―that all the material composing the content of the dream in some way originates in

experience, that is reproduced in the dream or recalled, this at least may be taken as an

indisputable truth‖(7). On the Dream as a wish fulfillment he says ―… the dream is not

meaningless, not absurd, does not pre-suppose that one part of our store of ideas is dormant

while another part begins to awake. It is perfectly valid psychic phenomenon, actually a wish-

fulfilment; it may be enrolled in the continuity of the intelligible psychic activities of the

waking state; it is built up by a highly complicated intellectual activity‖(33). He further

enumerates on the dream sources which can be used for a categorical division of dreams

which are

External (objective) sensory stimuli.

Internal (subjective) sensory stimuli.

Internal (organic) physical excitation.

Purely psychical exciting sources.

Padmini has a strong pull towards Kapila but is unable to achieve him and therefore tries to

fulfill her desire through her dreams and it is here that the dolls are effectively used by

Karnad in uncovering the human psyche. Pani Jiwan on the use of puppet remarks ― Puppet

theatre fascinates not onl because they move us by their personality but there are other deep

psychological reasons. We have all a story, desire to escape reality. Psychologists call it

‗wish fulfillment‘. The puppets power of offering escape from reality through wish

fulfillment is the secret of its surprisingly universal appeal which comes through

identification‖ (2). This wish fulfillment through the dreams is brought forth in the lime light

by dolls in,

Doll II. It‘s him all right. Look at his face.

Doll I. He goes to her …

Doll II. ….. very near her ….

Doll I. (In a whisper.) What‘s he going to do now?

Doll II. (Even more anxious.) What?

(They watch)

Doll I. But he‘s climbing a tree!

Doll II. (Almost a wail of disappointment.) He‘s dived into a river!

Doll I. Is that all he camefor?

Doll II. It‘s going …

Doll I. … going …

Doll II. Gone! Wretched dreams- They just tickle and fade away. (Hayavadana 119)

Further

Doll II. Especially last night – I mean – that dream …

Doll I. Tut-tut-One shouldn‘t talk about such things!

Doll II. It was so shameless …

Doll I. I said be quiet …

Doll II. Honestly! The way they … (Hayavadana 120)

They also act as spectators of the ongoing action, comment and warn as a external element

when it says ―Cover your wife before you start worrying about our rags‖ , when they sense

Padmini‘s plan of sending Devadatta to Ujjain to buy the dolls and that she would embark on

a journey in search of Kapila, the dolls as a timely act of warning remark ― Watch out, you

fool …‖, ―Refuse, you idiot …‖, but of course is revealed only to the audience . An another

important facet that Erin Mee brings out is that ―The dolls allow Karnad to introduce the

voice of ‗society‘ into what is otherwise a three-character story. The Dolls are not at all

‗necessary‘ to the plot, which could move forward without them, but they are important

because they remind spectators of the presence of society- and of propriety. Their attitudes

contribute to the motivating force for Padmini‘s behaviour. Some of what she does is because

of what society will say, and some her actions are in spite of what society will say‖(146).

Apart from above mentioned theatrical techniques the play uses the bare minimum

props which is unique to the traditional folk theatre but unlike Yakshagana which uses

elaborate costumes, ornaments, headgears and props. The only props available on the stage

as mentioned in the test is a chair kept at the centre and a table on the stage right or back on

which the Bhagavata and the musicians sit which is characteristic to Yakshagana, at the most

other prop used are the dolls apart from it all the other elements have been acted through

mime. Karnad remarks ― The energy of folk theatre comes from the fact that although it

seems to uphold traditional values, it also has the means of questioning these values, of

making them literally stand on their head, The various conventions-the chorus, the masks, the

seemingly worlds-permit the simultaneous presentation of alternative points of view of

alternative attitudes to the central proble. To use a phrase from Bertolt Brecht, these

conventions then allow for ‗complex seeing‘. And it must be admitted that Brecht‘s

influence, received mainly through his writings and without the benefit of his theatrical

productions, went some way in making us realize what could be done with the design of

traditional theatre. (Karnad, 15)

Having talked on the use of Yakshagana in the play by many researchers and scholars

people have confused it to be a folk play which is not a reality or truth, moreover it is clearly

visible that only certain elements of the traditional form have been used, the identicality may

have arose in context to the performance of play directed by Karanth Erin Mee remarks ―

When Karnad combines two genres that have never before been put together, his spectators

not only experience a new, third genre, they see the original two in a new way. When Karnad

works with elements of traditional performance, he recontextualizes them in a way that

allows spectators to reconsider their theatrical expectations, social practices and cultural

assumptions.( Mee 149)

Hayavadana therefore seems as Erin Mee remarks ― neither a Yakshagana play adapted

for the modern stage, nor a modern play written to be performed in Yakshagana style with

Yakshagana performers. It is a play that combines elements of modern urban theatre with

elements of Yakshagana to create a new genre of theatre.‖ She further adds that it was

confused for being a folk play because of Karanth‘s production who used the musical

elements of Yakshagana and its performance technique.

Thus one can sum up that Hayavadana is very much a modern play, which makes use

certain elements of Yakshagana. As Aparna Dharwadkar rightly remarks,

In Hayavadana, Karnad employs a linear narrative structure, the proscenium stage, the

fourth wall and human characters, strategically placing them in a play with a structure

of concentric circles, several nonhuman characters, an acting style that occasionally

breaks the fourth wall and refrences to darshan, a way of seeing that operates in Hindu

ritual practice. By weaving together structures, aesthetics and techniques of Western

theatre and traditional Indian performance, specifically Yakshagana, the well-known

genre of dance drama performed in Karnataka. Karnad creates a play that is neither

‗Western‘ nor ‗Indian‘, not ‗Western‘ and ‗Indian‘; a new kind of play that is more than

and different from the sum of its parts. With Hayavadana, Karnad created a hybrid

dramaturgical structure, acting style and visual practice that offers spectators a model

for practicing cultural ambidexterity-the ability to successfully and easily operate

simultaneously in two or more cultural systems withour privileging either one.

(qtd in Mee 142)

WORKS CITED

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Edited by C, Khatri and Sudhir Arora, Book Enclave, 2008.

Ashely, N. "Effacing Hayavadana: On the Masks of the Text." Girish Karnard's Plays:

Performance and Critical Perspectives. edited by Tutun Mukherjee. Pencraft

International, 2006.

Ashton, Martha, Bruce Christie. Yaksagana:A Dance Drama of India. Abhinav Publications,

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Bharathi, C. "Existentialistic Elements: Alientation, Absurdity, Incompleteness and Search

for Identity in Girish Karnad's Hayavadana". Recent Indian Drama in English, edited

by R K Dhawan. Prestige Books, 2010.

Bhargava, Gopal, editor. Encyclopaedia of Art and Culture in India (Karnataka), vol 2. Isha

books, 2008.

Chakraborty, Kaustav. "Casteism and Karnad's Hayavadana." Indian Drama in English.

edited by Kaustav Chakraborty, PHI Learning Private Limited, 2014.

Chakravartee, Moutushi. "Myth and Reality in Hayavadana and Nagamandala." Girish

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Pencraft International, 2006.

Crow, Brian and Chris, Banfield. An Introduction to Post-Colonial Theatre. Cambridge

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Datta, Dattatreya. "Hayavadana: A Theatre-goer's Response."Indian Drama in English.

edited by Kaustav Chakraborty PHI Learning Private Limited, 2014.

Dhanavel, P. "Hayavadana: A Study in Condensation." Girish Karnard's Plays: Performance

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Indian Literature. Rawat Publications, 2006.

Fludernik, Monika, editor. "The Constitution of Hybridity: Postcolonial Interventions".

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2006.

Gargi, Balwant. Folk Theater of India. University of Washington Press, 1966.

George, K. "Girish Karnad's Hayavadana Revisited".Indian Drama in English. edited by

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Jha, Gauri. "Girish Karnad's Hayavadana: A Postcolonial Fruition". Thunder on Stage: A

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Joshipura, Pranav. "A Study in Themes and Techniques of Girish Karnad". Indian Literature

in English: New Perspectives. edited by K Surendran. Sarup and Sons, 2002.

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Karanth, S. Yaksagana. Abhinav Publications, 1997.

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Varadpande, M. Traditions of Indian Theatre. Abhinav Publications, 1979.

ALL YAKSHAGANA PHOTOS: COURTSEY SHIVANAND HEGDE

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/?lightbox=image1kpb

1. Keremane Mahabala Hegde 2. Keremane Shivaram Hegde

3.Keremane Shambhu Hegde 4. Keremane Shivanand Hegde

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/early-days?lightbox=image24bz

The troupe in the olden period

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/performances?lightbox=image1ggz

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/performances?lightbox=image5qc

The performances old and new.

yakshaganakeremane.com/backstage?lightbox=imagelk9

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/backstage?lightbox=image1vmj

Makeup an important element of Yakshagana

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/kremane-gajana-hegde?lightbox=image22ea

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/performances?lightbox=image1e4l

The Heavy Ornamentation and Headgears

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/backstage?lightbox=image1ytw

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/backstage?lightbox=imagezf6

The Green Room Then and Now.

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/early-days?lightbox=image2fk

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/performances?lightbox=image1ijr

The Curtain as an important element in Yakshagana

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www.yakshaganakeremane.com/performances?lightbox=image11vy

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/?lightbox=image1uvd

www.yakshaganakeremane.com/?lightbox=imagejro

The troupe, Olden and Modern

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www.yakshaganakeremane.com/kalakendra?lightbox=imageax1

Shreemaya Yakshagana Ranga Shikshana Kendra Keremane, a Residential Yakshagana

Training Centre/Gurukul at Gunavante

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The Three Friends Kapila, Devadatta and Padmini

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Girish Karnad‘s Hayavadana , The Birth of the Child