JATRA PERFORMANCE TRADITIONS OF BENGAL AND SUBAL RANI: AN UNTOLD STORY OF A FEMALE IMPERSONATOR

The Jatra performance tradition has a long history. Since Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the fifteenth century, the Krishna Jatra tradition has been popular. This form is the origin of the Jatra performance tradition in Bengal and Odisha. Initially, the form centred on purely religious subjects. Later on, secular subject matter and the lives of ordinary people were incorporated into this performance tradition. As time passed, the form and subject matter of this performance tradition changed enormously. In West Bengal, two separate trends of performance were simultaneously performed: one in city-based performances, which were mostly influenced by the theatrical tradition of the West in the metropolitan city of Kolkata, and the other, an alternative tradition, existed in the surrounding rural areas. These two performance traditions produced several productions or staged numerous productions, and the “palas” successfully enriched the Jatra tradition in Bengal and Odisha. At the same time, this “folk” Jatra form interacts with other forms in Bengal as well. Since 1795, when Lebedeff produced the first English play in Bengal, the National Theatre in Kolkata has been established. In 1831, the Hindu Theatre was established in Kolkata. In 1835, we saw the production of Bidyasundar. In 1835, women started to perform female roles in theatrical productions. However, in the Jatra tradition, women did not enter; only female impersonators played the female roles. Many female impersonators contributed to the Jatra performance tradition of Bengal, and they were well known to the audience, such as Kashi Mohini, Durga Rani, Jotin Rani, Chhabi Rani, Babli Rani, Satadal Rani, and Chapal Rani. Apart from these dazzling Ranis, Subal Rani was an extraordinary rural Jatra performer and impersonator. His journey of life and performance in the world of Jatra tradition has a long history. Here, my attempt is to analyse the struggles of his life, performance, and body movement. Additionally, another concern centres around the discussion of how the performance and the text intertwine with each other in the special posture of the body during the performance. Thus, the untold story of his struggle is a special concern of this article.