Is Harikatha -musical story-telling art form on the decline?

Among the devout Hindus devotion to God has been part and parcel of their lives. It gives them the needed ingredients to succeed in life - confidence, determination, morality and trust. The spread of Bhakthi - devotion to God has been around for centuries in India particularly in south India and it was more pronounced in Telegu and Tamil regions than other places. It was Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa who spearheaded the Bhakti movement (roughly 12th century) and popularized Harikatha. .

Harkatha is a traditional form of story telling (often referred to as Harikatha kalashepam) punctuated through out the discourse with devotional songs relevant to the theme chosen by the performer. Simply, a composite form of devotional story elucidation and interpretation incorporated with music, lucid narration and humor dominated by devotional elements. The themes are mostly interesting episodes from the epics - the Ramayana and Mahabharata. It may include tales about the life of saints. The narration included some sub-stories and episodes in sync with the main theme. The main performer is called a Haridasa (colloquially Bhagavathar) and being a main player it is the power of performance and clear commentary in chaste language will keep the audience engaged. To make the audience spell-binding and focused, some Harikatha experts would narrate the short stories laced with humor.

The performer with a pair of cymbals for beat is accompanied by Mirthamgam, Thaumpura, violin and, of course, Pin Pattu (in Tamil) co-singer who will elaborate the song, giving a short break to the main performer, this will help him drink water or in some cases milk. He does the performance in standing posture for a long period more than one and half or two hours.

Harkatha group. timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Above image: Harikatha group. Main performer and 'pin pattu'' (sub singer) will be standing all thru the discourse while instrumentalists on the dais will be performing in sitting position. Main artist used to wear' ankle-bells' ,if need be, to enhance the feeling (`bhava’) and create bhakti ambiance..............

The performer has to be well-trained through years of practice and is well versed in recitation of Sanskrit slokas, Tamil devotional hymns (as in the case of Tamil Nadu), story telling in a cogent manner and occasionally dance

Harikatha, once a popular medium of spreading bhakti along with religious and social values across the people in the olden days was performed on temple premises and in some places on the street near the temple with a make-shift raised platform for the Harikatha group.

Harikatha in Telugu Nadu. hindupad.com/

In the delta region of Thanjavur, the harikatha was more popular than other districts of Tamil Nadu. Being the center of art, music and culture, Thanjavur and also Thiruvarur stands apart. The origin of this art form of music and oral narration can be traced back to Thanjavur Krishna Bhagavathar (1847-1903) who could be called the father of Harikatha (Kathakalakshepa). Many performers like Annaswami Bhagavathar, ett al got inspiration from him.

According to music critics Harikatha came to Tamil Nau particularly in this region from the Marathas. In my school days I used to attend with my father such harikatha performances by great exponents like Embar Vijaya Rraghavachariar, Thanjavur T.N. Subramania Bhagavathar, et al. The venues were mostly Chinnana-Perianna madam on Manojiappa street This huge one story old structure with a large hall and rooms fell in to disuse and was in ruins. Posing danger to passersby, later it was demolished and one could see heaps of rubble in that place). The other venue being Sri Krishnan kovil on west main street. The huge raised platform (medai) in front of the shrine is very much there; on a couple of occasions in the 1960s I got a chance to listen to upanyasam by late Sri Anantharama Dikshithar, a stalwart in Sanskrit, Tamil and classical music. With a commanding voice he kept the educated audience spell-bound. I 've not heard of any upanyasam or harikatha performance there in the recent past.

This rare music and story telling art form that once regaled the audience in this region through long musical evenings in the bygone period has slowly faded in the past several years. The present audience has neither interest in Harikatha kalashepam. Nor does today’s fast-paced stressed life complicated by heavy vehicular traffic on the roads offer them patience to sit through long hours in one place. Harikatha has lost its charm with the onslaught of TV series. Nowadays we can count on figures a few well trained experts who can convey intense spiritual emotion with bhakti in a convincing musical way.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/tracking-indian-communities/the-lost-art-of-musical-story-telling/

https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/not-mere-rest-houses/article2555196.ece