Bhagavata Mela: The drama unfolds at Melattur

As curtains go up on the festival that showcases the 500-year-old Bhagavata Mela Natakam, the stage will once again witness the coming together of history and culture

Cauvery delta is not only the granary of Tamil Nadu, it is also where civilisation and culture have thrived. Dance, music and theatre performances are as popular as the region’s painting, craft and architecture. Art is an integral part of history here, with successive dynasties — Chola, Nayak, and Maratha — being great patrons.

River Cauvery has made the land fertile and the region prosperous. After the harvest season, summers are packed with temple festivals that celebrate Thanjavur’s rich heritage. Folk and classical dances and music are performed at these festivals as an offering to god. Every village once had its own therukoothu troupe, whose colourful and energetic presentations added to the festive cheer. With folk arts on the verge of extinction, very few such groups exist now.

But an annual event that has managed to keep the performance culture alive in this part is the Bhagavata Mela Natakam. Poor documentation has made it difficult to trace the history of such ancient art forms that were predominantly oral traditions. Bits of information have to be painstakingly gathered from different sources to present a complete picture. I am fortunate to have interacted with veterans in the field such as Ganesa Iyer, ‘Sutradhar’ Krishnamurthy Sharma, and several others from Melattur village.

After the fall of the Vijayanagar empire several natyacharyas, scholars, artistes, and composers from there sought refuge in the Thanjavur court. King Achyutappa Nayak (1577-1614) offered patronage to them and they settled down in nearby villages of Melattur, Saliyamangalam, Sulamangalam, Theperumanallur and Oothukkadu. They were looked after well so that they could continue to pursue their art.

Melattur, earlier known as Unnathapuram, was referred to as Achyutapuram or Achyutabdi by these artistes as a mark of respect and gratitude to the king. The village was home to great composers such as Bharatam Kasinadayya, Melattur Veerabhadrayya, Bharatam Narayana, and Gopalakrishna Sastry. Pieces of the Bharatanatyam repertoire — alarippu, sabdam, swarajathi, pada varnam, tillana — were first conceived and composed in Melattur.

Melattur Gopalakrishna Sastry, a disciple of Narayana Tirtha, also composed natakas. His son Venkatrama Sastry was a great scholar, well-versed in music and dance. He wrote the present-day Bhagavata Mela dance dramas, dedicating them to Lord Varadaraja. ‘Mela’ means group, and Bhagavata Mela Nataka refers to the performance staged by a group of bhagavatars. It is said that he wrote 12 dramas, trained the local boys in all aspects of the natakam, and staged them in front of the Varadaraja Perumal temple. His  Prahalada Charitamu is extremely popular, so is  Harischandra, presented in two parts.

Celebrated composers and musicians of the era used to attend the festival. The influence of Bhagavata Mela is evident in Tyagaraja’s opera  Prahalada Bhakti Vijayam.