People’s Cultural Festivals Challenge Communal
P Murali Krishna
THE festivals, Utsavs, Jatras, etc. that we celebrate are all part of our culture. Not all festivals that people celebrate are religious. Over centuries, humanity has progressed by harnessing nature through collective struggle for survival. These victories are often marked by festivals. Vijayadashami or Dussehra is simply the day of ‘victory of good over evil’. On this occasion, various types of cultural art forms are performed in different places.
In Andhra Pradesh, the BJP made an alliance with Telugu Desam and Janasena to become a partner in the government. Taking advantage of being in power, BJP and RSS have been trying to communalise festive occasions. They spread misinformation that animal fat was mixed in Tirupati laddu prasadam. They raised a demand that non-Hindus who have been working in Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam for many decades should not be allowed to continue. Sadly, the coalition government is supporting their actions. The state government has provided free electricity to the Vinayak Chavithi pavilions. Buses from government and private sector organisations were used for the meeting called “Haindava Shankharavam” organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The RSS and its affiliates are inciting tensions with a religious angle on every occasion. They are forming festival committees during festivals that people celebrate voluntarily and spending crores of rupees on religious propaganda. They are teaching dances and songs and conducting religious activities centered around temples and taking people on pilgrimages for free. They are inciting frenzy with religious slogans by organising demonstrations with hundreds of youth in the name of Hanuman Yatras.
On the occasion of the foundation day of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), crores of rupees were spent in the name of Vijayawada Mahotsav, bringing famous dancers and film industry personalities from Mumbai and other states and introducing corporate culture with stunning digitals. The state tourism department and the entire government machinery were used for this. The Chandrababu Government is creating a cultural sector as a combination of communal and corporate forces. Even after 11 years of the state's separation, no Fine Arts Academy has been established in Vijayawada, the capital region. There are no proper platforms for providing training and staging performances for artists.
An Alternative Culture
In this background of government inaction, Makineni Basavapunnayya Vigyan Kendra (MBVK) in Vijayawada tried to provide a platform to celebrate the festival as a people's Dussehra. Thousands of people participated in the cultural programmes. 11 women's organisations were involved in the festival committee for organising the programmes. Cultural festivals were held for college students. These were held on September 18, at Siddhartha College and the next day, at MBVK. Kolatas, flash mob, street plays, Thiruvaidi (Onam) dance by students of Nursing College Kerala, Dandiya performances prepared by MBVK were held. Students from 30 colleges participated. The programme in which the Spruhapti team made a clipart of the challenges, changes and discrimination on the lives of girls and women from the womb to the baby girl through the use of dolls was impressive. Patriotism, progress, folk song dances, short plays, reels, one minute inspirational speech competitions were held. Plays were performed on superstitions and prevention of drugs. A Burra Kadha on women's issues made people think. People believe that Goddess Kanakadurga took nine different avatars in the name of Nava Durga to destroy evil. The performances reflecting the lives of distinguished women working for the progress of today's society, such as Shantha Sinha, Vandana Shiva, Rukmabai, writer Molla, Sunita Williams, Duvvuri Subbamma, Sophia Qureshi, Somayajula Lalita, and Malala Yousufzai, created great excitement. The principals of the colleges and teachers of the cultural departments extended their cooperation. It is noteworthy that 1800 people, including 1352 artists, participated in the two-day programme. The theme of environmental protection and a violence-free society became the focal point.
Prabha Mahotsavam of Veera Vanithalu
On October 1, 1000 children participated in the Prabha Mahotsavam with photos of 9 brave women. Women fighters and social workers, such as Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, Rani Rudramadevi, Veeragunnamma, Dr Lakshmi Sehgal, Mother Theresa, Savitribai Phule, Dr Komarraju Acchamamba, Doobagunta Rosamma, and Hemalatha Lavanam created great excitement. Cultural performances were held continuously for eight hours from 10.30 am to 6.30 pm at the Basavapunnayya Stadium in Singhnagar, Vijayawada. It is noteworthy that 2500 people, including 1425 artists, participated in this programme.
Usually, during the Dussehra holidays, children go to their relatives' houses or on excursions. But during these holidays, they learned dances and other forms with interest for 10 days. The main focus was on students from ordinary schools, located in the working class residential areas. The relationship was maintained by organising summer camps during the summer season and later by giving training through plays on warriors like Bhagat Singh, Alluri Seetharama Raju and Kanneganti Hanumanthu in schools. Four Dance Masters gave training to children in 12 schools on Kolatam, Dandiya and folk dances with 15 Abhyudaya songs.
School managements and parents came and participated in the festivals at their own expense and with lot of enthusiasm and zeal. Dance teaching institutes and dance troupes came voluntarily without charging for dresses and make-up. Since there is not much opportunity for training in games and songs and there are no platforms for learning cultural forms, the programme was considered a good opportunity for learning.
On September 23, 4 hours of cultural performances were held in the Vijayawada One Town area in which 32 troupes and 800 people participated, including 496 artists. The Dussehra Festival Committee organised this. Including spacious stages in these programmes and forming committees with local elders helped people participate widely. By conducting a survey on cultural troupes in the area, it was possible to identify the troupes and mobilise all of them.
The RSS and Hindutva organisations are making a serious effort to divert traditional festivals towards communalism. This effort by us to organise them as a gathering of people's unity and cultural festivals has given a good experience. Organising festivals in new ways is an important issue. Along with progressive literature, dances and plays should be created to counter the dogmatic culture. Such festivals should be held in large numbers in working class residential areas and rural areas. Secularists, progressive peoples’ organisations and various cultural platforms should intervene in every festival. “Indian culture” which is unity in diversity should be preserved.
