Traditional folk play from Kashmir. The word bhand owes its origin - TopicsExpress

Traditional folk play from Kashmir. The word bhand owes its origin either to a humorous play categorized in the Natyasastra as bhan, or to bhand (comic actor). Pather (or Pathar) comes from patra (character). The agricultural and largely the Muslim community of the “bhands” travel from village to village, particularly in the harvest season, and collect rice paddy, money, and clothes for their performances. An improvised play around social issues, bhand pather ridicules invaders and members of the ruling class, like the Pathan Pathar from Afghanistan, the Raja (King) Pathar, and Mala (Priest) Pathar, whose lust, avarice, and deeds of exploitation are exposed. Though there is no written script, the actors use dance, music, clowning, buffoonery, and mimicry to create powerful satires on shared social concerns. The open-air performances begin with a prelude by six musicians playing the shehnai (wind instrument), naqara, anddhol (both percussion). After this about six dancers perform, followed in turn by four mimics who enter from the audience encircling the performance area, and then serve as narrators through the performance. Spectacular but simple theatrical devices mark the play, like the transformation of a half-curtain into a canopy suspended on poles. With the emergence of political insurgency in Kashmir in the late twentieth century, performances of bhand pather have become increasingly rare and the survival of its artists is threatened. lightandcomposition/photo-of-the-day-june-28-supplication-for-grace-by-karan-zadoo/