MAJULI - THE THEATRICAL ISLAND
Divine Actors
The audience, including the esteemed English teacher, bows to the gods, as loud music, shouts, and the sound of thunder enhance the dramatic atmosphere. It’s a rainy evening in mid-March, and a theatrical performance is taking place in a monastery (sutra) on Majuli Island in Assam, in the northeastern part of India. Outside, the rain is pouring down, and a storm rages. The legendary Brahmaputra River and other streams are slightly flooding the plains.
Blended Reality and Fiction
The stage unusually divides the audience in half, like a river. On one bank, women, children, and the English teacher sit on the ground, while on the opposite side, men sit on chairs sipping tea. The performance is exclusively by men and boys, with women forbidden from performing. In the dressing room, young boys dress as girls, and men paint their lips and put on women's costumes. However, on stage, this is not apparent; the audience is absorbed in the drama, and with all seriousness, they bow to the gods. Reality blends with fiction.
Like Ancient Greece
The performance lasts about four hours. The audience arrives during the play, but almost no one leaves. Both children and adults have patience. The sound from the speakers is so loud it hurts the ears, and the cymbals produce a deafening “clang.” The boys playing the good characters loudly shout that evil is being humbled and falls to the ground. The masks, costumes, and makeup are of professional quality, and the lighting with colored filters creates the appropriate atmosphere.
The Art of Life
Majuli is probably the largest river island in the world, with the water slowly eroding its shores, causing the island to shrink. Majuli is a unique place in the Indian context; it is the only place where neo-Vaishnavism is predominantly practiced. This religion connects art and daily life in a special way. In the local monasteries—called sutras—precise theatrical masks are made from river silt and bamboo, and boys from a young age are taught to perform theater, as well as to sing, dance, and be creative. Theater serves to educate the people of bamboo huts in even the most remote villages along the riverbanks.
