Gods and demons are summoned once a year on Shimga, the festival of Holi, in the Konkan belt of Maharashtra and Goa. Young boys and men perform roles of good and evil, beasts and birds, and women and men. Khele performances brighten the full moon nights of Holi Purnima as well as auspicious events such as weddings, naming ceremonies, etc. These performances were mainly dramatisations of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the folk stories of the Konkan region. However, today they have transcended the religious bracket and even talk about social issues and current affairs. With an unexpected absence from academia, Khele merits an opportunity for documentation. The module focusses on the Khele performance tradition of Ratnagiri. Since their form, appearance and even language have altered in the last two decades, the evolution of the art of Khele is explored, as is the practice and performance of Khele since the 1990s. There are three elements to the study—performance, story and props, from the perspective of their temporal evolution. There is engagement with the script, props, costumes and the wooden masks made for the performance, in the context of the socio-cultural importance of Khele and its place in the rural society.
