Vishnupant Moreshwar Chatre

Last updated

Vishnupant Moreshwar Chatre (1840-1905) was an Indian circus owner who is considered the founder of the modern Indian circus. [1] His circus company Great Indian Circus was the first circus company in India. Chatre met martial arts trainer Keeleri Kunhikannan when Great Indian Circus toured Thalassery, Kerala in 1887. In this visit an agreement was signed between Keeleri Kunjikannan and Chatre, according to that Keeleri Kunjikannan agreed to train the trainees for the circus and Chatre agreed to employ them. [1] This led to the development of first circus academy in the country. [2]

Contents

Personal life

He was born in a small village called Ankalkhop in Sangali, Maharashtra. His father, Moreshwar Chatre, was the treasurer at the palace of Jamkhandi. [3] Since childhood Chatre loved birds and animals.

At the urging of his father, Chatre got married at the age of sixteen. [3] After marriage he got job at stable of Ramdurg Palace. [3] Later, he gone to Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. There he got a job at the palace stable. At Gwalior, Baba Sahib Apthe, a horse trainer, taught him horse characters, horse training methods etc. At Gwalior, under Ustad Hadhu Khan, he also studied Hindustani classical music. [3]

After leaving Gwalior he became in charge of the stables of Balasahib Patwardhan, the king of the Kurundwad princely state of Sangli. [4] Balasahib also helped Chatre to form his circus company. He trained his second wife Avuda Bai Parulelkar in single trapeze, acrobatics and animal training. [3] [5]

In 1890, after handing over circus charges to his brother, Chatre settled in Indore with his classical music master Ustad Rahmat Khan. [3] He was an acute diabetic patient. He died on February 20, 1905, at Indore. [3]

Birth of Indian circus

In 1879, the Royal Italian Circus by Giuseppe Chiarini toured India. Before all his shows started, he would tell the audience that India did not have a proper circus and would have to wait many more years to develop one. In addition, he offered "a thousand British Indian rupees" and a horse as a gift to anyone who could repeat his daring stage effects within six months. [4]

Accepting the challenge, on March 20, 1880, Chatre came to perform his circus at the Kurundwad Palace Grounds, but Chiarini did not came to see it. [4] After this Vishnupant Chatre bought most of the circus equipment from Chiarini. [6] Within a year, he formed a new circus company called the Great Indian Circus. [6] This was the first circus company in India. Chatre's Great Indian Circus toured various parts of India and other countries. He eventually merged his circus company with his cousin's company to form a company called the Karlaker Grand Circus. The Karlaker Grand Circus lasted until 1935. [4]

Awards and honours

Bombay University honoured him giving the title "Professor". [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwalior</span> Metropolis in Madhya Pradesh, India

Gwalior is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located 343 kilometres (213 mi) south of Delhi, the capital city of India, 120 kilometres (75 mi) from Agra and 414 kilometres (257 mi) from Bhopal, the state capital, Gwalior occupies a strategic location in the Gird region of India. The historic city and its fortress have been ruled by several historic Indian kingdoms. From the Kachchhapaghatas in the 10th century, Tomars in the 13th century, it was passed on to the Mughal Empire, then to the Maratha in 1754, and the Scindia Dynasty of Maratha Empire in the 18th century. In April 2021, It was found that Gwalior had the best air quality index amongst the 4 major cities in Madhya Pradesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bismillah Khan</span> Indian musician (1916–2006)

Ustad Bismillah Khan, often referred to by the title Ustad, was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a reeded woodwind instrument. He played it with such expressive virtuosity that he became a leading Hindustani classical music artist. His name was indelibly linked with the woodwind instrument. While the shehnai had long held importance as a folk instrument played primarily by musicians schooled in traditional ceremonies, Khan is credited with elevating its status and bringing it to the concert stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shahid Parvez</span> Indian musician

Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan is an Indian classical sitar maestro from the Imdadkhani gharana. He represents the seventh generation of the Etawah Gharana as its primary exponent. He is praised especially for the vocalistic phrasing and quality of his raga improvisations, known as "Gayaki Ang." This translates to "Singing branch/limb". The sitar legend, Ustad Vilayat Khan resurrected and re-introduced Gayaki Ang as a widely accepted sitar genre in India and abroad, and his nephew, Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan has carried this torch into the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaddanbai</span> Indian actress

Jaddanbai Hussain was an Indian singer, music composer, dancer, actress, filmmaker, and one of the pioneers of Indian cinema. She along with Bibbo and Saraswati Devi was one of the first female music composers in Indian cinema. She was the mother of Akhtar Hussain, Anwar Hussain, and the well-known Hindi actress Nargis, and maternal grandmother of Priya Dutt and Sanjay Dutt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Karim Khan</span> Indian Hindustani classical music vocalist (1872 - 1937)

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan was an Indian classical singer and, along with his cousin Abdul Wahid Khan, the founder of the Kirana gharana of classical music.

Ustad Imdad Khan was a sitar and surbahar player. He was the first sitar player ever to be recorded.

The Central India Campaign was one of the last series of actions in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The British Army and Bombay Army overcame a disunited collection of states in a single rapid campaign, although determined rebels continued a guerrilla campaign until the spring of 1859.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vishnu Digambar Paluskar</span> Indian vocalist (1872–1931)

Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar was a Hindustani musician. He sang the original version of the bhajan Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram, and founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya on 5 May 1901. He is also credited with arranging India's national song, Vande Mātaram, as it is heard today. His original surname was Gadgil, but as they hailed from the village Palus, they came to be known as the "Paluskar" family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holkar Stadium</span> Cricket stadium in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India

Holkar Cricket Stadium is located in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is owned and operated by Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association and serves as its headquarter. It is the home ground of Madhya Pradesh cricket team as well as MP women's team.

The Gwalior Gharana is one of the oldest Khyal Gharana in Indian classical music. The rise of the Gwalior Gharana started with the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542–1605).

Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar, of Dagar Gharana of Dhrupad singing was an Indian dhrupad singer in the dagar-vani style, the second-eldest among four Dhrupad singing brothers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manji Khan</span> Musical artist

Ustad Badruddin "Manji" Khan (1888–1937) was a Hindustani Classical vocalist of the Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana founded by his father, Ustad Alladiya Khan. "He was called 'Manji' because he was his father's Manjhala (middle) son."

Chintaman Raghunath Vyas, popularly known as C. R. Vyas, was an Indian classical singer. He was known for singing khyal style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priyanath Bose</span> Indian businessman

Priyanath Bose also known as Professor Bose was an Indian circus performer and entrepreneur. In 1887 he founded the Great Bengal Circus with an all-Indian team and toured Bengal, India and South East Asia. He is considered to be one the pioneers of circus in India.

Keeleri Kunjikannan was an Indian martial arts trainer and gymnast. He was one of the earliest circus owners in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shanno Khurana</span> Musical artist

Shanno Khurana is a noted Indian classical vocalist and composer, from the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana of Hindustani classical music. A disciple of the doyen of the gharana, Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan, she is known for performing rare bandish and raag, though her singing style includes genres like khayal, tarana, thumri, dadra, tappa, to chaiti and bhajan. Born and brought up in Jodhpur, she started singing on All India Radio in 1945 in Lahore, later shifted to Delhi, where she continued her singing on All India Radio, Delhi and in concerts and music festivals. She also pursued music education, finally earning her M.Phil. and PhD in music from the Kairagarh University, and has undertakes extensive research on folk music of Rajasthan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parikipandla Narahari</span> Indian civil servant

Parikipandla Narahari also known as P. Narahari is an Indian civil servant employed by the Indian Administrative Services and author. According to Tehelka, Narahari, in his capacity as District collector of Gwalior, is one of India's few civil servants to use social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to interact with citizenry to solve their problems. The issues citizens of Gwalior raise on Narahari's wall were automatically directed to concerned departments. The Better India recognized Narahari as 10 most inspiring IAS officers of the year 2017. Narahari is one among of those rare professional officers to be credited as Publicity Advisor to three successive governments of different parties.

Ustad Qurban Hussain Khan was a singer connected to the Gwalior Gharana Indian classical music school. He was son of Ustad Bade Inayat Hussain Khan and grandson of Ustad Haddu Khan saheb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Indian circus</span>

Although street performances similar to circuses have existed in India since ancient times, a circus similar to the one described by Philip Astley, known as the father of the modern circus, as described in 1770, only existed in India in the 1880s.

Sreedharan Champad was an Indian circus artist, circus historian and Malayalam-language writer from Kerala. He worked in a number of fields, including working as circus manager, flying trapeze artist, circus company public relations officer, auto driver, bill collector, journalist and writer. Champad wrote over 20 books including novels, more than 100 short stories, biographies and articles. His book An Album of Indian Big Tops chronicles the history of the circus industry in India from 1880 to 2010.

References

  1. 1 2 ":: Welcome to aum9.com ::". aum9.com. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  2. "A fine balance". The Hindu. 2016-10-22. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Champad, Sreedharan (September 2013). An Album of Indian Big Tops: (History of Indian Circus). Strategic Book Publishing. ISBN   978-1-62212-766-5.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Mumbaiwale: How India's circus acts took to the stage". Hindustan Times. 2018-11-17. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  5. Sengupta, Nandini (November 16, 2014). "Swadeshi girls in the ring -". The Times of India. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  6. 1 2 "ഗ്രേറ്റ് ഇന്ത്യന്‍ സര്‍ക്കസ്, ജംബോ സര്‍ക്കസ്.. അറിയാം സര്‍ക്കസ്സിന്റെ കഥ". Mathrubhumi. Retrieved 2020-10-22.