Literature, art, cultural history, culinary craft, classy fashion, theatre — the Tagore household has left behind an indelible imprint of their rich legacy for generations to grow upon. The cultural reservoir is replete with gems and jewels of rare glow and priceless quality. The sun can never set here, opine critics and hordes of staunch Tagorites in unison. While the world will celebrate 155th birth anniversary of Gurudev come this May 8, 2016, the patrons of Jorasanko Thakurbari — ancestral property of the Tagores in north Kolkata — and avid devotees of the prolific culture practiced within its confines have already clanked the bell for Jorasanko theatre, initiated a good 150 years ago in the year 1865 on the enlightening steps of its patrimonial premises.
West Bengal State Akademi of Dance Drama Music and Visual Arts, Rabindra Bharati University in association with the Academy Theatre recently hosted a unique rendition of songs handpicked from a string of plays previously staged at the Thakur Dalan (courtyard) of Jorasanko Thakurbari at 6/4 Dwarakanath Tagore Lane, Kolkata-7.
Titled Jorasanko Manchagatha, the erstwhile Bengali theatre songs threw its select gathering of listeners back into a glorious era of Bengal’s renaissance, starting from the late 19th century and continuing till mid-20th century.
An eclectic choice of songs from the plays associated with the ancestral household of the Tagores was also a ready reminder of those eminent playwrights of the times. Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Ramnarayan Tarkaratna, Jyotirindranath Tagore, Swarnakumari Devi, Rabindranath Tagore, Dwijendralal Roy, Abanindranath Tagore, Indira Devi Chaudhurani, et al are some of the illustrious names who ruled over the Bengali natya-mancha with their song and dramatic compositions till the early quarter of the 20th century.
The song-recitals were presented by Riddhi Bandyopadhyay and Devajit Bandyopadhyay of Academy Theatre, with narrations by Debashis Bose based on the scripts prepared by Devajit himself, who also trebled up as the key conceptualiser and director of the entire presentation. “Our main objective was to offer a tribute to the members of the Tagore family and others who have had significantly contributed to the emergence, growth and popularity of its great theatrical culture,” shares the ideator Devajit Bandyopadhyay.
Incidentally, Jorasanko theatre was started by Gunendranath Tagore, cousin of Jyotirindranath and two years older to him. Gunendranath was the son of Girindranath and father of luminaries like Abanindranath and Gaganendranath. History traces facts like the stage was a Nat Mandir originally, where an elaborate Durga Puja used to be performed by the entire joint family unit staying under one roof. This was during the period of Prince Dwarakanath Tagore, grandfather of the Nobel Laureate bard Rabindranath Tagore. At that time, the mansion was yet to be partitioned along the lines of a traditional Hindutva and a liberal Brahmo Samaj tenet. After Tagore’s father Maharshi Debendranath had converted himself into a Brahmo Samaj devotee and strictly adhered to shapeless spirituality, he tried hard to stop the Puja performed at the Tagore Nat Mandir in 1843 only to be opposed by his elder brother. Ultimately, the routine was officially closed in 1858 and the Nat Mandir transformed into a Natya Mandir.
The house got finally divided between 5th and 6th number edifices of which, the second address would consciously foster a real healthy habit of cultural discussions, animated debates, brainstorming of ideas, unadulterated adda sessions, philosophical assertions and other such indulgences to generate an enriching ambience within the aristocratic precinct. No wonder then that as products of this implanted wholesome education, several polymaths over generations in the Tagore household were born to remarkably excel in their respective creative departments with a touch of superlative difference. They all successfully bore the torch of their reputed surname.
The contemporary private theatre groups from Belgachhia and Pathuriaghata Thakurbari were already running the show. However, in 1857, the Tagores made a revolution by propagating their theatrical culture in public. They printed an advert, inviting entries from the leading dramatists and stage-practitioners of the times in a playwriting competition pegged with social themes and had also announced a prize-money of '200 (considered a princely sum in those days) alongwith a shawl. Ace playwright Ramnarayan Tarkaratna had won the honours for his title, Nabanatok.
In Jorasanko Manchagatha, an array of play-songs has been incorporated from a bulk of notable works such as, Madhusudan Dutt’s Krishnakumari, Gopal Chandra Das aka Gopal Udiya’s Vidyasundar, Jyotirindranath’s Sarojini and Maanmoyee (Tagore had penned the song-lyrics in the former.
In a letter, Jyotiribdranath had confirmed that it was only after watching Gopal Udiya’s inspiring play Jatra that his interest in theatre grew immensely.), Tagore’s famous song-play Balmiki Pratibha in which Jyotirindranath had scored the tunes and Biharilal Chakraborty, composed the wordings, Swarnakumari Devi’s (Tagore’s elder sister and one of the pioneering women writers in India) Bibaha Utsav, two titles of Dwijendralal Roy, two widely-read plays by Tagore — Bisarjan and Notir Puja, respectively (The poet had acted in the latter as well. The show was so well-accepted by the audiences that yesteryear New Theatres studio had adapted it for the silver-screen.), songs from Indira Devi’s plays, Aban Thakur’s plays, who died in 1952 but had shifted his residence to Barahanagar from Jorasanko, where he would only return for the theatre rehearsals.
These above-mentioned plays were regularly performed as part of the Jorasanko repertory. It was formally decided in the early 1950s that the Jorasanko will be transformed into a state academy of dance and drama and later in 1961, to commemorate the centenary year of Tagore’s birth anniversary, the then chief minister of Bengal — Dr B.C. Roy — had declared it to be a university in the world-renowned poet’s name (Rabindra Bharati University) for formal education.
Of late, Jorasanko Manchagatha was staged back to back both at Jorasanko, as well as the Academy of Fine Arts auditorium in Kolkata. Efforts are being made at government levels to host the musical show elsewhere in India.
“We are in talks with the central cultural ministry to spread the word around. You see, these songs are on the edge of oblivion and unless they are taught, learnt and performed for posterity, they can’t be preserved for too long. I’m afraid that a significant part of the Indian theatrical history will be extinct in no time. So in order to strengthen our future, we have to be alert enough to raise awareness at present,” warns Bandyopadhyay. He also notifies that “the way the songs would be presented before have got a new-age twist now to make them more appealing to today’s generation.” “We have not tampered with the basic beats, rhythm and tunes only modified the orchestration to sound musically different and more suitable for the contemporary age,” he further explains. Resorting to ambient lighting, all rooms at the Tagore mansion were brightly illuminated to revive the authentic past atmosphere.
