Maheshwar Kumar

Maheshwar Kumar holds a PhD from the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) Bhubaneswar, an Off-Centre Campus of Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), India. His PhD thesis is entitled- “Performance as Cultural Text: Defamiliarizing the Performing Art Tradition of Purulia His current research article has been published in Performance Research (Taylor & Francis), The Oriental Anthropologist (Sage), and Asian Anthropology (Taylor & Francis). His primary areas of research interest are- Purulia Chhau, Cultural Studies, Performance Studies, Dance Research, and Indigenous Culture.

EDUCATION

 Ph.D. in English, 2024- National Institute of Science Education and Research Bhubaneswar
 UGC NET in English, 2018
 M.A. English, 2018- Banaras Hindu University, Uttar Pradesh (1st Class)
 B.A. English, 2016- Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, West Bengal (2nd Class)
 Higher Secondary, 2012- West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (1st Class)
 Secondary, 2010- West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (1st Class)

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Arts and Humanities, Literature and Literary Theory, Visual Arts and Performing Arts, Language and Linguistics

Scopus Publications

Performance as cultural text: defamiliarizing the performing art tradition of Purulia Chhau
Maheshwar Kumar
Informa UK Limited



Ritual, Performance and Spirituality: Revisiting the Performative Cultures of Chaitra Parva and Purulia Chhau in West Bengal
Maheshwar Kumar, Amarjeet Nayak, and Pranaya Kumar Swain
SAGE Publications
Ritual, a reflection of human nature, society, and culture, influences various performance traditions as a form of symbolism, a way of communicating and a vehicle of transformation. Additionally, performance as an embodied process characterizes the constitutive of culture signifying the study of man. This integration of ritual and performance is mirrored in the Chaitra Parva or the Spring Festival, celebrated annually in honor of Lord Shiva, invoking rain. During this ritual worship, the devotees undertake severe austerities through renunciation and self-mortification, and the Chhau dancers incarnate the gods, goddesses, and demons through their highly stylized masked dance. Drawing references to a series of rituals and performances, the present study explores the major events of the last four days of Chaitra Parva and its constitutive performing art of Chhau. The study also involves enquiring about the people of Purulia district in West Bengal and their cultural heritage to provide an empirical grounding to this study. It also introduces the background and context of the Hindu epics and focuses on the myth of Lord Shiva and the history of Shiva temple at Lohoria in Purulia. Finally, through a synthesis of performative rituals, performances and spirituality, the present study shows how the people find meaning, significance, and connection in those ritual rites and performances which bind them together with a sense of cultural identity and belongingness.


Performance as cultural text: defamiliarizing the performing art tradition of Purulia Chhau
Maheshwar Kumar
Informa UK Limited



Habit as Restored Behaviour in Purulia Chhau: A vignette
Maheshwar Kumar, Amarjeet Nayak, and Pranaya Kumar Swain
Informa UK Limited
According to Richard Schechner, the overall time-space sequence of performance is divided into three parts: proto-performance, performance and aftermath. Schechner’s concept of restored behaviour falls under the time-space sequence of proto-performance, which comprises of training, workshop and rehearsal processes. As such, restored behaviour marks previously enacted embodiment and emphasizes the processes of repetition and revision. These behaviours can be aligned with habits as ‘a settled disposition or tendency to act in a particular way, acquired through repetition of the action in question’ (Felix Ravaisson (2008) Of Habit, trans. Clare Carlisle and Mark Sinclair, London: Continuum, p5). This article aims to open a window on the concepts of restored behaviour and habit and explores in the context of a particular aesthetic performance practice via an emphasis on repetition, enactment and embodied assimilation. Accordingly, this vignette focuses on Purulia Chhau of West Bengal, a tribal, martial, folk, masked dance-drama form of Eastern India, whose various habits of performance are considered in terms of restored behaviours. Within this context, we use Schechner’s theory and employ a qualitative approach as the primary methodological tool to analyse the threefold habits of proto-performance practices in Purulia Chhau, close read the recurring patterns as habits in practices of repetition and their improvisation, and examine how restored behaviour works both in symbolic and reflexive ways during the performances offered to the public.

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

Publications

1. Kumar, M., Nayak, A., & Swain, P. K. (2023). Habit as Restored Behaviour in Purulia Chhau: A Vignette. Performance Research, 28(6), 64–68.

2. Kumar, M., Nayak, A., & Swain, P. K. (2024). Ritual, Performance and Spirituality: Revisiting the Performative Cultures of Chaitra Parva and Purulia Chhau in West Bengal. The Oriental Anthropologist.

3. Kumar, M. (2024). Performance as Cultural Text: Defamiliarizing the Performing Art Tradition of Purulia Chhau. Asian Anthropology.

4. Kumar, M., Nayak, A., and Swain, P. K. (2024). Cultures of Orality and Performativity in the Performing Art Tradition of Purulia Chhau. ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts, 5(1), 124-136.

5. Kumar, M., Nayak, A., & Swain, P. K. (2024). New Normal, Cultural Shifting and Intellectual Property Rights: An Anthropological Appraisal of Purulia Chhau Dance. Naad-Nartan: Journal of Dance and Music, 12(2), 103-106.