Origin and History of Circus in India
The inspiration for the first organized circus in India was a visit from William Chirini's Italian circus during December of 1879. Chirini's challenge to the audience was that no one could duplicate his tricks. To his amazement, Rajah of Kuruwadan of Maharashtra and his horse trainer stepped into the ring to accept Chirini's challenge. In fact, they even out-performed Chirini! Encouraged by their success, Rajah's horse trainer, Chatre, organized his own circus in 1880, based on Chirini's circus format. The show was dominated by animal acts, but lacked human performers.
Keelari Kunhikannan continued where Chatre left off, by training human performers to accomplish amazing physical feats. He started a circus school in Tellicherry that produced some world-famous Indian circus performers. Today, most Indian circus is confined predominantly to Kerala. It is considered the home of circus in India.
Although the first official Indian circus was formed in 1880, the public performance of juggling, acrobatics and animal training has been part of Indian life for many years. These types of acts were first performed at feasts and celebrations, and are now done by street performers and also by organized circuses in India.
Indian Circus Today
During the 1900s more than 50 circuses were performing throughout India, but today there are only about 10. Some of those 10 include Jumbo, Gemini, Great Raymon, National and Great Bombay.
The Indian circus of today still features many of the same acts of the past, but it is up against many challenges. Financing, natural disasters, performance license requirements and stricter animal regulations are some of the problems facing Indian circus in the 21st century.
