Rajula Malushahi – A love story rather a memory etched in the hearts of the people of Uttarakhand hills

Yesterday, saw the historic play RAJULA MALUSHAHI at Sri Ram Centre Auditorium having been played good number of times all over the country during the last 35 years. The play is based on the true love story between the king of Bairatha in Kumaon, Uttarakhand Malushahi and a daughter of a trader Sunapati, namely Rajula.

This opera in Kumaoni dialect is rated as the timeless legend from the folk world of Uttarakhand. It’s a true love story that happened centuries ago. The play was written by Brijendra Lal Shah and the eminent director late Mohan Upreti, the founder of Parvatiya Kala Kendra. The auditorium was full of capacity with people standing around.

It was indeed a marvellous piece of work with melodious songs, back ground music, attractive colourful attires of the artists, fantastic lip singing and appreciable make up. The stage and light management too was splendid with each and every actor performing with tremendous amount of precision and perfection. All the characters, particularly the main centre of attracton Rajula played her role tremendously well mesmerising one and all.

The character of the king Malushali who desperately falls in love with Rajula too did perfect justice to his character with his marvellous acting. Rajula’s father Sunapati, trader was indeed exemplary in his acting of various shades. The beauty of the cast Rajula and handsomeness of Malushahi, the king (in reality) added relevence to the glamour of these two main characters of the play.The entire star cast was just remarkable and outstanding.

This folklore ( true love story) in the shape of a nritya natike won everybody’s heart with the jampacked audience finally giving a standing ovation to the entire star cast with incessant clappings. It was since long that I saw such an oustandingly wonderful play. The character of Rajula was brilliantly enacted by Ridhimma Bagga while Malushahi was played by Sudhir Rikhari. Mahendra Singh Latwal, a seasoned theatre artist impressed one and all by his towering performance as Rajula’s trader father. There were in all about 55 characters in this play.

The off stage orchestra was simply brilliant and extraordinary with the entire music arrangement monitered by Dr. Pushpa Bagga. Rajula Malushahi is a true story of love, sorrow and acstacy; a legend which has flesh and blood characters as protagonists in the magical realms of the mountain ranges of Northern Himalayas, the then Bairatha kingdom of Almora, Uttarakhand and a musical legacy that has defied the notion of timelessness – Rajula Malushahi is a story rather a memory etched in the hearts of the people inhabiting the Garhwal, Kumaon hills.

It’s a story of two desperate lovers Rajula and Malusha. One a daughter of a simple trader and another a young king of Bairatha, Almora district. At the heart of the story is the underlying principle – love without honour is meaningless. The best part of the whole story is: after so much of struggle, ups and downs, poisioning of the king by Rajula’s parents and fierce fighting between both of them, the king and the trader Sunapati, it’s finally the power of love which emerges as the true winner and the two lovers are finally united.Thanks and greetings to the organisers Parvatiya Kala Kendra.

Sunil Negi, PRESIDENT, UTTARAKHAND JOURNALISTS FORUM