Indian Theatre: Theatres of Entertainment

Name	Location	Features
Bhavai	Rajasthan	Extensive use of dance to narrate a series of small plays. Theme is romantic and accompanied by semi-classical music.
Daskathia	Odisha	The narration is accompanied by dramatic music composed using a wooden musical instrument called kathia. The theme mainly revolves around Lord Shiva
Garoda	Gujarat	It uses painted pictures to narrate stories of romance and valour.
Jatra	Eastern India	It is an open-air performance that was initiated by Vaishnava Saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Propagated the teachings of Lord Krishna
Kariyila	Himachal Pradesh	Open air theatre during festival season.
Maach	Malwa in Madhya Pradesh.	It was based on mythological themes such as Mahabharata and Ramayana. Dialogues are delivered in the forms of couplets known as Rangat Dohas.
Nautanki	North India	Finds mention in Abul Fazl’s Ain-i-Akbari. The plays are themed around historical, social and folk tales.
Ojapali	Assam	Primarily associated with the festival of Manasha or the Serpent Goddess.
Powada	Maharashtra	They are operatic ballads depicting stories of valour and sung by the folk musicians known as Gondhalis and Shahirs.
Swang	Rajasthan and Haryana	They are mainly musical dramas and it involves mimicry accompanied by dialogue.
Tamasha	Maharashtra	Known for its humour and erotic content. The unique feature of Tamasha is the presence of female actors, who play even the male roles. The Tamasha performances are generally accompanied by Lavani songs.
Bhand Pather	Jammu and Kashmir	It involves contemporary social satire or even mythical stories and secular outlook.
Bhaona	Assam	It is a representation of Ankia Naat and Vaishnavite themes are common. This folk theatre was created by Sankardeva in the early 16th century CE.
Dashavatar	Konkan region	It is to honour the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu.
Naqal or Bhand	Punjab (Naqal) and Uttar Pradesh (Bhand).	It is a mimicry based performance. It is performed by artists from Muslim Bhand Community.