Burra Katha, also spelled Burrakatha, is an

oral storytelling Oral storytelling is an ancient and intimate tradition between the storyteller and their audience. The storyteller and the listeners are physically close, often seated together in a circular fashion. The intimacy and connection is deepened by ...

technique in the Jangam Katha tradition, performed in villages of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

. The troupe consists of one main performer and two co-performers. It is a narrative entertainment that consists of prayers, solo drama, dance, songs, poems and jokes. The topic will be either a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

mythological story ( Jangam Katha) or a contemporary social issue. It became popular art form during the Telangana Rebellion in the early 1930-1950.

Origin

The modern form of Burra Katha was developed in Guntur district around 1942 with the aim of propagating political ideas among illiterate masses in villages.

Etymology

"Burra" is referred to tambura, a musical string instrument with a hollow shell. "Katha" means story. Burra means brain in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

. The shell resembles a

human skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...

. It is made of baked clay or dried pumpkin, or of brass and copper. The instrument looks very similar to

veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...

and the performer can pull and press strings to produce voices and get music.

History

Burrakatha started as devotional songs of nomadic people and became a popular art form. It is played on radio and TV regularly in

. It is a 20th-century name for the theater show known as

Jangam The Jangam or Jangamaru (ಜಂಗಮರು) are a Shaiva order of religious monks. They are the priests or gurus of the Hindu Shaiva sect. Jangamas are also gurus of Veerashaiva' sect Jangamas are disciples of Lord Shiva as mentioned in Bas ...

Katha. The jangams lingayats were wandering minstrels who worshiped and sang of

Lord Siva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hind ...

. Two performers participated in these plays: the storyteller and his wife. With societal and cultural changes, the secular aspect was incorporated into this form. The modern form has three performers of any gender. Popular Hindu artists were Pendyala Venkateswarrao, Sunkara Sri Krishna Madhava Rao, Paruchuri Ramakotayya, Sirivisetti Subbarao, Kosuri Punnayya, Govardhana, Kakumanu Subbarao, Davuluru, Chintalal Suryanarayana, Budagajangala mote papaiah, Budagajangala mote kullayappa, Budagajangala mote ramalingam, etc. Women also formed groups, e.g., Moturi Udayam, Chintala Koteswaramma, Mahankali Lakshmi, Sridevi sisters, etc. Popular non-Hindu artists are Abraham Bhagavatar, Manohara Kavi, Khader Khan Sahib, Shaik Nazar etc. Shaik Nazar popularized this by performing on various contemporary issues at that time and gained people's recognition. He is popularly known as "Father of Burrakatha."

Modern form

The main storyteller (kathakudu) narrates the story. He plays tambura and dances to music. He also wears a metal ring called an andelu on his right thumb, holds another ring in his other hand and adds more music by colliding them frequently. The co-performers plays gummeta (also called dakki or budike), earthen drums with two heads. All three or only the kathakadu wear anklets (also called as gajjelu), which add even more music when they dance. The right side performer (hasyaka, meaning joker) acts as a joker and cracks satires and jokes. The left side performer (rajakiya, meaning politician) acts as someone who knows worldly ways and talks about politics and social issues. The main performer and co-performers constantly was address each other. The co-performers interrupt the kathakudu with doubts, and they sometimes add emphasis to the main events in the story with short words similar to "Wow!" "Aha!" and "That is it." Whenever the main performer sings a song, he or she starts with "vinara veera kumara veera gadha vinara" followed by the co-performers singing "tandhana tane tandhana na." It is also called 'tandana katha.'

Significance

Burra katha was a pastime event in villages. It is seen even now during

Dussehra Vijayadashami ( sa, विजयदशमी, Vijayadaśamī, translit-std=IAST), also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hin ...

Sankranti Sankranti ( sa, संक्रान्ति ''saṁkrānti or saṅkramaṇa'') means transmigration of the Sun from one zodiac to another in Indian astronomy. Each Sankranti is marked as the beginning of a month in the sidereal solar calen ...

festival seasons to describe events in epics like

Ramayan The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

and

Mahabharat The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuru ...

and also some of best and moral stories of kings like kambojaraju katha, chinnamma katha, muggurumoratila katha, etc.

Present

Burrakatha tellers are called as budagajangalu. Internet and movies play a major role in modern life. That's why the burrakathas are not being seen and no one is there to develop this and improve the art. In past these burrakatha tellers were important in the villages; now there is no response for their art. So these burrakatha tellers left their traditional art and have become beggars or day labourers. Even in these modern times, there are no educated people in this tribe. They don't have caste certificates for developing their tribe. Daroji Eramma was a performer of Burra katha from

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{cite book, author=Molly Kaushal, title=Chanted narratives: the living "katha-vachana" tradition, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zf1jAAAAMAAJ, year=2001, publisher=Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, isbn=978-81-246-0182-2, pages=123–128

External links

* Ancient Jangam Katha
Burrakatha originsBurrakatha descriptionJangam Katha as art
Drama Hindu music Indian styles of music Culture of Andhra Pradesh Hindu traditions Storytelling Performing arts in India