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The Blue Horse -ArunKolatkar By Prof. R. R. Borse, Asst.Prof. & HOD, B.P.Arts,S.M.A.Science,K.K.C.Comm. College, ChalisgaonDist.Jalgaon ravindraborse1@gmail.com
ArunKolatkar’s Career • ArunKolatkar was born in 1932 in Kolhapur. He worked as graphic artist in Bombay. • He was a brilliant bilingual poet, who wrote in English and Marathi. • His major works in English are the boatride (1968), Jejuri (1976), SarpaSatra (2003),Kala Ghoda Poems (2004), and The Boatride and Other Poems (2009). • His major works in Marathi are such as ArunKolatkarchyaKavita (1976), Chirimiri (2003),BhijkiVahi (2003) and Droan (2004). • No single book of poetry has received such continuous and serious critical appreciation and attention as ArunKolatkar’s‘Jejuri’ right from the 1977 Commonwealth Poetry Prize
ArunKolatkar is an important and influential figure in Indian English poetry. • He is a bilingual poet who wrote poems simultaneously in Marathi, his native language and in English. • His ‘BhijkiVahi’ (2004), a collection of Marathi poems, won the SahityaAkademi Award in 2005. • Jejuri is his first collection of English poems that not only brought him immense fame but won the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 1977.
Kolatkar : A Genius • Indian English Poetry is remarkable very great. It has gained name and fame both during pre-independence period as well as post-independence • period. • ArunKolatkar, one of the leading literary voices of his generation has contributed immensely towards raising Indian English poetry to its present canonical status. • His poetry demonstrates indisputably that Indian poetry has come to acquire a distinct identity of its own.
Kolatkar : An Observer • ArunKolatkar with an observant eye wearing the rationalist’s spectacle, has observed the events, situations, traditions, customs and rituals performed by the people at the barren land Jejuri. • He has presented them with minute details in order to • show the cultural decay, superstitious nature of the pilgrims and tradition bound society. • What are the genuine problems to Kolatkar may not be to the people blinded by superstations at Jejuri.
Kolatkar’s Style • Simplicity of language • Common topics of daily life as a theme • Rational attitude • No imagination in poetry • Realistic
Jejuri : An Anthology ArunKolatkar‟s (1932 – 2004) widely known collection of poems, Jejuri (1976) is about Jejuri, an ancient place of pilgrimage in Maharashtra and its mythical association of the god Khandoba. But what makes Jejuri to draw much critical attention is that it presents a conflict, an essential element for any literary work, between the legendary associations of the place and the god and the socio-cultural reality of the place; between the blind faith of the people of Maharashtra in the miraculous power of the god Khandoba and the sceptic attitude of an urban tourist.
Background of Jejuri Jejuri is a collection of thirty-one poems, the last one having six sections, which has provoked a considerable amount of debate among critics and readers because of its attitude to the religious experience. Jejuri is a place of pilgrimage about thirty miles away from Pune in the central Indian state of Maharashtra and has one of the most famous temples of the state. Khandoba (often said to be a form of Lord Shiva) is the local god of the temple and is worshipped by all castes and communities in Maharashtra and some other places in India.
Kolatkar then rewrote Jejuri, which was first appeared in the Opinion Literary Quarterly (1975) and later as a book by Clearing House Publication in 1976. Kolatkar beautifully blends the theme of religious faith, mythical stories and superstitious believes of the people of Jejuri with the natural description, harsh reality and rational and sceptical attitude.
Jejuri : A Religious Place Jejuri is a place of pilgrimage, about 60 km from Pune,Maharashtra,India. Kandhoba is the local god of the temple. ArunKolatkar's poetry collection covers an excursion to the temple and the village. Jejuri is an expression of a major issue concerning Contemporary Indian Society. Jejuri has provoked a considerable amount of debate because of its attitude to the religious experience. Jejuri is one of the famous temples in Maharashtra, popularly known as ’KhandobachiJejuri’. It is one of the major Gods in Maharashtra. The God of Jejuri-Mhalsakant or MalhariMantad - is popular among Dhangars . Khandoba is known to be their god.
Kolatkar wants to seek what Jejuri is really about and therefore he, like a modern sceptic, investigates every stone, tradition, culture, people and legend associated with gods and goddesses, people and places of Jejuri. Almost all the poems are written in a sarcastic and ironical tone by satirizing the blind faith and superstitious belief of the people. By presenting the myths Kolatkar beautifully exposes the legends about the god Khandoba and the place of pilgrimage for what they really are.
Jejuri Temple As the temple is on the hill, one has to climb almost 200 steps. But the climbing is not so tough and the wonderful view of Jejuri town is marvelous. The idol of Khandoba in the temple is beautiful. Various weapons like sword, Damaru, and Paral are of historic rememberance. The five hills around Jejuri are considered as the relics of the five demons killed by Khandoba. For this reason he has a large following among the Kshartriyas also. Animal sacrifice is performed to appease the God.
Lord Khandoba : As a Symbol • Khandoba is also considered as a fertility symbol. Therefore the newly married couples visit the town, and many childless couples are believed to have been blessed with children after their visit to Jejuri. • Many of such children, particularly the first-borns, are offered to God Khandoba. • The female children, offered to Khandoba are called ‘Murlis’ and the male children are called ‘Vaghyas’. • They are called as ‘children of god’ and earn their livelihood by singing and dancing in praise of Khandoba.
Jejuri : A Religious Satire Kolatkar has written the poem Jejurinot to celebrate the God Khandoba or to pay his personal tribute and homage to him. In fact he does not even fully or whole-heartedly believe in idol worship to be a kind of superstition, though he does not openly say so anywhere in the poem. While going through the poem Jejuri, it depicts a direct and unflinching attitude of denial and disbelief. Kolatkar’sJejuri is a religious satire.
Kolatkar,s intention is not to worship or celebrate the god Khandoba but to depict the real socio-cultural and economic condition of the local people by highlighting, or rather by satirizing their blind faith, superstitions and mythopoeic imagination. S. K. Desai justly comments that the narrator goes to Jejuri not “as a pilgrim... He is a kind of traveller... a tourist”
The conflict between a modern intellectual sceptic and the traditional believers of God and religion is presented through some conversational poems like “A Low Temple”, “The Blue Horse”, “The Priest‟s Son”, “Makarand” etc. The quest intention and the questioning mind of the protagonist bring out the ignorance of the priest. “A Low Temple” and “The Blue Horse” make it clear that the priest, who is the prime worshipper of God, does not have the true knowledge about the gods and goddesses whom he is worshipping every day.
Situation in the Poem : Blue Horse The poem ‘The Blue Horse’ is about the night-long musical and dramatic recitation of the legends of the deity ‘GondhalJagran’. The people believe in these rituals to be performed immediately after a marriage in order to get the blessings of Khandoba. The priest in the poem has limited knowledge but pretends to become expert. The songs in the ‘Gondhal’ are mostly invocations to Khandoba and gods at Jejuri.
The Blue Horse : theme ‘The Blue Horse’ presents the spectacle of a group of singers singing at a JagranGondhal in a keyless passion in praise of Khandoba’s horse at the house of priest. The group of singers is led by a “The toothless singer” who: Opens her mouth. Shorts the circuits in her haywire throat.”
‘GondhalJagran’ The people believe in these rituals to be performed immediately after a marriage in order to get the blessings of Khandoba
THE BLUE HORSE : Poem The toothless singer opens her mouth . Shorts the circuits in her haywire throat. A shower of sparks flies off her half-burnt tongue. Witha face fallen in on itself and a black skin burnt blacker in the sun the drummer goes blue in the face as he thumps and whacks the tambourine a~d joins the chorus in a keyless passion. HIS pockmarked half-brother . twiddles, tweaks and twangs on the one-string thing. God's own children making music. You tum to the priest who has been good enough to arrange
THE BLUE HORSE : Poem (continue...) that bit of sacred cabaret act at his own house and ask him, 'The singers sang of a blue horse. How is it then, that the picture on your wall shows a white one?' 'Looks blue to me,' says the priest, shifting a piece of betel nut from the left to the right of his mouth. And draws an end of a nutcracker along the underbelly of the noble animal. Picking on a shade of blue that many popular painters like to use . . to suggest shadow on an object otherwIse white. The tambourine continues to beat its breast.
Kolatkar As a Traveller But the poet’s reaction to the whole thing is only predictable. This poem describes a religious ceremony which the priest has arranged at his house for the convenience of protagonist. Of course the priest must have been paid enough money as his fee for thus obliging the protagonist. You turn to the priest who has been good enough to arrange that bit of sacred cabaret act at his own house.
Main issue in the Poem “The Blue Horse” exposes the ignorance of the priest. While a group of singers singing of „a blue horse‟ upon which god Khandoba is sitting, the picture that the protagonist finds on the wall of the priest‟s house has a „white‟ horse: “The singers sang of a blue horse. How is it then, that the picture on your wall shows a white one?” “Looks blue to me”. says the priest. (21-25) The priest then very cunningly gives a „shade of blue‟ so that the white horse looks blue. This shows how the priest is in darkness about the true history of the god.
The singers are professional but do not have always a musical singing voice. The narrator being a non believer is struck by the hoarse and harsh music. He also notices that the singers in their songs mention ‘a blue horse’.
The picture of Khandoba that is hung on the wall of the priest’s house shows the horse to be ‘white’. The narrator is moved by the discrepancy while the priest is not.
Question by Kolatkar Kolatkar’s utter contempt of the priest is obvious. The singers sing of a Blue Horse on which Khandoba had ridden away after killing the demons and after having murdered his wife. But the picture on the wall of the priest’s house shows a white horse. The protagonist asks priest for the explanation. “The singers sang of a blue horse. How is it then, that the picture on your wall shows a white one?’
The Priest is Speechless The priest artificially imparts a bluish hue to the picture on the wall in order to make it look blue. Once again we see the negligence about the accuracy or the fact. The true history is not known by the priest; hence the religion is in darkness. The interruption or queries doesn’t affect the priest and the singers. They carry on with their drums to be beaten with great force.
Ignorance of the Priest The priest is ignorant about the two kind of horses referred to the legends. The horse that Khandoba normally used was a white one, but the horse that he used while fighting with the demons Mani and Mala and kidnapping Banai was blue. It doesn’t make any difference to the devotees, because they blindly believe and faithfully follow the information provided by the priest to them.
