Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Bāṇḍɨ pə̄thɨr [bāṇḍɨ pə̄thɨr] ‘a play of the Bāṇḍs’ (pronounced as such in Kashmiri but often spelt as “Bhand Pather” in the literature, and sometimes also referred to as “Bhand Jashna”), is a centuries-old endangered outdoor theater of Kashmir. Bāṇḍɨ pə̄thɨr, described as a kind of epic drama where the themes and situations are already familiar to the audiences, traditionally features in annually held Kashmiri festivals called bāṇḍɨjeśin (meaning ‘the festival of the Bāṇḍs”) and events for honoring Muslim Sufi saints referred to as “Bāṇḍɨ Cōk”; the latter are held at Muslim Sufi shrines such as Ashmuqām. Typically held in open spaces with large number of audiences and performed by professional troupes belonging to a certain community of Kashmir referred to as “Bāṇḍ” [bāṇḍ] (Singular/Plural) in Kashmiri, this article argues that a defining feature of the bāṇḍɨ pə̄thɨr is the art of improvisation.
Source: South Asian Dance Intersections
Author: Sadaf Munshi
Language: English
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7121015239
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