Bhubaneswar: Bilvamangala Thakura in his book ‘Krsna-Karnamrta’ mentions about Chintamani, a prostitute, as his first spiritual guru because she was the one who first showed him the spiritual path.
The play ‘Krushna Benira Kabi’, staged by Arpan, a Bhubaneswar based theatre group at Bhanjakala Mandap, Bhubaneswar on January 1, 2020, shows how a prostitute could become Bilvamangala’s spiritual guru.
The play narrates the life of Kavi Bilvamangala, starting from his early life when he was very much attached to Chintamani, a prostitute to his becoming a great saint, so brilliantly that the audience hardly got any moment to doze off in their seats.
Govind Jena directed the play, leaving no stone unturned to make it a successful one. Dr. Suryamani Khuntia is the playwright of the play. Rakesh’s light designing, Susant Kumar Satpathy’s music and Trimurti Arts’ stage craft only added colour to the play.
The play was staged as the first play of Natyadhara series of January month. Every month, there are four plays staged-three at Bhanjakala Mandap and one at Rabindra Mandap under Natyadhara series, jointly organised by the Odia Language, Literature and Culture department, Odisha Sangeet Natak Academy and Odisha Natya Sangha.
Kalasanskruti
