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Bhikhari Thakur

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Bhikari Thakur (18 December 1887 – 10 July 1971) was an Indian Bhojpuri language poet, playwright, lyricist, actor, folk dancer, folk singer and social activist, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Bhojpuri Langauage and most popular folk writer of Purvanchal and Bihar.[1][2][3][4] He is oftenly called the "Shakespeare of Bhojpuri" and "Rai Bahadur".[5] His works consist of more than a dozen plays, Monologues, Poems, Bhajans which appeared in print as nearly three dozen books. His noteworthy works are Bidesiya, Gabarghichor, Beti Bechwa and Bhai Birodh, Gabarghichor is often compared with Bertolt Brecht’s play The Caucasian Chalk Circle.[6] He is also known as the father of the Bidesiya folk theatre tradition.[7]

Bhikhari Thakur
Bhikhari Thakur
Bhikhari Thakur
BornBhikhari Thakur
(1887-12-18)18 December 1887
Qutubpur, Shahabad, Bengal Presidency, British India (now Saran District, Bihar, India)
Died10 July 1971(1971-07-10) (aged 83)
Resting placeAshes scattered in the Ganges
Occupation
  • Poet
  • dramatist
  • composer
  • philosopher
  • social reformer
  • Singer
  • Dancer
  • Actor
Language
NationalityIndian
PeriodBritish Raj, Independent India
Literary movementFeminism
Notable works
SpouseMatuna
Children1, Shilanath Thakur
Locations of places associated with Bhikhari Thakur
Qutubpur
Qutubpur
Arrah
Arrah
Muzzafarpur
Muzzafarpur
Chhapra
Chhapra
Varansi
Varansi
 
class=notpageimage|
Locations of places associated with Bhikhari Thakur

Thakur was born and raised in Kutubpur village of Saran, in his adolescent he married to Matuna from which he had only one son: Shilanath Thakur. In early 1900s, he started his career as an actor, writer, singer and dancer. he remained active till his death in 1971. He published most of his works between 1938 to 1962. His early works were dialogues and musical plays, later he wrote some philosophical works, Bhajans, Harikirtans and other poems.

Life

Early life

Thakur was born in a barber family on 18 December 1887 in Kutubpur village of Chhapra.[8][9][10] Initially his village was the part of Shahabad district (present Bhojpur) but later (in 1926) due to the change in the course of the Ganges got saperated from Shahabad and became the part of Saran district, his maternal grandmother's house remained in Arrah.[11][12] He was the son of Dalsingar Thakur, who was a barber by profession and his mother's name was Sivkali Devi. Bhikhari Thakur was elder of the two sons, the name of his younger brother was Bahor Thakur. Due to the poor condition of his family, Thakur did not even manage to complete his primary education. He only had the knowledge of the Kaithi alphabets and Ramcharitmanas.[13] In his adolescence, he married Matuna, in 1921 Matuna gave birth to a son, Shilanath Thakur.[14] He used to graze cattle in his childhood and when he grew up he had to adopt his family profession of a Barber. However, he wanted to do something else and did not want to do the job of Barber. He shifted from his village to the neighboring village named Fatanpur. After that, he left his family and went to Kharagpur in the search of job.[15] From there he went to Medinipur and started doing some job. He used to watch the Ramlila, and from there he got the inspiration to write and act in plays. He returned to his village formed a drama company and started performing Ramilia.[16]

Career

In the early part of twentieth century, he returned to his village and started presenting Ramlila with a small troop, but was opposed and blocked by Upper Caste Hindus to perform such an important religious text by people with lower caste.[17] After that, Bhikhari Thakur formed a theatrical company and started writing and directing plays by his own. Most of his plays used to revolve around the plight of women, village folks and confrontation between old values and modern values.[18][19] The first play written by Bhikhari Thakur was Biraha Bahar, he wrote his most famous play Bidesiya in 1917, when he was 30 years old. Between 1938 to 1962, more than three dozen books of Bhikhari Thakur published. Most of the books published from Dudhnath Press (Howrah) and Kachaudi Gali (Varanasi).[20]

He impressed people all over Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal by his performances.[9] He used to visit place to place with the artists of his theatre company to perform at marriages and other events and used to charge a lump sum.[21] A humongous number of people would gather to watch his plays, especially for Bidesiya, whenever and wherever Bidesiya was staged and played, there used to be an uncontrollable crowd.[22] Owing to his popularity, people started selling pirated copies of his books and even such books that were not written by him, for this he had to write "Bhikhari Pustika Suchi", which had the list and details of all of his published works. He also wrote "Bhikhari Shanka Shamadhan" to clear fake news that was spreading about him.[20]

Last years and death

In 1963, Bhojpuri movie Bidesiya released which was based on his play, in the movie Bhikhari Thakur made a special appearance in the song "Hasi Hasi Panwa Khiyawale Baimanwa". Thakur died on 10 July 1971.

Theatrical Company

In early 20th century, Bhikhari formed his own theater company against the wills of his parents.[23] In early days, the company used to perform only Ramlila but later it started staging plays written by Bhikhari Thakur. Most of the played were performed in open sky on an elevated platform surrounded by audience. The company had group of skilled singers, dancers and actors. Some notable names are Ramchandra Manjhi (dancer), Mahendra (singer), Ram Lacchan and Juthan were comedians, musicians were Ghinawan (Dholak), Tafzul (Tal), Alijan (Sarangi) and Jagdeo (Harmonium).[24]

In those days, due to Parda system, it was very hard for women to perform in plays, Bhikhari Thakur included the Launda dancers to cast them as women in his plays. Later it became one of the greatest attractions of his plays, in January 2021 government of India feliciated Ramchandra Manjhi, a Launda dancer of his company with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour of India.[25]

Works

See also: Bibliography of Bhikhari Thakur

Most of the works of Bhikhari Thakur was based on the problem of the society like plight of the migrants and women, poverty, Mother's love, etc.[26] Bhikhari Thakur published almost 3 dozens Books and Bookelts in his career. His published and unpublished works were compiled by Bhikhari Thakur Aashram and published in three parts as Bhikhari Thakur Granthavali. The first part was published in 1979 in which his five plays are compiled namely, Bidesiya, Bhai Birodh, Beti Bechwa, Kaljug Prem and Radheshyam Bahar. The second part was published in 1986 in which five more plays are there, namely Putra Badh, Gabarghichor, Nanad-Bhaujai, Ganga Asnan and Bidhwa Bilaap. The third and last part have his other plays, songs and monologues.[27]

Style and Contributions

Plays of Bhikhari Thakur were different from modern plays of 20th century, which used to have dialogues only, in spite of this, the plays of Thakur were closer to the style used in classical Sanskrit theatre and Shakespeare's style, which used to contain songs and dialogues both.[28] Plays written by Thakur imbibed many principles from the Classical Indian Theatre.For example, His plays used to start with maṃgalācaran which is an essential part of Sanskrit plays in which prayers are dedicated to Ganapati and Saraswati, asking for the blessings. They also had Samājī which is equivalent to Shutradhāra of Sanskrit theatre and Chorus of Greek Theatre. The samaji used to explain about the play in the Prologue, its characters and used to draw example parallel to Hindu mythology.[29] Another important part of his plays were labār which are known as viduṣak in Indian classical theatre, who used to come in the middle of the play just to entertain the audience by doing some comedy.[30] The characters of the plays of Bhikhari Thakur are of types representing the general rather than the particular. For example, in the play Bidesiya, the character of Bidesi represents all the young men who used to go to Assam and Bengal for earning. Similarly Batohi means Traveller and represents a random person who is going to Kolkata.[29]

He incorporated everything that he found appropriate and exciting from other popular theatre in his plays. His Bidesiya is the blend of religious, secular, Tragedy, Comedy, traditional and modern theatre genre. He also included instruments like Tabla, Harmonium, Dholak, Sitar, Jhal, and Bansi. He also adopted all the popular Bhojpuri Folk songs genre in his plays like Biraha, Purbi, Kajari, Alha, Fagua, Chaita, Sorathi, Chaubola etc.[17] He also created a new form of Chhand which are called Bidesiya Chhand, unlike the chhands in vernaculars, which are Matrik, Bidesiya chhand is Varnik or syllabic like classical sanskrit poetry, which have 32 syllables in each line like Ghankashari Chhanda of Sanskrit.[31] For example in Bidesiya, Pyari is expounding her husband's appearance to Batohi:[32]

Kariyā nā gor bāte, lāmā nāhi hawan nāte (17),
Majilā jawān sām sundar batohiyā(15)...

— Bhikhari Thakur, Bidesiya, Scene IV

Messages

The plays and songs of Bhikhari Thakur depict the evils that were corroding the society.[33] Bidesiya depicts the pain of a woman whose husband leaves her and marries another woman, Beti Bechwa depicts the practice of unequal marriage, Bidhwa Bilaap depicts that a widow is treated and cheated by the society and her family. Besides social problems, Thakur has also talked about the separation of joint families in Bhai Birodh and Nanad-Bhaujai. In Kaljug Prem or Piyawa Nasaïl, he has shown the consequences of drinking and impact on the family. In Putrabadh, a Stepmother plans to kill her Stepson. Ganga Asnan exposes the frauds of the dhongi Brahmins.[34]

Filmography

  • Thakur made a special appearance in a song of Bhojpuri movie Bidesiya in 1963.[35] In the film, Thakur recites his own poetry, writes Avijit Ghosh in his book, Cinema Bhojpuri.

Critical Reputation

File:Statue of Bhikhari Thakur in Chhapra.jpg
Statue or Bhikhari Thakur in Chhapra

Bhikhari Thakur got immense appreciation for his play who used to reveal the reality of the society. People called him with the titles like Raibahadur and Shakespeare of Bhojpuri. Rahul Sankrityayan who gave him the title of Shakespeare has commented on him:[36]

𑂯𑂧𑂢𑂱 𑂍𑂵 𑂥𑂷𑂪𑂲 𑂧𑂵 𑂍𑂞𑂢𑂰 𑂔𑂷𑂩 𑂥𑂰, 𑂆 𑂮𑂦 𑂦𑂱𑂎𑂰𑂩𑂲 𑂘𑂰𑂍𑂳𑂩 𑂍𑂵 𑂢𑂰𑂗𑂍 𑂧𑂵 𑂠𑂵𑂎𑂲𑂪𑂰𑃀 𑂦𑂱𑂎𑂰𑂩𑂲 𑂘𑂰𑂍𑂳𑂩 𑂯𑂧𑂢𑂱 𑂍𑂵 𑂃𑂢𑂏𑂜 𑂯𑂲𑂩𑂰 𑂯𑂫𑂵𑂁, 𑂯𑂳𑂢𑂍𑂰 𑂧𑂵𑂁 𑂍𑂳𑂪𑂱 𑂏𑂳𑂝 𑂥𑂰, 𑂎𑂰𑂪𑂲 𑂉𑂢𑂵 𑂋𑂢𑂵, 𑂞𑂢𑂲 𑂧𑂳𑂢𑂲 𑂓𑂰𑂁𑂗𑂵 𑂍𑂵 𑂍𑂰𑂧 𑂯𑂫𑂵
We can clearly see the power of our language in the plays of Bhikhari Thakur. Bhikhari Thakur is our uncut diamond, he has all the talents, however we need to arrange it properly.

In 1944, Bihar Government gave him the title of Rai Bahadur or Rai Sahab[37] and was felicited with a Copper Shield.[38]

Adaptations of works

Legacy

See also

References

  1. ↑ Leiter, Samuel L. (2007). Encyclopedia of Asian Theatre: A-N. Greenwood Press. p. 61. ISBN 9780313335297.
  2. ↑ The Journal of the Bihar Purāvid Parishad, Vol. 19-20. Bihar Purāvid Parishad. 1995.
  3. ↑ Shalaja Tripathi. "On the Shakespeare of Bhojpuri". The Hindudate=16 June 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Agra University Journal of Research: Letters, Volumes 1-5. Agra University. 1952.
  5. ↑ Encyclopaedia of Indian Theatre, Vol. VI. Raj Publication. 2004. ISBN 9788186208359.
  6. ↑ "Bhikhari Thakur: Voice of the marginalised". THE Hindu.
  7. ↑ Narayan, Badri (2016). Culture and Emotional Economy of Migration. p. 74. ISBN 978-1315448039.
  8. ↑ "जयंती विशेष: भोजपुरी के 'शेक्सपियर' भिखारी ठाकुर की 10 बड़ी बातें". Aaj Tak.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Indian Literature, vol. 44. Sahitya Akademi. 2000.
  10. ↑ Sangeet Natak, Volume 37. Sangeet Natak Akademi. 2002. p. 49.
  11. ↑ Singh, Durgashankar Prasad. Bhojpuri ke Kavi aur Kavya. Patna: Kalika press.
  12. ↑ Dwiwedi, Bhagwati Prasad (2000). Bhikhari Thakur: Bhojpuri ke Bharatendu. Allahabad: Aashu Prakashan. p. 25. ISBN 81-85377-41-3.
  13. ↑ "एक आम आदमी, जो बना भोजपुरी का शेक्सपियर!". Amar Ujala.
  14. ↑ Dwiwedi, Bhagwati Prasad (Aashu Prakashan). Bhikhari Thakur: Bhojpuri ke Bharatendu. Allahabad. p. 28. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ↑ Sulabh, Hrishikesh (January 2009). Rangmanch Ka Jantantra. Rajkamal Prakashan. p. 99. ISBN 9788126717842.
  16. ↑ Choubey, Devendra. Sahitya Ka Naya Soundaryashastra. Kitabghar Publication. p. 342. ISBN 9788189859114.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Prakash, Brahma (2016). "Performing "Bidesiyā" in Bihar: Strategy for Survival, Strategies for Performance". Asian Theatre Journal. 33 (1): 57–81. doi:10.1353/atj.2016.0023. JSTOR 24737156.
  18. ↑ Choubey, Devendra. Sahitya Ka Naya Soundaryashastra. ISBN 9788189859114.
  19. ↑ Sinha, Biswajit (2000). Encyclopaedia of Indian Theatre: pt.1-2. Rabindranath Tagore. Raj Publication. p. 89. ISBN 9788186208359.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Dwiwedi, Bhagwati Prasad (Aashu Prakashan). Bhikhari Thakur: Bhojpuri ke Bharatendu. Allahabad. p. 29. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ↑ Garagi, Balawanta (1962). Theatre in India. Theatre Arts Books. p. 147.
  22. ↑ Misra, Ram Baksh (2003). Sociology of Bhojpuri Language. Swasti Publications.
  23. ↑ Banham, Martin; Brandon, James R. (1995). The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge university press. p. 105. ISBN 9780521434379.
  24. ↑ Dwiwedi, Bhagwati Prasad (2000). Bhikhari Thakur: Bhojpuri ke Bharatendu. Aashu Prakashan. p. 70.
  25. ↑ "Padma Shri Ramchandra Manjhi and Dulari Devi: Tale of two artists, and of art, caste and grit in Bihar". The Indian Express.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  26. ↑ Golmej. Vani Prakashan. p. 97.
  27. ↑ Bhikhari Thakur: Bhojpuri ke Bharatendu. Allahabad: Aashu Prakashan. 2005. p. 38.
  28. ↑ Gomez. Vani Prakashan. p. 97.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Chaturvedi, Namrata. ""BIDESIA" – THE FOLK THEATRE OF EASTERN INDIA". The Theatre Times.
  30. ↑ Narayan, Badri. Culture and Emotional Economy of Migration. p. 76.
  31. ↑ Shandilya, Rajeshwari (2001). Bhojpuri Lokgeetan me geeti tatva. Patna: Bhojpuri Sansthan. p. 189.
  32. ↑ Bhikhari Thakur Rachnawali: Part 1. Qutubpur (Saran): Lok Kalakar Bhikhari Thakur Aashram. 1979. p. 33.
  33. ↑ Bihar District Gazetteers: Saran. Bihar: Superintendent, Secretariat Press. 1960. p. 116.
  34. ↑ Dwiwedi, Mahesvari Prasad. Bhikhari Thakur: Bhojpuri ke Bharatendu. Allahabad: Aashu Prakashan. pp. 50–54.
  35. ↑ Patel, Raviraj. Bhojpuri Filmon Ka Safanama.
  36. ↑ Thakur, Harinarayan (2009). Bhārata meṃ pichaṛā varga āndolana aura parivartana kā nayā samājaśāstra. Gyan Publishing House. ISBN 9788178357416.
  37. ↑ There is a debate of the exact name of the title, whether it was "Rai Bahaur" or "Rai Sahab". Some scholars also believe that the award was only announced but he never received it.
  38. ↑ Bhikhari Thakur: Bhojpuri ke Bharatendu. Allahabad: Aashu Prakashan. 2005. p. 23.
  39. ↑ Rai, Sandeep (2021). Aesthetics and Politics: Two Leading Bhojpuri Artists. Becomeshakespeare.com. ISBN 9789390543519.
  40. ↑ Narayan, Badri. Culture and Emotional Economy of Migration. p. 77.
  41. ↑ The Tradition of Kannada Theatre. IBH Prakashana. 1986.
  42. ↑ Tripathi, Shailaja. "On the Shakespeare of Bhojpuri". The Hindu.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  43. ↑ "Play narrates life, struggles of folk artist Bhikhari Thakur". Outlook.
  44. ↑ Chatarjer, Shoma A. "Naach Bhikari Naach: A Film on the Fading Folk Art of Naach". The Citizen.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

Bibliography

  • Prasad, Maheshwar (1964), Jankavi Bhikhari Thakur, Bhojpuri Pariwar Patna
  • Maheshwaracharya, . (1978), Bhikhari: Bhojpuri ke Lok kalakar bhakt Bhikhari Thakur ki Samast rachnaon ka vishleshana [Bhikhari: A critical study of all writings of Bhojpuri Folk-Dramatist and Devotee Bhikhari], Lok Kalakar Bhikhari Thakur Aashram{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  • Dwiwedi, B.P. (2000), Bhikhari Thakur: Bhojpuri ke Bharatendu, Aashu Prakashan
  • Rai, D.N. (2004), Lok Kalakar Bhikhari Thakur-Iyadan ke khoh se (in Bhojpuri), Shree Madhav Press,Chhapra
  • Singh, Dhananjay (2008), Bhojpuri Pravasi Shramikon ki Sanskriti aur Bhikhari Thakur ka Sahitya (in Hindi), NLI Research studies series
  • Prasad, Vijay Shankar (2019), Shakespeare of Bhojpuri in English: Transliteration and Translation of Bhikhari Thakur's Bidesiya, ISBN 9781797717531

External links

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