Indrajit Khambe

Sharmila Joshi

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“In conservative society, it’s very difficult to
live as a [male] actor who performs female characters,” says Omprakash Chavan,
52, who has played women’s roles in more than 8,000 Dashavatar plays for over
35 years.

Dashavatar is a religious folk theatre form of southern
Maharashtra and northern Goa that’s at least 500 years old. It’s based on mythological
tales about Lord Vishnu’s 10 avatars – Matsya (the fish), Kurma (the tortoise), Varaha (the boar), Narasimha
(the lion-man), Vamana (the dwarf), Parashurama, Rama, Krishna (or Balarama),
Buddha and Kalki. The plays are almost entirely improvised,
several hours long and usually performed by seasonal farmers and labourers. Traditionally,
they have been performed inside temples – and only by men. 

In
October every year, soon after the paddy harvest, Dashavatar theatre companies begin
touring Sindhudurg district
in Maharashtra and parts of north Goa. Temples offer them contracts to perform
at an annual jatra
(fair) for the village deity, where the audience is mainly local residents and
migrants working in Mumbai. The companies consist of about 15 members – 8-10
actors, three musicians and two cooks – and they perform approximately 200 plays
per season (from October to May). 

Sometimes,
the companies are also invited to put on shows at people’s homes, where the characters
are mythological but the stories are fictional. While the temple performances
are in Sanskritised Marathi, the enactments at people’s homes are in the local Malvani. 

From 2014, I have photographed the Yakshini Dashavatar Company and the Parcekar
Company as they toured several villages. Their performances started at midnight
and went on till sunrise. Entire families would come to see the plays and even
young children stayed up to watch them. All riveted by the actors performing
amidst the audience, their improvisations, and the popular ‘moral of the story’.

A rich night of Dashavatar improvisations

দশাবতার পালায় সমুজ্জ্বল এক রাত

دشاوتار ناٹکوں سے سجی رات

दशावतार नाटकों से सजी रात

தசாவதாரத்தில் மேம்பாடுகள் நிறைந்த சிறந்த இரவு

ଦଶାବତାର ନାଟକର ଏକ ଆକର୍ଷଣୀୟ ରାତି

Sindhudurg

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A rich night of Dashavatar improvisations

In Dashavatar performances – a centuries-old theatre form of south Maharashtra and north Goa – plays of several hours, with only male actors, most of them farmers and labourers, keep audiences riveted till dawn

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