Wikipedia
Jatra (, origin: Yatra meaning procession or journey in Sanskrit) is a popular folk-theatre form of Bengali theatre, spread throughout most of Bengali speaking areas of the Indian subcontinent, including Bangladesh and Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa and Tripura As of 2005, there were some 55 troupes based in Calcutta's old jatra district, Chitpur Road, and all together, jatra is a $21m-a-year industry, performed on nearly 4,000 stages in West Bengal alone, where in 2001, over 300 companies employed over 20,000 people, more than the local film industry and urban theatre.
The word `jatra' means journey or going. The origin of jatra intrinsically a musical theatre form, is traditionally credited to the rise Sri Chaitanya's Bhakti movement, wherein Chaitanya himself played Rukmini in the performance of Rukmini Haran ("The abduction of the Charming Rukmini") from Krishna's life story, a first definite presentation of this theatrical spectacle. The performance, which lasted through the night in 1507 AD., has been described in Chaitanya Bhagavata, Chaitanya's hagiography by a disciple Vrindavana Dasa Thakura. Though there are evidences of existence of a form of singing called the 'Carya', which was popular between the 9th and the 12th centuries in Bengal, which existed in Orissa simultaneously as the popular 'Carya Padas' form. Jatra performances resemble the Nautanki of Uttar Pradesh, the Tamasha of Maharashtra and Bhavai of Gujarat.
Though its birthplace lies in the religious landscape, replete with various Bhakti movements of Hinduism, by the end of the 19th century it was replaced by morally didactic content, and eventually became secular, when it gained entry into urban proscenium theatres during Bengal Renaissance. The survival of the form over such a vast period of rapidly changing social milieu, while catering to a heterogeneous audience, has been credited to its innate malleability and ways of adapting to changing social dynamics, and thus staying not just relevant and alive, but also thriving.
Jatra may refer to:
- Jatra (theatre), a folk-theatre form of Bengali theatre
- Jatra (film), a 2006 Marathi comedy film
- Jatra (Nepal), a street festival by the Newars
- Jatra (Odisha), an Oriya theater performance in Odisha, India
- Yatra or Zatra, Hindu pilgrimage festivals
Jatra ( Nepal Bhasa: जात्रा) refers to the types of Newari Festivals involving street festival or carnival.
Jatra is a Marathi comedy movie that was released in 2006. It is considered one of the more popular films starring actors Bharat Jadhav and Siddarth Jadhav. The music was composed by the duo Ajay and Atul Gogavale. Jatra features the song Kombadi Palali, which at the time became a 'superhit'. Ajay and Atul later used same tune from the song "Kombdi Palali" when composing the item song " Chikni Chameli" for the Hindi film Agneepath in 2012.
Jatra (also mancha, opera) is a kind of Odia theater performance in the Indian state of Odisha. The performance includes play, music and dance. Historically jatra performance were introduced during the Moghul rule. Theater performance in Odisha were based on stories of Mahabharata and Ramayana, later modern plays were also included. Mohguls rulers were interested in dance, music and the majlis which has influenced the jatra. Persian and Hindustani words and characters like " Jamadar" and "Sipahi" were introduced in Odia jatra. Jatra was revived during the period of Baishṇaba Pāṇi with the introduction of "gitinatya" ( musical performance).