‘Mann’ to never lose its ‘Maan’ in the coming decades

He begins with a deep- toned voice and sets the mood while creating rhythm with the rings on his fingers. Adorned with a red paghdi on his head, he is a man who wears dhoti and kurta while embracing his roots and culture with pride. Shri Dharmiklal Pandya, born on August 11, 1932 in Vadodara is the keeper of Mannbhatt tradition.

About the Mannbhatt tradition

Prior to understanding what the Mannbhatt tradition is, it is appropriate to first comprehend what is Aakhyan. It is a very old tradition of poetic recital of a story or epic consisting of facts about the past or which narrates episodes from ancient literature which is recited by a person or a group of persons.

‘Mann’ is a pot made of copper (earlier made of clay). Bhattji (Narrator) puts on rings called ‘Vedh’ on his fingers and plays Mann in a rhythm to create melodious sound as per the need of the narration being done by him verbally. The intensity and tone of the sound is varied as per the subject matter of the narration. Say, for depicting the war of Mahabharata, the Mannbhatt loudly narrates with action:

‘Sounds of “Kill them”, “Kill them” are heard…
The earth starts vibrating…
and turbulence prevails…’

The legacy

Ancient poet of Gujarati language Narsinh Mehta created Aakhyans and initiated the tradition over 450- 500 years ago. Vadodara born Rasakavi (Poet of sentiments) Premanand took the legacy forward. He was the one who had vowed for not putting on a turban until Gujarati language gets valued. He used to travel to the villages extensively to promote Mannkala through Ramayan, Mahabharat, etc.

It was Sundar Mewada who completed the Premanand’s incomplete tenth section was also a Mannbhatt. Lallu Vyas, another Mannbhatt who used earthen Mann performed about a century ago. His admirers then presented him with a copper pot which ten went to his disciple Chunilal Pandya who is the father of Dharmiklal Pandya.

Shree Dharmiklal Pandya

The 92 year old Shree Dharmiklal’s father passed away when he had reached matriculation. The entire responsibility of his family was on his shoulder. Though he chose to adopt story narration and recital as his profession. He performed on the streets of Vadodara for initial 5-6 years post which his fame spread all over Gujarat through the radio station of Vadodara. He is active in his profession since 1951/52 and had visited the villages across Gujarat. He has also performed in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. He also performs regularly in programmes on All India Radio and Doordarshan. Shree Pandya has received many awards, honors, appreciations and recognitions.

Shree Dharmiklal has learnt by heart, all the 40 Aakhyans written by Premanand. The interesting thing is that he makes appropriate changes according to the time that we are living in. He evaluates the minds of audience and suitably adds jokes, subtle messages, satires and political advices etc. in his poetic recitals.

Preserving the rich artistic tradition

Shree Dharmiklal along with his two sons; Pradyumna and Mayank, run ‘Shree Mann Aakhyankala Shikshan Kendra’ at their residence for permanent longevity of priceless inheritance of this art. They perform at various concerts to spread this form of art. Though there are not many who understand the intricacies of art. All the members of the family are working hard and vowing for Padma Shri for the well deserving Shree Dharmiklal Pandya.

Let’s promote this dying art form and pray to god for yet another Padma Shri for a Gujarati.