Bhaona (Ankia Naat)

Understand

Where Bhaona (Ankia Naat) comes from

Bhaona is the classical theatre-dance tradition of Assam's Vaishnav monasteries (sattras), developed by Srimanta Sankardev (1449-1568) in the 16th century in close association with his verse form (the Ankiya Naat). Sankardev composed more than 30 devotional plays that form the Bhaona repertoire, including the most celebrated — Kaliya Daman, Parijat Haran, Gopi Utsav and Rukmini Haran — drawn from the Bhagavata Purana and the Ramayana. The Bhaona has been performed within the sattras of Majuli and other centres since the 16th century, preserved as part of the Vaishnav monastic cultural heritage of Assam. The Sangeet Natak Akademi has recognised the form as one of the eight Mahasattra-anubhav of the Vaishnav monastic culture.

How it's practiced

Bhaona is performed in the sattras of Assam (and today at cultural programmes of the state) as a sung dance-drama by the Vaishnav monks. A troupe of 5-10 male performers (and increasingly mixed) enact the roles of Krishna, Rama, Sita, Rukmini and the principal villains, with a chorus (the sutradhar and the Gayak) providing the sung narrative in Braj-bhasha verse. The dance is through the chaibha (the central prayer-hall of the sattras) — with the chorus and the actors in the central hall, and the audience around them. Costume is the traditional Vaishnav dress — the dhoti and the gamucha with the gold padam pendant of the Vishnu tradition.