On seeing a visiting Circus Party way back in 1956-57, some enthusiastic youths of Jaipatna could dare to dream for forming a circus party of the same magnitude and dimension at their own ability, capacity and merit and turning it into a reality to earn eventually an eternal name, fame and glory for Kalahandi being the architect of “First ever Circus Party in Odish” would inevitably compel you to rest and reflect upon rediscovering the glorious past of Kalahandi, once stigmatized as a land of poverty and snake charmer by the so-called critics. What weighs more than jotting down about a mere circus party for entertaining pursuit is that the efforts and endeavors of merely marginalised, poor and illiterate folks of the Jaipatna in mid -50s could be reckoned as one of the praiseworthy contributions of Kalahandi in elevating the essence,entity and Identity of the Odias and Odisha as well.
EVOLUTION :
Jaipatna,a block head quarter under Dharamgarh Sub-division in Kalahandi district of Odisha happens to be a glorious site for history, heritage, art, literature, sports, culture, flora and fauna. The inhabitants of the land have been passionate enough towards art, culture and sports since time immemorial. In perpetuation of such a laudable legacy, under the patronization of the then landlord of Jaipatna,late Kishore Chandra Deo, an Akhada entitled “Mahabir Akhada” came into being way back in 1955-56 to rear and nurture the wrestling talents of the locality. Even under the aegis of the Mahabir Akhada, several wrestling competitions were being organized time and again by inviting the famous wrestlers from Jagdalpur and Bastar areas of the then Madhya Pradesh.Late Gobardhan Baitharu of Jaipatna was the most famous wrestling hero of the locality. Huge crowd unfailingly gathered round the ring to witness his fighting. His son, Sri Jagdish Baitharu, the only person who is alive now among the members of both the Mahabir Akhada and Circus Party, in an interview with the writer of this article, nostalgically recounted his experience in the bygone with rheumy eyes and said:
“In 1958,Perhaps, I was in class 7th when I witnessed my father’s wrestling game against a wrestler from Jagdalpur. Huge crowd turned up to cheer my father. Beforehand, my father’s rival played a mind game as he told me to inform my mother to get ready for wiping out the vermilion(Sindur ) on her forehead and breaking bangles around her wrist at the end of the competition. Quite surprisingly, my father hardly bothered it and emerged victorious over him.The resounding cheering and applause for my father even now echo in my heart and soul.”
Eventually, this Akhada was instrumental in the birth of Mahabir Circus Party, entitled as the first ever Circus of not only Kalahandi but also Odisha. The Circus Party was named “Mahabir Circus Party unanimously,for the members of the “Mahabir Akhada were the pioneer of its formation.The able supervision and guidance of Late Lal Saheb Birendra Sing Deo, the then President of Zilla Parishada, Kalahandi, raised the cirus Party to a towering height mustering overwhelming appreciation, admiration and applause across the length and breadth of Odisha.
It was in 1956-57 that there came a circus party named “Saroj Grand Circus” to Jaipatna.The members of the Mahabir Akhada -late Mana Gobinda Barik, late Laba Barik, late Gobardhan Baitharu, late Upendra Dalpati, late Naresh Pattnaik and etc visited the show almost everyday. They enjoyed each and every item of the circus thoroughly and got inspired and fascinated so much so that they started copying the performances and quite surprisingly,they succeeded in their initial endeavors. By and by they became confident enough to form a circus party of their own.Late Naresh Pattnaik, Late Dhanurjaya Rout, Late Chaitanya Rout, late Gobardhan Baitharu played the pivotal role in erecting the Circus party at the initial phase. They were too poor to buy the basic tools and equipments like Iron and Cupper wire, iron poles, tents and etc. Nevertheless , they had invincible will power to leave no stone unturned to materialise their cherished dream. As such, they approached and appraised the details of their mission to the then landlord of Jaipatna, Late Kishor Chandra Deo. Mr. Deo, a passionate lover of games and sports, was elated on learning about the proposed circus party and agreed instantly to extend financial support for its realization. Thus with ecstatic joy, jubilation, spirit, hope and enthusiasm, the members of the circus party had undergone rigorous training and practice. Eventually, in the premise of Lal Saheb Birendan Nath Singh Deo,the first ever show of Mahabir Circus Party was inaugurated amid an electrifying atmosphere by Maharaja Sri Pratap Kishore Deo, the then M. P of Kalahandi in 1957.Thus the first ever Circus of Odisha came into being at Jaipatna of Kalahandi district.
MANAGEMENT AND FLOURISHMENT:
Under the lavish patronization of the then land lord of Jaipatna Late Kishor Chandra Deo and Mohan Charan Panda of Kapurmal village and support of some eminently generous residents of Jaipatna and its adjacent villages, Mahabir Circus Party went beyond its birth place and toured all over Kalahandi and Odisha and gained huge admiration, appreciation and recognition. The box office collection was sizable enough to run the circus party smoothly. All praise for late Lal Saheb Birendra Deo,the Treasurer-in charge of the party; whose meticulous financial management brought a harmonious growth of the Circus Party with the passage of time.
SOME OF THE LEGENDARY PERFORMERS & THEIR PERFORMENCES:
The performances of the artists were quite risky, adventurous and thoroughly entertaining. Although most of them are no more, nevertheless, the performances they had exhibited are till date enshrined in the heart and soul of the spectators, who had had the rare opportunity to witnessed the show. What is more, some spectators of Jaipatna, though had grown pretty old now, can still recall the artists by name and recount their mesmerizing performances vividly even now with sheer nostalgic touch.
(I)Late Sitaram Barik and Late Upendra Dalpati :
These two artists were in charge of playing the role of Jokers. Their performances were creatively funny and humorous enough to evoke peelings of laughter among the audience.
(II) Late Chaitanya Rout: As the ring master, Chaitanya Rout’s performance was inimitable. His other performance includes sitting on a chair kept on a swing and making two girls stand on his shoulder and legs;this apart, his Aeroplane game in which keeping his chest across a slopping wire that was tied from the roof of the stage to the ground, he was sliding down with a great speed was evoking thunderous cheering, clapping and applauses among the jam-packed audience.
(III) Late Upendra Dalpati : Upendra Dalpati was a multitalented artist of the Mahabir Circus party.Apart from rendering the role of joker immaculately, he was champion in taming the monkeys for performing both adventurous and entertaining shows. At his direction, a monkey jumped through a circular ring emitting wild fire around its circumference. This apart, the monkey could dance beautifully to his musical tunings. In his adventurous performance, he used to lie flat in sleeping pose on a big wooden board;another big piece of flat wooden board was placed over him and then a bullock cart carrying 4 to 5 passengers was made to run over him.
(IV) Mana Gobinda Barik: Maana Barik was yet another multi talented performer of the Circus Party. He mesmerized the audience by walking along a wire tied to the two ends of poles at a great height. His other performance includes swinging in a circular fashion on an iron bar connected to the top of an iron pillar of about 8 meter high while carrying two batons emitting wild fire at the top.
(V) Benudhar Dalpati : Benudhar Dalpati was an ace performer of chair balancing. What was incredible but true about him was that on a swing, bottles were kept and a chair was placed over them;sitting on the chair Benudhar would play the flute melodiously. The balance exhibited by Benudhar was responded by the audience with roaring cheers, resounding clippings and waving hands.
(VI) Late Laba Barik :
Tying an Iron block of about 40 kg with his hair, the artist Late Laba Barik could walk smartly.Also, he trained a goat to walk along a wire connected to the top of two high poles was the testimony to entitle him as an artist of excellence for the Mahabir Circus party.
(VI) Late Gobardhan Baitharu : Gobardhan Baitharu was an ace wrestler of Mahabir Akhada. However, his performance at the Mahabir Circus party was also no less in measure. In the course of his performance, he was lying flat on the ground ;a thick but flat wooden board was placed on his chest and on which a big block of stone was placed; the stone was hammered hard till it crumbled into pieces.
(VII) Late Prafulla Baitharu, Dhanurjaya Rout and Amulya Pattnaik :
These Trios were exceptionally skilful in showing magical movement of lathi(stick) and forming towering human pyramids. Charging two ends of a lathi or stick with wild fire, they used to move it fast in different directions in wonderful fashion.
(VIII) Female Artists:
During the50s & 60s, Kalahandi Society was so conservative, superstitious and backward that females taking part in a circus was no less than a tale of fable and fiction.However, for Mahabir Circus of Jaipatna, it was a reality. Female artists like Mrs. Tikemani Rout, Premashila Rout, Chanchala Rout and Manjulata Rout had earned name, fame and appreciations by showing Sterling performance in Swinging events and human pyramid formation.
Infract, it is beyond the scope of this article to jot down all the names of the performers and their long listed performances . The names of some other performers include late Dingar Rout, late Jahan Khan,late Dhanurjaya Rout, Late Naresh Pattnaik, late Kudrat Khan. These artists used to perform like jumping through circular ring with burning fire around its circumference, Keeping bottles on table and throwing rings to pass through them, single and double swings,keeping a Damru shaped wooden block on a flat wooden board and keeping another wooden board on the Damru and walk on it, uprooting the strongly erected pole by striking it with fist and so on.
INVITATION TO BHUBANESWAR BY THE THEN C. M, LATE H. K. MAHATAB:
Hardly did the members of Mahabir Circus Party ever think even in their dream that the circus party started rather accidentally at Jaipatna, a remote village of Kalahandi would one day stage a show in Bhubaneswar, that too at the invitation of the Chief Minister of the State. As luck has its own turn, Mahabir Circus Party was lucky enough to have been invited by the then Chief Minister of Odisha, Dr. Hare Krushna Mahatab to stage show in Bhubaneswar. Thus, under the leadership of late Gobardhan Baitharu, the circus Party accompanied by its artists late Chaitanya Rout, late Dhanurjaya Rout, late Bishnu Saraf, late Bholaram Dalpati, Binayak Parichha, late Abdul Usman Khan, Gunanidhi Dalapati, late Jahan Khan, late Kudrat Khan,, late Hara prasad Das reached Bhubaneswar. All praise for the then D. P. R. O, Kalahandi who assisted the party to arrive at Bhubaneswar safe and sound.It was no less than a red-letter day for the members of the Mahabir Circus Party as they performed at Kalamandap, Bhubaneswar before the hon’ble Chief Minister, Dr. Mahatab and amid the electrifying audience of the state capital. The appreciations, admirations and applause the party received from the audience of Bhubaneswar was overwhelmingly awesome.
FELICITATION BY M. S. A, BHAWANIPATNA :
In recognition to the deeds, dedication and accomplishments of the unsung heroes who were instrumental in architecting The Mahabir Circus Party, the first ever circus party of Odisha, Mahabir Sanskrutik Anusthan, Bhawanipatna under the presidentship of Sri Jayanta Behera, felicitated the following members of the Mahabir Circus Party, Jayapatna at its Annual function in 2005.
- JugalKishor Sing
- Amulya Pattnaik
- Chaitanya Rout
- Benudhar Dalpati
- Dhanurjaya Rout.
- Sobhakara Rout
- Sri Jagdish Baitharu
To our dismay, except Sri Jagdish Baitharu, the other mentioned members of the circus Party are no more now. To our pleasure, the only alive member at present, Sri Jagdish Baitharu, now about 73 year old, in the course of sharing his ever longing experience with me, couldn’t refrain himself from narrating about the grand felicitation and honour conferred upon them by M. S. A, Bhawanipatna in 2005.He even quoted the inspiring compliment of Sri Rasa Bihari Behera, the founding president of M. S. A, a prolific writer and ex-M. P, who called in him at the function and said-
“Mr. Baitharu!, you have in your speech narrated details of Mahabir Circus Party so lively and vividly that I feel like watching the performance of your circus party sitting here right now;Congratulation”
“The compliments of sri Behera is no less than a precious award for me”, added Mr. Baitharu with a smile of complacence.
FADING INTO OBLIVION :
It is a universal fact that the ebb and flow of time changes fate and fortune of living or non-living being, may be in positive or negative way.Mahabir Circu Party was of no exception to this eternal truth.After enjoying enormous name, fame and recognition for years, it started fading into oblivion. In the wake of emergence of new means of entertainment like TV, mobile, social medias and the virtual platform, it failed to keep pace with the changing fads and fashion and became out of date for the new generation. Lack of patronization and proper management might be the other possible cause for its disappearance. Nevertheless, Mahabir Circus Party, Jaipatna has transitioned into the essence of history, heritage and culture of Kalahandi and Odisha as well. At the present ambience of Odisha, as there have been ceaseless debates , discussions and deliberations on “Odia Identity” in the air, the tale of Mahabir Circus Party would inevitably tell a far-reaching role in reshaping and upholding the essence, entity and identity of Odia and Odisha as well.
(The views expressed are the writer’s own)
Bankim Mund
Lecturer in English
Dharmgarh Women’s Jr. College, Dharamgrh, Kalahandi Mob 8327717672
You can reach to him : bankim.mund@gmail.com