“Oja-Paali” the ancient mirror of Assamese Folklore

Hiranmayee Das Gogoi

                                                                              

 Introduction: - Ojapali is an ancient musical art of Assam, which consists of song, drama and dance. Here the Oja(the lead artist) performs the art form with the help of some Pali(s)(team of performers).The head of the palis is called Dianapali. The performance is based on tales from Ramayana , Mahabharata, Padmapurana  etc. The songs are based on raga which are similar with the Chajya Pada. At a time Oja-pali  was the main source of entertainment in different ceremonial functions and festivals of lower Assam. The Oja and Pali(s) must be expert in entertaining the audience and sometimes they even involve the audience to make the performance more interesting. Performers infuse Hara-Gauri (Lord Shiva and Parvati) as common Assamese couple; who work at paddy fields, weave clothes, go to river to bring drinking water etc.The only instrument played in Ojapali is khutital(palm sized cymbal).

  The music of Oja Pali has a raga system of clear classical orientation and the Vaishnava heritage. The classification of 'Savaras' by Oja-Palis into 'Ghora', Mantra and Tara corresponds to the Indian classification of 'Udara', 'Mudra' and Tar.

There is a typical pattern of dressing for the Ojas as well. He has to wear a pag-jama or a ghuri, along with bangles, unguthi (ring) and nupur and has to tie a tangali(a cloth tied around the waist).  The performers wear long sleeved white gowns and silver jewelry.

There are three types of Oja-Pali :

1.    Vyah Goa Oja,

2.    Sukananni Oja or Maroi Goa Oja and

3.    Ramayani Oja. 

.

2. History- This musical form is running from 12^th-13^th century or may be prehistoric. Rituals followed by the people of ancient Assam are reflected in songs, ballads of Oja-Pali. Experts told that Ojapali was brought directly from heaven by third Pandava  “Arjuna”.

3. Language: The language that is used in Oja-Pali is ancient Assamese and some time mixed Sanskrit. Sometime dialects of locality of Assam are also used here.

  4. Performers:    The participants of Oja-Pali are basically male. They are expert in every field of music like; singing, dancing, recitation, delivering dialogue etc.

5. Oja-Paali the dance drama (elaboration):

 Oja-pali is a traditional performing art of Assam with the elements; song, dance, gesture and dialogue. Oja-pali is believed to have evolved from puppetry and is performed in a group; it is believed to be one of the oldest art forms of Assam. Some believe that Arjuna, one of the Pandavas, brought this art form to earth from swarga (heavenly abode). Scholar Dr Maheswar Neog has stated in his book Satriya Nritya Aru Satriya Nrityar Aat that the art form Ojapali was taken to earth from swarga (Indrapuri) by Arjuna, while he had to play the role of Brihannala. It is a kind of half dance drama, half only because the performers never change their costumes during the performance though they play different characters. The Oja is the leader of the performers, the Palis are his assistants and the Daina Pali is the principal assistant. The number of assistants may be three, four or more. They dance, play small cymbals and sing stories from the Epics and the Puranas. The songs are based on Raga like; Shrirag, basanta, vairab,pancham ,megh, natnarayan etc.Their dance bears clear evidence of many aspects of Indian classical  dances like hasta,  gati ,bhramari,  utplavana,  asana etc. The Oja wears pag-jama or ghuri, bangles, unti, ring and nupur, and ties a tangali . The classification of Swaras by Oja-Palis into ghora, mantra and tara corresponds to the Indian classification of udara, mudra and tara. The songs sung by Ojas: malaci or malanci geets and jagar are Sanskritic language; they also sing a kind of mixed song, Patsha geet. They are written under Muslim influence

Basic elements:

There are three types of Oja-Pali :

1.     Vyah Goa Oja,

2.     Sukanarayani Oja or Maroi Goa Oja and

3.      Ramayani Oja. 

.        

 The Oja-Pali of Vyah GoaOja mainly sings the songs of the Vaishnava cult. Here, the themes of the dances are adopted from the stories from Bhagavata, Mahabharata and Harivamsa. The make up of a Vyasa Oja differs from that of a Sukanarayani Oja. The Vyasa Oja wears a long white skirt, a tight fitting jacket, a turban of a particular shape, anklets and various other gold ornaments of the neck, hand and ear

The other Oja named Suknarayani chants mainly the hymns of the snake goddess, Manasa composed by Sukabi Narayan Dev, an Assamese poet of the olden days. The theme of the dance is the story of Behula and Lakhindar which is mainly connected with goddess Manasa. The costume of this kind of Oja consist of a long shirt known as Chapkan, a white Dhoti, a Chaddur, a pointed turban and various gold ornaments of the wrist, neck and ears.

The third variety of Oja, Ramayani Oja, puts the costume akin to Vyasa Oja and sings only the songs from the Ramayana. Unfortunately, this kind of Ramayani Oja-Pali is disappearing slowly. All the three kinds of Oja-Pali dances have reached exquisite perfection in Karana, i.e. posture and Angahaara, i.e. gesture.

The most popular form of ojapali is vyah goa ojapali. The different stages of its performance are:

1.    Guru vandana

2.    Patani Geet(Beginning Chorus)

3.    Vishnu Pada

4.    Vishnu Pada

5.    Sangeetalap

6.    Jhuna

Guru vandana is sung in Gunjari or Bharamari raga with some symbolic sounds like:

“Ha” is symbolized for Ganadhkhya Ganesha….

“Ta” is for Nataraj Shiv

“Na” is for Bhabanisha

“Ri” is symbolized lord Krishna

“Rita” is for Gandharv

In the beginning Oja worship Ganesha for takes away the misfortune, Shiv for prosperity, Mahamaya (Bhabanish) for strength, Gandharv for creative art and then prayer to attain Lord Krishna. Then Patani geet which are based on specific raga started with the sloka:

“Shrikrishnaya  Basudevaya Daibakinandanayacha

Nanda gupa kumaraya Govindaya namo namah.”

It is followed by ballad of a raga,it describes the characteristics  and birth pain of that specific raga .Here is one ballad of a raga:

“ Ji kalata Krishna deve Kalika damila,

Jhumpa diya Kalira je shirata nachila.

Sahashra shirata nache angi-bhangi kori,

Dekhiya Nagini saba aasila lowari,

Shishu aaga kori sabe kandibe lagil,

Dekhiya Krishnara aati daya upojilo.

Naai bhoi buli sabahangke aashwasila,

Naaginir krandane “Basanta”raga voila,

Murtimanta hoiya raga Koilashaka goila,

Maheshe prathame pai sehi raga dila.

Sei raga Shive paase Naaradaka shikaila,

Raga shikai Shive “Basanta”naama thoila.

Its meaning goes as follows:

When king of snakes Kaali was subdued to Lord Krishna, Lord jumped up to Kali’s head and dance with gesture on hundred of heads. Then all snakes came by running and started to cry with fear by looking at Krishna. The children started first with tears. Then lord got pity on them and consoled all the snakes not to fear about anything. The crying tunes of all the snakes give birth to the raga “Basant”. With its proper structure the raga went to Kailash for lord Shiva. Lord Shiva taught this raga to Naarada at first and called named as “Basant”.

Beginning song or Paatonir geet are sung with Diha (elaboration).Followed by Krishna vandana, sangeetalap and finished with Jhuna (narrative of stories with comedy).Here oja and daina pali played the most crucial part in this live dance drama. They play the entire role like; of singer dancer and actor and keep communication with audience.

                 “Mukhe raga haste mudra pawe dhare taal,

Mayura sadrshya nache  hei Oja bhal”

 This means, the Oja must be very expert in entertaining the audience. One who is expert in dancing, singing and recitation, and has the proficiency of delivering dialogues, is known as Oja. Apart from that, the oja should also be attractive, and is regarded as the head artiste. The other members are known as pali — subordinate artistes. They are also expert in singing, dancing, recitation and playing the khutitaal (a pair of small cymbals made of bell metal). The Daina-pali, makes the art form more interesting with his sense of humor,some time he goes to the audience and involved with them. He plays the role of a ‘clown’ and sometimes, he creates quasi-dramatic situations to describe the theme easily.All other pallis make repetition of Oja and Daina pali

Conclusion: The dance drama Oja-Pali is passed on through generation to generation by the process of Guru-Sishya tradition by without documentation.  It was practiced from the days of 12th-13^th centuries, disciples has to learn this musical art, from their Gurus directly. In this traditional learning process, both Guru and disciple have to depend on remembrance and recollection. Hence over the years, many things have undergone changes from the original form and it has also differed from one Guru to another .So this musical art has been struggling to maintain its originality. All the Ojas are facing problems in order to maintain its practice of intensive regular and periodical handing down of rituals to the new learner. The participants of this Oja-Pali are decreasing day by day due to lack of practice and motivation. The performers are facing various problems such as preservation, training, motivation, economic stability etc. Assam is also affected by the phase of rapid transition due to globalization that the rich cultural heritage is also facing threat of change. Above factors are creating lots of

confusion and difficulties in generating skills and knowledge of Oja-Pali for new generation. If it is not preserved well in time, it may soon lose its originality. The best ways to preserve it is by digitalization of cultural practices in their original version and publish a well written grammar. In this way by creating E-heritage and national recognition, it can also be propagated and revived at any juncture. The classical elements of Oja-pali are present within this the uniqueness in its presentation with unique beats and ragas, highly reputed text of songs and it has a lot to claim itself as a classical style of a complete music. The style associated with Oja-Pali is in no way inferior to other classical school of music like Hindustani and Karnataki. So it should get the national recognition as a classical art form.  A practical field work and scientific