Bāṇḍɨ Pə̄thɨr

The Traditional Folk Theatre of Kashmir Past, Present and Future

Abstract

Bāṇḍɨ pə̄thɨr [bāṇḍɨ pə̄thɨr] ‘a play of the Bāṇḍs’ (pronounced as such in Kashmiri but often spelt as “Bhand Pather” in the literature, and sometimes also referred to as “Bhand Jashna”), is a centuries-old endangered outdoor theater of Kashmir. Bāṇḍɨ pə̄thɨr, described as a kind of epic drama where the themes and situations are already familiar to the audiences, traditionally features in annually held Kashmiri festivals called bāṇḍɨjeśin (meaning ‘the festival of the Bāṇḍs”) and events for honoring Muslim Sufi saints referred to as “Bāṇḍɨ Cōk”; the latter are held at Muslim Sufi shrines such as Ashmuqām. Typically held in open spaces with large number of audiences and performed by professional troupes belonging to a certain community of Kashmir referred to as “Bāṇḍ” [bāṇḍ] (Singular/Plural) in Kashmiri, this article argues that a defining feature of the bāṇḍɨ pə̄thɨr is the art of improvisation.