Yugpurush | |
---|---|
Written by | Uttam Gada |
Directed by | Rajesh Joshi |
Music by | Sachin–Jigar |
Characters | |
Date premiered | 14 November 2016 |
Place premiered | Mumbai, India |
Original language | Gujarati |
Subject | Spirituality |
Genre | Biographical play |
Yugpurush: Mahatma Na Mahatma is a 2016 Gujarati play based on the relationship between Jain philosopher Shrimad Rajchandra and Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi. The play depicts the spiritual journey of Gandhi. It is written by Uttam Gada and directed by Rajesh Joshi. The original song for the play is composed by Sachin–Jigar. It is produced by Shrimad Rajchandra Mission, Dharampur and inspired by its founder Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai. The play is adapted into seven total languages including English, Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Kannada. It won the Best Drama award at the 16th Annual Transmedia Gujarati Screen and Stage Awards 2016. The play has completed 1004 shows as of November 2017. [1] [2] [3]
Yugpurush highlights the values of love, selflessness, diversity, truth and community building through the story of Mahatma Gandhi and Shrimad Rajchandra. The play examines how Gandhi met Shrimad for the first time after returning from England in 1891. Even after Gandhi moved to South Africa, they continued to exchange letters. These letters played a pivotal role in shaping Gandhi’s character. Their honest friendship blossomed and Gandhi proclaimed Shrimad as his spiritual mentor. Shrimad was the one who inherited principles of truth, ahimsa and dharma which were later crystallized as the fundamental tenets of Gandhism. Shrimad died at an early age of 33 and the letters composed by him were then, the only companion of Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi remained indebted to the teachings of his mentor and now he is celebrated as the global messenger of non-violence. [4] [5]
The Gujarati play premiered on 14 November 2016 in Mumbai, India. [6] [ failed verification ] Its Hindi version premiered in December 2016 at the Royal Opera House, Mumbai. [7] The Kannada premiere of the play took place in March 2017 at the Vidhana Soudha, the legislative assembly of Karnataka. The play was also shown at the Vidhan Sabha in Madhya Pradesh in March 2017. [8] [9] [10] The play had its Marathi premiere in Mumbai in the presence of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. [11] The play had its first international premiere in Manchester in April 2017. [12] [13] The play had its 550th show in Kolkata in the Bengali language in May 2017.
Proceeds from the play are donated towards the non-profit Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care for the purpose of building a 250-bed multi-specialty hospital in Dharampur, Gujarat. [14]
The play was well received by critics. [15] "Right through the play, the sets change very swiftly and effectively reflecting scenes from the lives of both these great men and are a visual treat to watch. The actors themselves had an authentic ring to their performance," wrote Dipal Gala in her review in The Times of India . [16] Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson, Tushar Gandhi said, "What is important for me is the humility and the selflessness that Shrimadji instilled in Bapu. I hope you take this play all over the world, but especially to those places that need it the most - where the message of Ahimsa is absent." [17] Kumarpal Desai, Jain scholar, writer and social worker said, "Shrimadji gave Ahimsa to Gandhiji, that same Ahimsa then went to Martin Luther King followed by Nelson Mandela. Not just for this generation and the next, the play will inspire the world to walk on the path of Satya and Ahimsa." Shreyansh Shah, managing editor and publisher of Gujarat Samachar said, "I have been impacted by the play. It is a best of the best experience especially for the new generation. Whatever efforts have been made towards it are truly exceptional and indescribable. This message should be taken across in not only one language, but several languages to more and more people." [18] The 806th show of show was held at Whistling Woods International, a film institute. [19] The play was also well received by several prisons including Tihar Jail. [20]
The play was well received by audiences worldwide. It had its 150th show on 14 February 2017 at Tejpal auditorium to recognize surgeons, donors, recipients and institutions involved with organ donation. [21] The play had its 200th show in March 2017. [22] The play had its 500th show in St Albans at the Alban Arena in May 2017. [23] The play had its 650th show at the JAINA Convention in the United States of America. The play became the first Indian and Gujarati event to be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California in July 2017.[ citation needed ]
Nadiad is a city in the state of Gujarat, India and the administrative centre of the Kheda district. It is known for the Santram Mandir, the Mai Mandir, It is the birthplace of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister of India.
Valsad, historically known as Bulsar, is a city and a municipality in Valsad district of the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the district headquarters of Valsad district. Valsad is located south of Navsari and shares border with Maharashtra and the union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu in the south.
Rajkot district is one of the 33 districts of the Indian state of Gujarat. Located in Saurashtra peninsula, Rajkot city is the administrative headquarters of the district. It is the third-most advanced district in Gujarat and the fourth most populus.
Kochrab Ashram, also known as Satyagraha Ashram, is a historic site and museum in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The ashram was the founded in May 1915 by Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement. For the next two years he lived in the ashram with several other members of the movement. Some of his Gandhian ideas were conceived during that time. In 1953 the Bombay State named the ashram a memorial and tendered it to the Gujarat Vidyapith a year later. Its renovation and redevelopment into a museum were completed in 2024.
Shrimad Rajchandra, was a poet, mystic, philosopher, scholar, and reformer from India. Born in Vavaniya, a village near Morbi, he claimed to have attained recollection of his past lives at the age of seven. He performed Avadhāna, a memory retention and recollection test that gained him popularity, but he later discouraged it in favour of his spiritual pursuits. He wrote much philosophical poetry including Atma Siddhi Shastra. He also wrote many letters and commentaries and translated some religious texts. He is known for his spiritual guidance to Mahatma Gandhi.
Dharampur is a town and a municipality in Valsad district in the state of Gujarat, India. There are more than 100 villages associated with Dharampur (Revenue) office. Ramsingh of the Sesodia clan, the second son of Ram Raja of Udaipur, defeated the local tribal chief in the 13th century and became the ruler of Dharampur State in South Gujarat.
Dada Bhagwan, also known as Dadashri, born Ambalal Muljibhai Patel, was an Indian spiritual leader from Gujarat who founded the Akram Vignan Movement. He was spiritually inclined from an early age. He worked as a contractor for a company maintaining dry docks in Bombay before attaining "self-realization" in 1958. He left business and focused on his spiritual goals. The movement around his teaching grew into the Akram Vignan movement gaining followers in western India and abroad. Ahimsa (non-violence) and vegetarianism are an important part of Dada's teachings.
The credit for introducing Jainism to the West goes to a German scholar, Hermann Jacobi, who translated some Jain literature and published it in the series 'Sacred Books of East' in 1884. In Europe, the largest Jain populations are in Britain, with a population of about 25,000.
Kumarpal Balabhai Desai is an author, critic, editor, journalist, columnist and translator from Gujarat, India. He studied and later taught at the Gujarat University. He is associated with several social and Gujarati literary organisations such as Gujarati Sahitya Parishad. He has written and edited more than hundred books including biographies and several works on Jainism. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004.
Rakesh Jhaveri ,(born 26 September 1966) is a spiritual leader, mystic, scholar, author and orator from India. Spiritually inclined from a young age, he is a follower of Shrimad Rajchandra, a spiritual teacher. He completed doctoral studies on Shrimad's work Atmasiddhi. He founded Shrimad Rajchandra Mission, Dharampur which supports spiritual and social activities.
Atma Siddhi Shastra is a spiritual treatise in verse, composed in Gujarati by the nineteenth century Jain saint, philosopher poet Shrimad Rajchandra (1867–1901). Atma according to Jainism means "soul" or the "self" and "siddhi" means "attainment". Hence, Atma Siddhi is translated as self attainment or self realization. It is a composition of 142 verses in Gujarati, explaining the fundamental philosophical truths about the soul and its liberation. It propounds six fundamental truths on soul which are also known as satapada.
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Deepakbhai Desai, referred as Pujya Deepakbhai Desai by his followers, is Indian spiritual leader from Gujarat, India. He heads Dada Bhagwan Foundation. He teaches the Akram Vignan philosophy developed by Dada Bhagwan.
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