From myth to modernity, Ganesh Mandarthi’s Shivoham

A scene from the play Shivoham.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Chronicles of India (COI), a young theatre troupe started by amateur and professional theatre artists in 2024, is set to stage another show of its first Kannada production Shivoham. Premiered last year, this will be COI’s first show at Ranga Shankara, J.P. Nagar, on March 11.

Written, designed and directed by renowned theatre maker Ganesh Mandarthi, according to the synopsis, the play is both a mythological and social drama, intertwining two tales. One is the mythological saga of Shiva. The second tale is of a character resonating with Shiva’s intensity, who emerges as a revolutionary experiencing the anguish of lost love. The synopsis by the troupe says that the play also talks about female characters challenging societal norms and male ego, striving to transcend boundaries, whether in triumph or defeat.  

On the inspiration behind Shivoham, Ganesh Mandarthi said that Shiva has been a primary deity in the land, and he wanted to create a work inspired by him. “When Shiva loses his wife Dakshayani, he turns miserable. I wanted to show the side of Shiva where a leader of the backward community, a Yogi, and a deity of the land turns inconsolable. This is the story of how God can also become weak like us humans. The other side, or the dual life of Shiva is the inspiration behind the play,” he said. 

A scene from Shivoham.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Elaborating on how the mythological and social narratives are intertwined in the play, Mandarthi said, “Bhasmasura-Mohini, Rasaleele’s Shiva and the encounter of Chandala and Shankaracharya are the three stories we have taken up in this play. In Bhasmasura Mohini, we talk about Pravati and how Vishnu took the form of Mohini to distract the demon Bhasmasura. In the second, Shiva becomes a woman to dance at the Yamuna river. In the third, Chandala’s wife Chandale holds a conversation with Shankaracharya in Sanskrit. In all three stories, femininity has the upper hand.” Meanwhile, the social narrative strand of the play talks about backward classes and the issues around them.

Tickets for the show at 7.30 p.m. are available at the Ranga Shankara box-office and on BookMyShow.