KENDRAPARA: Kendera song was once an integral part of the thriving cultural life of coastal Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts.
But the lively song is on the verge of extinction bereft of patronage.
A noted kendera singer Madan Nath (65) of Biraswati village said the situation is difficult these days with the advent of television and internet. Kendera, which was for long the medium of mass education and rural enterainment with its emphasis on social and mythological themes, is now on the death bed, said Sabyasachi Nath, a kendera singer of Aul. Expressing fear that kendera might face extinction within a decade, he said now a days the singers perform only during some religious festivals in rural areas.
‘’People invite us to perform in some village functions,’’ said Ashok Sharma, a kendera singer of Tarasa. Only 50 to 60 artistes of both the districts are now eking out a living by performing kendera shows in rural areas.
Kendera has a special place in the history of music. The singers travel from place to place to perform. But they never bother to write down their songs. Their's is essentially an oral tradition.
Kendera singers live like a community and their main occupation is the propagation of Nath cult through kendera music. The singers use a variety of indigenous musical instruments to embellish their compositions.
The kendera - two-stringed drone instrument - is the common instrument of a kendera singer. It is made of wood, bamboo and goat skin. The singers use hairs of horses to make strings.
The spirit of the kendera is the spirit of Orissa - ever-flowing in its society and culture, literature and art, religion and spirituality for which the authorities should do something for its revival, said Chitta Nath (64), a kendera singer.
