The circus is one of Britain's most successful cultural exports. Created in London in 1768, it quickly spread around the world. Wherever it went, it absorbed local traditions - acts native to that specific region. At the same time, different countries created their own unique flavour of the travelling big top show.
Keeleri Kunhikannan, a martial arts and gymnastics teacher, trained acrobats for Chatre and opened India's first circus school in 1901. Many of Kunhikannan's pupils became key players in the subcontinent's emerging big top business and led to him becoming known as the Father of the Indian Circus.
During the 20th century, the circus boomed in India as it did elsewhere. By the end of the century, however, it had problems. As the country modernised, it faced competition from television, cinema and the internet.
As in the West, there were concerns for the well being of the elephants and lions that formed the heart of the shows. Wild animals were banned from the Indian big top in 2017.
Unlike their Western counterparts, Indian circuses also gained an unsavoury reputation for exploiting child performers who were sold into apprenticeships or even abducted, and more or less owned by the proprietors. Such practices have now also been outlawed.
The Indian circus endures, however, and today has a very distinct character of its own. On a whistle stop tour of some of its biggest travelling shows - Jumbo Circus, NK Rolex Circus, Bingo Circus, Gemini Circus, Diamond Circus, and Malda Tarzen Circus - I saw many acts that you would see anywhere in the world, such as jugglers, aerial silks and flying trapeze.
I also found more commonalities between each show than differences. Together they very much shared a distinct aesthetic, with similar acts and styles of presentation across the board. So rather than review individual shows, I have decided to list some of the common features that set the Indian circus apart from the UK scene.
1 - They have impressive frontages decorated with paintings of the acts. Gates in these brightly coloured facades typically lead to an open walkway to a tented foyer that is equally lavishly decorated. There's a definite sense of arriving at an Indian circus, especially considering that the prices start at 150 rupees, which is about £1.25 in UK terms, and the best seats go for 500 rupees (about four quid).
2 - They like to keep the lights on. While UK shows favour a lot of lighting effects in blacked out big tops, all the Indian shows I saw were performed in brightly lit tents, with as much light on the audience as the ring. The lighting was only rarely dimmed - in one case for a limbo routine with a lot of fire, and in another instance for a Globe of Death with illuminated bikes. All the other acts took place in the same stark lighting, which also showed off the colourfully patterned ceilings of the big tops.
3 - They're not big on individuality. None of the shows I watched had any kind of theme or storyline to set them apart from each other. More than that, they all tended to field very similar acts in much the same order. In fact some acts were almost identical from show to show, down to the costuming and even the music. At least three shows also had near identical flag-bearing opening parades. It was as if they were all following a common blueprint of what a circus should be. And perhaps that comes from an inherent part of the travelling show tradition. Circuses that come to your town are not really in competition with each other. You go to the circus that has come to you, rather than picking a show to go to. A show that dared to be different may risk disappointing expectations.
4 - Little people are big in India. Nearly every show had two or three of what used to be called midgets, all clad in similar clown costumes and playing similar roles.
5 - Bicycles are also big. By far the best acts I saw were female trick bicycle riders. Perhaps they stood out for me because we don't see many of them in Britain. But that's not the case in India. Every show had at least one bike act and often two - a solo performer and a group performance.
6 - But animals aren't. As in the UK, animals have almost completely disappeared from India's big tops. Across six shows I saw only one act with animals: a dog act.
7 - The Globe of Death sits on the sidelines. Literally. The motorbike cage is as ubiquitous in India as it is in the UK. The difference is that British shows invariably wheel the sphere into the centre of the ring, usually as a finale. In Indian big tops, the cage stands at the side of the tent, beside the ring doors. But not only when it's not in use. At every show it stayed in the same place, outside the ring, while the riders performed in it.
Highlights
Despite the sameness of the shows I watched, the most ardent circus fan would be hard pressed to visit any show in the world and not see at least one act they had rarely or never seen before, and that was the case in India as much as anywhere. Here are some of my favourites.
At NK Rolex, a neat fakir act in which two men each balanced with their arms and legs outstretched supported only by their torsos, which were each resting on four spear-like spikes. A board was then placed across their backs and a woman performed the same stance on a similar set of spikes positioned on top of the board.
Also at Rolex, a blindfolded swordsman slicing bananas held in the palms of his assistants.
At Jumbo Circus, a foot juggler using a very tall piece of apparatus best described as a pole with seven small platforms attached to its length and a basket on top. With deft thrusts and hip twists, the performer bounced an inflatable ball up the pole from one platform to the next before depositing it in the basket at the top.
Elsewhere were accomplished Chinese pole, aerial hoop, chair balancing and large troupe flying trapeze acts. It all added up to the magic of the Indian circus.
