Making the Pandavas Come Alive
Dignity Dialogue|June 2020
Honoured with the Padma Vibhushan last year, Chhatisgarh’s Teejan Bai is known for her unique style of narrating the mythological tale of the Mahabharata.
Teejan Bai
Making the Pandavas Come Alive

Not many may have heard of Teejan Bai. Yet, she is an icon in her own way. A lady of 63, Teejan Bai is quite a celebrity among those who follow folk music, especially that of Chhattisgarh, and the narration of the epic Mahabharata. In fact, equipped with simply nothing but a ‘tambura’, Teejan Bai has placed the Pandavani folk art music on the global map through her mesmerising performances. Pandavani or the Ballad of Pandavas is the folk music of Chhattisgarh that retells the stories of the Mahabharata in the form of a ballad song.

Teejan Bai, in her own unique way, combines these stories of the Indian epic and the rustic tones of her voice in so eloquent a manner that her charismatic performance brings the age-old tale to life. Her art brings every character to life with such ease that even the greatest of professional theatre artists would find it difficult to embody that natural charisma in their performances. Teejan Bai not only narrates the stories and the characters of her performances but also infuses them with that ethereal sense of reality. “I have lived with these characters all my life. They are all real and in me. They speak to me and I tell you all the stories. I feel I am possessed by them,” she says.

This story is from the June 2020 edition of Dignity Dialogue.

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This story is from the June 2020 edition of Dignity Dialogue.

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