TOP INDIAN CIRCUSES -ASIAD CIRCUS
Lately, the Indian circus has gained a fairly upsetting notoriety abroad. Accounts of youngsters kidnapped or purchased and constrained into servitude, preparing in astonishing conditions and performing to enhance their “proprietor” — the carnival owner — have surfaced in the Western press. Surely, in a nation where the dimension of extraordinary neediness is still genuinely high, a couple of voyaging carnival business visionaries may have turned to techniques that have luckily disappeared over a century back in the western world.
Some of India’s Major Circuses
ASIAD CIRCUS
The back flipping acrobats, the gravity-defying gymnasts, the explosion of technicolour, and startled faces all around under a rainbow coloured tent — Asiad Circus is back in town for its 4th edition! They’ve been performing in and around the country for over 25 years, so you can bet on them knowing how to put on a show. They claim to have skills far better than you’ve seen in any action movie — but we guess you’ll have to judge that for yourself. Don’t forget to take the kids! This time, you can catch the performances thrice every day from February 9 to 9 march in RamLeela Ground, Narela Delhi
The performances will include gymnastics, slapstick comedy, trapeze artists, magic shows, cycle rides and more. Each show goes on for about 2 hours and 15 minutes — we recommend you reach at least 20 minutes prior in order to be seated on time.
Great Royal Circus
One of the oldest circus in India, the Great Royal Circus dates its origins to 1909, when it was known as Madhuskar’s Circus; in the 1970’s, when it was taken over by N. R. Walawalker, it became the Great Royal Circus. Narayan Rao Walawalker, an animal trainer, made it one of the very few Indian Circuses that have toured internationally — traveling in Africa, the Middle East, and Southern Asia.
Great Rayman Circus and Amar Circus
The Great Rayman Circus is one of the senior circus companies in India, established in 1920 by Kallan Gopalan, a disciple of Keeleri Kunhikannan, and one of the great Indian showmen of that era. In times, Kallan Gopalan built a circus empire that comprised, the National Circus and the Bharat Circus among others. The Amar Circus, which Gopalan founded in the 1960s, is still active to this day, and was currently under the management of K. P. Hemraj.
Great Bombay Circus
Baburao Kadam established the Grand Bombay Circus in 1920. It explored firstly in Sindh and Punjab, now provinces of Pakistan. K. M. Kunhikannan, Keeleri Kunhikannan’s nephew and a versatile artist who created the Whiteway and Great Lion circuses, combined his two companies with the Grand Bombay Circus in 1947 — which was renamed Great Bombay Circus.After K. M. Kunhikannan’s death in 1953, his nephew K. M. Balagopal succeeded him and became the main partner in the Great Bombay Circus.
Gemini Circus
The Gemini Circus was formed in 1951, in Billimoria, a town in the State of Gujarat (India’s westernmost region), by circus entrepreneur Moorkoth Vangakandy Shankaran (born June 13, 1924, and popularly known as Gemini Shankarettan), a native of Tellicherry, Kerala, and the son of a schoolteacher. After serving in the Indian Army during WWII, Shankaran joined M. K. Raman’s circus school in Chirakkara, and became an aerialist and gymnast on horizontal bars.
Rajkamal Circus
A young daredevil, Gopalan Mulloli established his small circus company the village of Zeera, in Punjab, in 1958. His circus was named after his son, Raj, and his wife, Kamala, by combining their names into Rajkamal. The Rajkamal Circus consistantly grew in importance and made extensive tours in India visiting its largest cities, and later in the countries of the Gulf. It is today one of the largest circuses of India.
Jumbo Circus
M. V. Shankaran’s Jumbo Circus, “The Pride of India,” opened its doors on October 2, 1977, in Dhanapur, in the state of Bihar (in Eastern India). It is probably the best known, and the largest circus in India — a modern enterprise that, since its inception, had included an important traveling menagerie. It is part of the conglomerate of circuses owned by the Shankaran family (see Gemini Circus, above); In recent years, it has presented a company of Russian performers.
• Rambo Circus
Rambo Circus was created by P.T.Dilip in 1991, out of the fusion of four old Indian circuses: Oriental Circus, Arena Circus, Victoria Circus, and Fantasy Circus. Rambo Circus has toured India extensively and also the Middle East. It is run today (2011) by Sujit and Sumit Dilip, the sons of its founder.
