Urubhangam

Among all the Bhasa plays, Urubhangam has an eternal relevance cutting across centuries. In this play, the hero is Duryodhana, usually regarded as the anti-hero or the villain in all the traditional renderings of Mahabharata. The plot maintains a unique objective perspective while approaching the great battle of Mahabharata, which almost criticises the whole exercise of the war. In a way, this could even be described as a strong anti-war play. However, hardly any documentary evidence except for some unconfirmed reports exist of the staging of Urubhangam as part of the repertoire of Kutiyattam in the olden days. Neither the Kramadeepika nor the Attaprakaram for Urubhangam were available from the tradition even to this day.

Photography Credits: Kapila Venu