Akbar declares Tulsidas as the real ‘Mahabali’!

The play focuses on the relationship between poet Tulsidas and Mughal emperor Akbar who liked to be called ‘Mahabali’

LUCKNOW ‘Mahabali’, a play directed by Manoj Sharma, was staged at the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) on the sixth day of the 10-day-long Darpan Theatre Festival.

The play, ‘Mahabali’, directed by Manoj Sharma, was staged at the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) on the sixth day of the 10-day-long Darpan Theatre Festival. (Sourced)

The play presented by Darpan’s Gorakhpur unit threw light on two aspects of poet Tulsidas’ life. The first part talked about the time when Ram Katha was available only in Sanskrit in the form of Ramayan by Valmiki, but Tulsidas wrote Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi translating Ramayan from Sanskrit, to take the story of Lord Ram to people. However, his work was opposed by Sanskrit scholars as they believed writing the epic in the vernacular language would diminish its importance.

The second part focused on the relationship between Tulsidas and Mughal emperor Akbar who liked to be called ‘Mahabali’. Hence the play was titled ‘Mahabali’.

Unlike other contemporary poets, Tulsidas never visited the royal palace of Akbar despite the emperor inviting him several times. But by the end of the play, it became a matter of controversy as to who is actually Mahabali - Tulsidas or Akbar.

Finally the play answered this question – Akbar visited Tulsidas’ residence and declared the poet as the actual ‘Mahabali’, as a mark of respect for his work.

The play is penned by National Award winner and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee Asghar Wajahat. Aditya Rajan played Goswami Tulsidas and Sharad Srivastava enacted the role of Akbar while 26 other artistes also participated in the play.