Dasakathia

Understand

Where Dasakathia comes from

Dasakathia (literally 'devotee of Kathia' — kathia being the paired wooden instrument) is a traditional Odia folk ballad art that dates at least to the 17th century, with its documented origin in the Ganjam district of southern Odisha. The form descends from the older oral ballad traditions of the region and was an important form of entertainment and social satire in Odia society until the rise of cinema. The notable recent performer was Gayakratna Baidyanath Sharma. In recent decades Dasakathia has been revived both as a folk-heritage subject and as a vehicle for public-service messaging (including government public-health campaigns), often staged at the state cultural events. Dasakathia has been recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritage item by Sangeet Natak Akademi.

How it's practiced

Dasakathia is performed by two men — a lead performer called the Gahana (or Gayaka) and a second performer called the Palia. The Gahana plays the Ramtali (a pair of wooden clappers) and sings the ballad, while the Palia responds with the refrain and plays the Dasakathi (the larger wooden percussion box). The performance is essentially a sung narrative dialogue — the song tells stories from the life of Lord Shiva and other gods, but also features contemporary social satire (a defining Dasakathia element) and themes of love, marriage, deceit and romance. The two performers wear simple kurtas and dhotis, with no elaborate costume; the focus is on the sung narrative and the rhythm of the paired wooden instruments. Performances last from half an hour to several hours depending on the cycle of stories told.