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Bhubaneswar, June 30: Artistes of the theatre group Amateur Artists, Bhubaneswar, enacted the play ‘Kabya-Purusha’, which depicts the life of Oriya poet and writer of Oriya Bhagabata Atibadi Jaganntha Dash, at Rabindra Mandap, Thursday. State culture department organised the event.
Music for the work directed by Rabi Tripathy has been composed by Manoj Rath. It was staged by 13 artistes. ‘Kabya-Purusha’ took the viewers through the life of the poet from his birth to demise.
“Jagannath Dash was a legendary writer in Orissa’s literary history. He has also been immortalised as a leading devotee of Lord Jagannath. His consummate work ‘Bhagabata’ is daily read in almost every household of Orissa. Earlier, villages in Orissa used to have huts known as bhagabata tungi, where villagers would gather to listen to recitations of Dash’s Bhagabata. Many of its verses have become proverbs and are cited by people throughout Orissa,” Rabi said.
The central characters of the play — Shree Krishna, Sri Chaitanya, Jaganntha Das and Gajapati — were played by Pramod Pattnaik, Rabi Tripathy, Purnachandra Khuntia and Purna Puri respectively. They are popular actors known for their work.
“Playing Jagannath Dash offered a unique experience. I prepared myself mentally and physically to portray the role. It was difficult to portray the attitude and behavior of the poet in the play. He was a dedicated devotee of Jagannath, Purnachandra said.
The play has already been presented on All India Radio with ten members of the group lending their voice to it. “The audience focuses on voices in a radio drama whereas in a live performance they get to see the characters, too. Both are different formats. But our artistes have tried their best to make the performance on stage lively,” the director said.
Jagannath Dash was born in 1491 to Padmabati Debi and Bhagabana Dash in Kapileswarpur Sasana, one of the 16 traditional Sasana villages in Puri in 1491.
