Antim Garh: A Modern Garhwali Drama about Bravery of Heroic Legend Kaffoo Chauhan

Antim Garh: A Modern Garhwali Drama about Bravery of Heroic Legend Kaffoo Chauhan

                  Notes on Modern Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern Asian Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern Indian  Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern North Indian Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern Himalayan  Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern Uttarakhandi  Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern Garhwali  Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends

                                                By- Bhishma Kukreti

                      The folklores are full of providing accounts of heroic personalities. Same way, writing about historic brave personality is common in every language. Gabrielle H. Cody and Evert Sprinchorn in their research book, “Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern drama’, provide many examples and details about modern dramas where playwrights shown the characters of bravery and brave legends in modern dramas. Weston provides the account of bravery in his book legends of Wagner Drama. Stanley Hochman provides list of modern dramas dealing with chivalry of legendary men in McGraw- Hills Encyclopedia of World drama’. E.C.Brewer and M.Harland offer accounts of dramas about brave legends in their book Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and Drama. Herald Segel presents many dramas about brave legends of Russian in ‘Twentieth century Russian drama from Gorky to present’. Cortes and Barrea-Marlys put forward dramas about brave lends of Latin America in ‘Encyclopedia of Latin American theatre’.

                  Kaffoo Chauhan is Garhwali legends of history and his bravery is sung in various Garhwali folk songs.

       The drama ‘Antim Garh’ written by Abodh Bandhu Bahuguna is about brave acts of last Brave Gadhpati Kaffoo Chauhan of Garhwal before Panwar dynasty initiator Ajay Pal took over the kingdom of Garhwal from Brave Gadhpati Kaffoo Chauhan. The drama has various historical characters and incidents as queens and mother of Kafoo Chauhan, army chiefs of Kaffoo Chauhan and Ajay Pal.  The drama is full of twist and praise of brevity of Kaffoo Chauhan and Ajay Pal too.                .

   Dr Anil Dabral the expert of Garhwali prose literature appreciated the efforts of Bahuguna for writing Antim Garh- A Modern Garhwali Drama about Bravery of Heroic Kaffoo Chauhan. However Dabral criticizes dramatically weaknesses in the drama too and suggested for rewriting it.  Prolific dramatis Kula Nand Ghansala rewrote ‘Antim Garh’ and staged in Lok Naty Mahotsav organized by Garhwal Sabha Dehradun.

References:

1-Dr Anil Dabral, Garhwali Gady Parampara (Modern, Contemporary Garhwali Dramas from beginning till 1990)

2-Abodh Bandhu Bahuguna, Gad Myateki Ganga (Modern, Contemporary Garhwali dramas from beginning till 1975)

3-Dr Sudharani, Garhwal ka Rangmanch (Modern, Contemporary Garhwali Dramas from beginning till 1985)

4-Drama special issue of Chitthi Patri magazine (Modern, Contemporary Garhwali Dramas and plays staged in Delhi, Karachi, Mumbai, Dehradun and other places)

5- Dr Hari Datt Bhatt Shailesh, Garhwali Natak evam Rangmanch: Ek Vihngam Avlokan (Modern, Contemporary Garhwali Drams and theatres from beginning till 1985)

6-Dr Bhakt Darshan: Barrister Mukandi Lal Srmriti Granth (Modern, Contemporary Garhwali dramatists or theatres playwrights till 1985

7-Dr Nand Kishor Dhoundiyal, Garhwal ki Divangat Vibhutiyan (pp108-116, about contribution of Bhagwati Prasad Panthri for developing Moder, Contemporary Garhwali drama)

8- Abodh Bandhu Bahuguna, 1986, ‘Chakrchal’, 16 Modern, Contemporary Garhwali Drama collection, B2 -B48, Janakpuri, New Delhi -110058

Copyright@ Bhishm Kukreti, Mumbai, India

                       Notes on Modern Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern Asian Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern Indian Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern North Indian Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern Himalayan Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern Uttarakhandi Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends, Modern Garhwali Dramas about Bravery of Heroic Legends to be continued…..