It has been a while since I have posted, and it has not been easy to let go of something that I love due to the daily circus of life. Since I have resurfaced, I decided to do something different – a little out of the path that I have been traversing.
This story starts in 2018 when I was gearing up to apply for a research fellowship focused on intangible heritage of India. Intangible heritage essentially means traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, some of the examples being oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional arts and crafts[i]. The domain of cultural heritage is not just limited to monuments or antiquities, but it compasses these traditions/practices as well because most of the time they are interlinked just like temples with their rituals or a performing art with their spaces.
With this thought, I started comprehending about the research proposal, not knowing what this would lead to. I was clear on one fact that I would take up something that I am vaguely familiar with but is not popular in wider circle. It was on this quest that I stumbled again on art form that has its origins in Anga or Angpradesh, an art form known as Manjusha. I would not be doing justice to this story if I would condense all the aspects of this art form in one piece. Hence this piece will the help the readers to place Anga or Angpradesh in India’s current political and geographical setting which is pertinent in understanding the context of this art form. It will also deal with the history of evolution of the art form while the second piece will be more about its folk connection and the current scenario.
The earliest reference of Anga is found in Atharvaveda, where the residents of this janapada has been mentioned along with Magadhas, Gandharis and Mujavats- known as despised people. Ancient texts of Ramayana and Mahabharata mentions the kingdom of Anga, each referring to different reasons as to why this region was known as Anga. Of the sixteen mahajanapadas of the Indian subcontinent, Anga was located in the eastern most region of India. On the northern side, the kingdom of Anga was bound by Vajji Republic and Kosi River while on the western side was its rival kingdom of Magadha. The capital of Anga was located at the confluence of Ganga and Champa River (also known as Chandan or Malini) and was named as Champa. This region flourished and was known for its trade, wealth and commerce until it was annexed by Magadha in 6th century BC under the rule of Bimbisara.
Today, the kingdom of Anga roughly corresponds to the districts of Araria, Bhagalpur, Banka, Purnia, Munger, Lakhisarai, Begusarai, Jamui, Katihar, Khagaria, Kishanganj, Supaul, Saharsa and Madhepura in Bihar inclusive of districts of Jharkhand (Deoghar, Godda, Pakur, Dumka, Jamtara, Giridh and Sahebganj) and West Bengal (Malda, Birbhum and Uttar Dinajpur). The ancient city of Champa was an important centre of trade and commerce where merchants have been known to trade not only with other states of the Indian subcontinent but also with foreign empires in Southeast Asia. This historic city of Champa has been linked with the present-day settlements of Champapur and Champanagar and is located at an approximate distance of 9 kilometers west of Bhagalpur city in southern Bihar.
It is at the heart of this ancient city that the folklore of Bihula-Bishahari was woven, a folklore that has materialized in the form of one of the most celebrated festivals of the region i.e., Bishahari Puja and has also led to the birth and evolution of Manjusha art form. This art form is basically a sequential and pictorial representation of the folklore through caricature and motifs.
Manjusha is a Sanskrit word which means ‘box’ and the term is also used for ceremonial temple shaped boxes used for Bishahari Puja which are made of bamboo, jute-straw and paper. It is utilized by devotees for keeping materials of puja. Residents of Bhagalpur (and the area around) celebrates Bishahari Puja on 17th and 18th of August every year, to worship Goddess Manasa Bishahari. With the main temple of Goddess Bishahari being in Champanagar area of Bhagalpur, pandals are erected all over the region and idol of Goddess Bishahari is established in each of them. Bishahari Puja is also a celebration of the folklore of Bihula-Bishahari which illustrates the origin of Goddess Manasa Bishahari and her four sisters and how they attained importance in life of residents of this region.
The history of this art form is fascinating and very interesting as the artists practicing it believe that Manjusha art form is contemporary to the time period of Indus valley civilization. In an interview with Manjusha guru Manoj Pandit taken by Sunil Kumar (published on 13th April, 2018 as a part of folk-art documentation by Art News Network India), he points out to an excavation carried out in 1970-71 in Karnagarh, a mound located 3 kms to the west of Bhagalpur and identified by Buchanan in 1939 carrying remains of ‘a square rampart surrounded by a ditch’. In that excavation, a lot of items were unearthed including terracotta figurines and embellishments of nagas, like the motifs represented in Manjusha art form. When these figurines were dated, they were found to belong to the same time period as Indus Valley Civilization and hence it is believed that this art form has continued from 2600 B.C. till now. Since this art form is a sequential representation of a story pictorially and considering the timeline since this art form has been in practice, it is the earliest art form of its nature where the whole story of folklore is depicted sequentially through caricatures and motifs.
The art form was earlier practiced by families of only two castes i.e., Kumbhakar caste and Malakar caste. Kumbhakar caste is known to make pots on which Manjusha art is done and then later worshiped during the festival of Bishahari puja, while people of Malakar caste were known to make the ceremonial boxes or manjushas and then paint abstract of folklore on these structures. The legacy of this art form is not only limited to these ceremonial boxes and pots as it was also done in form of bhitta chitra (art done on walls). Like any other art form which is practiced in the semblance of bhitta chitra, Manjusha too was done in three areas of a household, namely the outer walls, place of worship and room belonging to newlyweds. The art form was deemed very important for newlyweds and in order to bring upon good fortune for the couple, abstracts from folklore were painted in their room. The folklore not only inspired this art form but was also a driving factor behind an oral tradition were the story of Bihula-Bishahari or ‘Bihula-Bishahari Gatha’ as it was termed, was sung in local dialect during the puja.
Sources:
[i] https://ich.unesco.org/en/what-is-intangible-heritage-00003
Echoes of Time 
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