Berhampur: Many ‘tigers’ prowled on the streets of Berhampur during the Thakurani Yatra. They come out together with their bodies painted as tigers, with a tiger mask on and tail as a homage to Goddess Budhi Thakurani.
According to legend, Budhi Thakurani rides the tiger and by dressing up as the striped animal, one secures divine blessings. Incidentally, the devotee, who dons the role of this carnivore, follows a strict vegetarian diet for at least a fortnight before his act and fasts on the day of the performance.
The tradition of Bagha Nacha or tiger dance started 125 years ago by one devotee and a great artist ‘Bagha Arjun’ of Old Berhampur, said Badri Narayan Nayak (65), a guru in Bagha Nacha who has been in the field since 1983. However, he never takes any charges or fees for training on tiger dance from anybody.
At present, the cost of Bagha Besha, hiring drummers and other things comes to nearly Rs 25,000. Painting on the body only costs Rs 9,000, hiring three drummers and one dholki player costs Rs 12,000 and other charges are Rs 6,000, said Badri. “Most youths dress up as tigers to appease the goddess and get their wishes fulfilled,” he said.
The performer undergoes regular dance practice sessions for a minimum of two to four weeks under the guidance of a guru. The necessary rituals are carried out by his family members. On the day of the performance, he visits the temple of the goddess.
“The donation which one receives from the houses he visits during the city tour is spent on offerings to the goddess and the ‘Bhoga’ is distributed among friends and relatives,” added Badri.
Usually, it takes around three-and-a-half hours to paint the tiger stripes on a performer, said Raj Kumar, a resident of Chandramanipeta Street in Gate Bazar area who has been in this business for the last 22 years and have sculpted Atal Bihari Vajpayee statue installed at Ramlingam Tank Water Park Arena. Hadia Behera, father of Raj, still helps him in painting the tiger dance performers and in the business for the last 40 years. During one season, they paint as many as 400 men as tigers.
“My father and I have formed a group of 12 people who are in charge of painting people in Bagha Besha during Thakurani Yatra. The dancer’s entire body is shaved and we start painting early in the morning. Coloured with enamel paint. In the afternoon, the dancer’s headgear, tail, used ‘silver paunji’, lemon, ‘Kaudi’ are taken to the Yatra Mandap for puja. As dusk falls, he gets into his act, dancing on the city streets followed by the drummers,” Raj Kumar said.
Each of the Bagha Nacha performers is usually accompanied by a minimum of 4 to 6 Dhampa drum beaters. The Dhampas are to be warmed up in a short interval of time and for the purpose a cycle rickshaw stored with hey follows the drum beaters throughout the procession. The drum beaters light up hey in the road side to warm up their Dhampas every now and then whenever required.
Anybody can perform ‘Bagha Nacha’. However, traditionally, many people promise a wish to perform on the event of a troublesome phase of daily life praying for Goddess’s blessing to overcome. Bagha Nacha during the Yatra is considered as thanks giving to the Goddess. Though Bagha Nacha performers need not be a professional dancer and the performers belong to different walks of life, he needs regular practice sessions under the guidance of a Guru (a master dancer).
During 2023, Badri trained one 29-years-old bachelor German youth who painted his body as usual as a tiger and performed Bagha Nacha on Berhampur streets. He was serious during Covid and vowed for Bagha Besha. I taught him all the rituals of Bagha Nacha and Gayatri Mantra for five days and he later performed Bagha Nacha from evening 5 to 8 in the night, Badri said. Another youth from Visakhapatnam is going to perform Bagha Nacha on April 24 next, Badri said.
This tiger dance form was utilised in the critically acclaimed film ‘Bagh Bahadur’, which was choreographed by late Bhagaban Sahu.
The costumes, dancing postures and the ‘Dhampa’ (a musical instrument played by beating with two sticks on drums) do not resemble any classical dance form and efforts should be made to conserve this age-old tradition
