Skill Based and Value Added Workshop on Chhau and Classical Indian Theatre 

Chandigarh, September 25, 2024: The Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University, Chandigarh organized a Skill Based and Value Added Workshop on Chhau and Classical Indian Theatre. 

Eminent Theatre personality Sh. Bhumikeshwar Singh addressed the M.A. 1 and M.A. 2 students of Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University.  They performed a demonstration of Chhau under the guidance of Shri. Bhumikeshwar Singh. The students of MA 1 performed play Karṇabhāram by first sanskrit playwright Bhasa in Chhau form and students of M.A 2 performed Chhauas as part of their classroom presentation.

The students went through a proper 16 days workshop of different forms of chhau which leads to the preparation of the said play. The Module of the workshop was prepared and guided by Sh. Bhumikeshwar Singh & Dr. Navdeep Kaur, Chairperson, Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Karṇabhāram or The Anguish of Karna (literally: The Burden of Karna) is a Sanskrit one-act play written by the Indian dramatist Bhasa, an Indian playwright complimented even by the Kalidasa in the beginning of his play Malavikagnimitram. The play describes the mental pain of Karna on the previous day of the Kurukshetra War.

Chhau, also spelled Chhou, is a semi classical Indian dance with martial and folk traditions. It is found in three styles named after the location where they are performed, i.e. the Purulia Chhau of West Bengal, the Seraikella Chhau of Jharkhand and the Mayurbhanj Chhau of Odisha.

Dr. Navdeep Kaur, Chairperson Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University mentioned that the students learnt a lot from this workshop which further added to the use of their mind and body in different forms of theatre. Sh. Bhumikeshwar Singh mentioned that every time he comes to the department he enjoyed working with such new young talents.

Bhumikeshwar Singh completed his one year diploma in Acting from Shri Ram Center for Performing Arts, New Delhi in 1990-91 after which he got trained in Chhau Dance under Shri Shashidhar Acharya at Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi. He then acquainted himself with Indian martial art (Phari-Khand) traditions under Guru Krishna Nayak and also trained at the Govt. Chhau Dance Center, Seraikella, Jharkhanda, also learnt the art of Mask- Making in the Seraikella form, under the tutelage of Shri Dhirolal Bhol and Mime under the guidance of Shri Niranjan Goswami at the Indian Mime Theatre, Kolkata Awarded with “Rang Sadhana Puraskar” in the year 2021, by Natyashilp Pratishthan, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Nagar, Maharshatra.