কৃষ্ণযাত্রা/Krishna Jatra

The video is a documentation of Krishna Jatra. The Krishna Jatra is a folk theatre form of Bengal. It is considered to be one of the oldest forms of theatre. The Krishna theatre in the region is supposed to have flourished after the arrival of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1485-1533) since dance, drama and music formed important components of the Vaishnavism he preached. Although the theatre form existed in Bengal much before the Mahaprabhu, he is often attributed as the origin point of the Krishna Jatra. The Krishna Jatra is operatic in form and the story of Krishna is staged through songs with very little dialogue from the actors. Its form is considered to be very similar to the theatrical rendition of the Gita Govinda as the Radha-Krishna theme is very prominent. Hence, the Krishna Jatra is often said to be a folk form of the Gita Govinda.