bhavai

English

Etymology

From Gujarati ભવાઇ (bhavāi), perhaps from Sanskrit भाव (bhāva, “expression, emotion”).

Noun

bhavai (uncountable)

1. (India) A type of folk theatre from Gujarat.
   • 1992, Manohar Laxman Varadpande, History of Indian Theatre, volume 2, page 174:

     In the courtyard of the Ambaji temple near Mount Abu the Navaratri festival is celebrated with Bhavai performances.

   • 1997, Kiran Nagarkar, Cuckold, HarperCollins, published 2013, page 75:

     She was not in the Princess' hair all the time nor did she watch her like a comic spy in a high drama of intrigue and discovery from a bhavai.

   • 2009, Aparna Bhargava Dharwadker, Theatres of Independence, page 135:

     By introducing “literary drama,” Westernized theatre on the subcontinent also led to a rejection of such popular forms as the jatra of Bengal, the bhavai of Gujarat, and the tamasha of Maharashtra as “debased” and “corrupt.”