Shock and awe in the world of Jatra
In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Prince Rama of Ayodhya, his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshmana meet Viradha, a ferocious rakshasa (demon), in the dense forests of Dandakaranya. Viradha not only clashes with the brothers but also abducts Sita. This act foreshadows the final few events of the epic. In theatrical adaptations of the Ramayana, Viradha is often portrayed as pure evil. On the chilly evening of November 26, in the remote village of Ralaba in the Ganjam district of Odisha, a farmer, Bimbadhar Gouda, played Viradha at a Jatra, a form of folk theatre that is popular across Odisha and West Bengal. Instead of bringing a prop to ‘devour’, Gouda had brought a live pig instead. “When he ripped the pig apart, there was a stunned silence in the audience,” recalled Sadasiba Jena, a villager wh...