Neelamadhava, Mahanadi & Mussoorie

Neelamadhava

Recently, we visited Kantilo, a small town in Odisha on the western bank of Mahanadi and had the privilege of a darshan of Neelamadhava, the presiding deity of the temple on top of a steep mountain. Neelamadhava is not just another form of Vishnu; He is the Blue God: Redeemer of sinners in Kali Yuga of whom King Indradyumna of Avanti had heard, and to locate Him had sent missionaries in all directions. Vidyapati, brother of the King’s Head Priest travelled east, and in a dense, intractable forest met Vishwavasu, the Sabara Chieftain; married Lalita, his beautiful daughter and persuaded her, behind her father’s back, to lead him to the Byaghra Gumpha (Tiger Cave) inside which resided Neelamadhava, and was worshipped in total secrecy by Vishwavasu.

When King Indradyumna arrived with a large retinue to worship Neelamadhava, he found the cave empty. The Blue God had vanished. The crest-fallen king heard the aakashvani, “I will reincarnate as Jagannatha at Puri to provide solace and salvation to my distressed devotees in Kali Yuga. Go and build a temple there.”

(Neelamadhava Temple, Kantilo; Photo Credit: Wiki Commons)

After the darshan, we circumambulated the main temple, paid our obeisance to the other deities, and then beheld from the lofty vantage point the spectacular expanse of the majestic Mahanadi. When the river is in flood the water-spread is about eight kilometres from bank to bank, said a priest. Emerging out of the stifling confines of the 24-km long Satkosia gorge, Mahanadi sights the Lord’s temple on the Kantilo mountain, and spreads its wide arms in reverence, as it were.

(Mahanadi at Kantilo, Phot Credit: Wiki Commons)

The river reminded me of a song and of a time long in the past.

Odia Song at Mussoorie

The last week of our training was almost entirely devoted to rehearsals for the ‘Cultural Evening,’ a grand finale before bidding adieu to Happy Valley and other happy abodes of Charleville, Mussoorie. Many talented Gentlemen and Lady Officers had been roped in by their allotted States, and most of the items to be presented had been finalised.

Sundar Burra, Deputy Director, and Co-ordinator for the Cultural Evening accosted our motley gang of Odias, “Why aren’t you presenting something? Orissa is culturally rich, and there are so many of you. Tell me tomorrow, I still have a ten-minute slot available.’

He was right. Odisha has a rich cultural heritage in dance, music, sculpture, and literature; but the nine of us were culturally challenged. Were we asked to write an essay on the topic, each of us could have written reams; but none of us could sing or dance or perform in a skit to save our lives! We could hardly be blamed since no father in Odisha would tolerate his progenies being corrupted by song, music, or dance; such performances were for dull students who had no hope of ever securing a government job! Games and sports, huge time-wasters, were also a strict no-no. Study, more study, and still more study; that was the mandate which could not be flouted.

What are our options, I asked our group?

Make sure we don’t run into Mr. Burra for the next 2-3 days. Unlikely that he would come looking for us, said a friend.

But can’t we manage a five-minute performance?

Since we got no talent, why not regret?

Why don’t we sing an Odia song? The audience would have no clue about the original song or the singer, and won’t understand the lyric. The performance would register the cultural presence of Orissa, and the modest capability of this group of serious-minded KTPs (Keen Type Probationers).

Which song?

Jaa re bhasi bhasi ja…

That was a superhit song, we knew the lyrics by heart, and it suddenly appeared doable.

But that’s a duet, and a chorus; where to find the female singers?

Not to worry, we’ll borrow resources from other states.

We requested a few colleagues - gentlemen and ladies who had never spoken a word of Odia, and they readily agreed. How very generous of them, such was the camaraderie, and ‘can do’ attitude!

You Tube was decades away in the future, and the only resource was a tape-recorder-player and a cassette with those translucent loops. The lyrics were transcribed into English and Devnagari, a rough-and-ready translation was enclosed so that our non-Odia friends got the hang of the theme and the mood of the song.

On the eventful evening, we appeared on stage at our slot, two most unmusical and besoora Odia males, an Assamese male who was a reasonably good folk-singer, and three ladies – a Punjabi, and two Tamilians; all shaky, throats parched, but with soaring spirits and unbounded optimism. The lead folk-singer and our lady singers saved the day for us, effortlessly drowning out the unmusical desperadoes. No idea if the audience enjoyed the song, but they were happy to see the pretty ladies in their elegant handloom sarees (Sambalpuri, I hope!) gently swinging to what appeared to be an enjoyable song. The performance was applauded, and Mr Burra was indulgent. Well-done, he said. He was as surprised as we were.

Whenever I hear this memorable song by Akshyaya Mohanty, Odisha’s star singer of yester years, I am transported back to the auditorium at Mussoorie, and feel grateful to our friends who shared the stage with us that evening.

Ja Jaa Re Bhasi Bhasi Ja..

Neither devotional nor romantic, how did this song become so phenomenally popular? Of course, the singer’s golden voice was a factor. Akshyaya Mohanty produced many super-hit songs, and sang for more than 150 Odia films. But the theme and the lyrics also touched the hearts of millions of listeners.[i]

The song is a gentle social satire on traditional marriages of the past which involved ‘selection’ of a suitable bride based on several parameters including dowry.

A boatman gliding down the majestic Mahanadi from Sambalpur to Cuttack notices a few gorgeous, nubile girls on the bathing ghats - sad, tense, and embarrassed since most of their friends are already married. Those girls, like many other girls, suffered the unbearable trauma of being a burden to their parents, and no match materialising owing to concerns of the groom’s family regarding skin tone (every groom and their family want the bride to be a gori regardless of the skin-tone of the groom!), smartness (gadjatia vrs mogala-bandi), dowry, and more.

The boatman addresses five girls at the bathing ghats of Sambalpur, Kantilo, Banki, and Cuttack (two ghats – Gadagadia and Talamala). In a way, the song presents a brief lyrical lesson in geography. Mahanadi enters Odisha at Sambalpur and travels south-east past Kantilo, Banki, and Cuttack to meet the Bay of Bengal at False Point near Paradip.

The boatman was not on leisure travel, being one on the several boatmen rowing the manual cargo boat to ferry goods from the west to the east. In an age when transport of bulk cargo was not feasible for lack of roads and bridges between major towns and trading stations, Mahanadi served as a vital water-way and boats ferried from Cuttack to Arang near Raipur, a distance of 500 kms!

The boatman is a keen observer, notices these sad girls and empathises with their unenviable situation. All parents are anxious to find a suitable match for their daughter, solemnise the marriage at the earliest, and send her off to her groom’s place failing which they suffer social stigma and are the target of snide remarks and unkind comments.

The Boisterous Band

This blog and the translation of the Odia song are dedicated to the Boisterous Band: Anjuly, Geeta, Girija, Harish, and Suresh who encouraged Yours Truly to join in as a minor player.

Maybe, when we meet for our next Reunion, The Band will sing this song again. Why not, Shakti reassembled after 46 years and went on to win a Grammy!

I have put that in my bucket list.

Ja jaa re bhasi bhasi ja…

Translation by Prasanna Dash

Boatman:

Glide gently, O my boat,

Dancing merrily on Mahanadi’s blue waves.

Chorus:

Glide gently, O my boat,

Dancing merrily on Mahanadi’s blue waves.

Boatman:

O Damsel at Sambalpur bathing ghat,

Your red-bordered saree flutters in the wind,

How unkind of your parents,

That you are still unmarried!

Damsel:

Listen, O Boatman,

They are looking for a suitable match,

But father prefers a groom from a distant village, and

Mother wants a ghar-jawain.

Chorus:

Ja ja re bhasi bhasi ja.....

Aaa... Aaaa... Aha...

Boatman:

O Damsel at Kantilo,

At the ghat below the rampart of Neelamadhava temple,

Your unbundled tresses floating on the river

like a black cloud on the sky,

How heartless of your parents

For you to be still single!

Damsel:

Listen, O Boatman,

Horoscopes are yet to be matched,

But the groom thinks no end of himself

 Just because he is from the Mogal-bandi area, and

I am from a Gadajat!*

Chorus:

Ja jare bhasi.....

Aaaa... Aaaa....

Boatman:

O pretty Damsel

At the women’s ghat on Mahanadi at Banki,

Just blossomed into youth,

Why are you sad and disconsolate?

How inconsiderate of your parents

That you are still single!

Damsel:

Listen, O Boatman,

How will my marriage happen?

Many have rejected me,

Too dark-complexioned, they sneer.

Chorus:

Ja jare bhasi bhasi ja......

Boatman:

O fair Damsel at Cuttack,

Lighting up the Gadagadia bathing ghat,

How pitiless of your parents

That you are still unmarried!

Damsel:

Mind your own business, O insolent Boatman,

How very silly of a petty ginger-trader

To dream of buying a ship;

How does it bother your father,

Whether I am married or single?

Chorus:

Ja ja re bhasi......

Aaaa... Aaaaa..

Boatman:

O Damsel from Talamala,

Alone in the bathing ghat

Rinsing your saree in the flowing river,

How insensitive of your parents

That you are still single!

Damsel:

Listen, O Boatman,

How will the marriage materialise,

When the groom, a clerk at Bhubaneswar,

Demands a motorcycle for dowry?

Chorus:

Ja ja re bhasi bhasi ja.....

***

*(Before independence, Kantilo was part of Nayagarh, a Gadajata (Princely State). Gadajata states were poorer and backward vis-à-vis the more prosperous coastal areas which were part of the Mogal-bandi, i.e., the area under Settlement during the Mughal regime, and later were under British rule.)

***

Ja Re Bhasi Bhasi Ja… Transliteration

Boatman:

Ja jare bhasi bhasi ja,

Nauka mora bhasija

Mahanadira neela dheure

Nachi nachi tu bhasi ja..

Chorus:

Ja jare bhasi bhasi ja,

Nauka mora bhasija

Mahanadira neela dheure

Nachi nachi tu bhasi ja..

Boatman:

Samalpur naire aha sinana kare nani

Gadhua tuthe disuchhi tara nali panata-kani...

Kahare

Nani kahareeee..

Kede niridaya

To Bapa maa tate

ejayen deleni baha..

Damsel:

Nauria tu sunija

Chalichhi mora bara khoja,

Bapa khojanti doora bandhu aau

Maa khoje ghara joiyan.

Chorus:

Ja ja re bhasi bhasi ja.....

Aaa... Aaaa... Aha.....

Boatman:

Kantilo neela madhaba bedha pachiri tale gori..

Aha... Pachiri tale gori,

Nai suaare deichhi meli

kala bauda kesha kholi.

Kahare...

Gori kahareee....

Kede niridaya

To Bapa Maa tate

Ejayen deleni baha...

Damsel:

Nauria tu shunija,

Padila jadi jatak ta,

Mogala-bandi bara ta kahe

Mun kale Gadajatiya.

Chorus:

Ja jare bhasi.....

Aaaa... Aaaa....

Boatman:

Bankira Mahanadira teere nabina sukumari..

Aha... Nabina sukumari,

Ekela hoi maaipi tuthe basichhi mana mari

Aha basichhi mana mari..

Kahare.. Kuaanri kahare......

Kede niridaya to bapa maa tote

Ejayen deleni baha.

Damsel:

Nauria tu shunija,

Kiye ba mote heba baha...

Jiye dekhanti naka tekanti..

Mun kale kaali kaniya..

Chorus:

Ja jare bhasi bhasi ja......

Boatman:

Gadagadia ghatare aha Katakiani jhia..

Aha Katakiani jhia,

Gadhua tutha ujala kari maajuchhi suna deha..

Aha majuchi suna deha..

Kahare..

Gori kahare..

Kede niridaya

To Bapa Maa tote

Ejayen deleni baha..

Damsel:

Ada bepari nauria,

Tuta bada behiya,

To Bapa ra jauchhi kisa

Mun heli na heli baha..?

Chorus:

Ja ja re bhasi......

Aaaa... Aaaaa..

Boatman:

Tala malara Roopakumari nirola dekhi ghata..

Aha nirola dekhi ghata..

Apana sukhe gadhua sari

pakhale pindha pata..

Kahare..

Gori kahare...

Kede niridaya

To Bapa Maa tote

Ejayen deleni baha...

Damsel:

Nauria tu sunija..

Kimiti bhala heba baha..

Bhubaneswar kirani bara

Maguchhi phata phatia..

Chorus:

Ja ja re bhasi bhasi ja.....

***

---

[i] Link for the song: https://youtu.be/OjSDaH0vVFQ?si=mOzGadU02SvA74NG