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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Saumya Khandelwal Jain’s photo essay on India’s circuses puts performers at the center: portraits and captions give them room to tell their own stories, rather than turning circus life into an outsider’s spectacle. The images belong to a particular moment in a changing art and industry—one shaped by legal restrictions on animal performances, pandemic-era changes in how shows reached audiences, and a long history of photographers documenting circus communities.
A photo essay shaped by performers’ voices
The Scroll.in feature identifies photographer Saumya Khandelwal Jain and describes an approach built around portraits and captions through which performers can tell their own stories. That framing matters: circus performers are not merely background to daring acts or colorful stages. Their accounts make the people who sustain the performance part of the subject.
The available description does not establish what any individual image depicts or provide verifiable quotations from the photographer or performers. The essay’s stated method is clear, but specific scenes and first-person words should not be inferred from it.
A separate photographic history: Mary Ellen Mark
The feature also points to the earlier work of photographer Mary Ellen Mark, who spent decades following circuses in India. A book titled Indian Circus published photographs she made in 1989 and 1990. Mark’s project is a related record of circus life, not the same body of work as Jain’s photo essay.
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The two projects offer distinct photographic encounters with Indian circus performers across different periods. The mention of Mark provides context for a longer history of looking closely at circus communities; it does not establish a direct connection between the photographers or their images.
How circus life has changed
Animal performances and the 2018 rules
Beauty Without Cruelty describes India’s Performing Animals (Registration) Amendment Rules, 2018 as adding Rule 13A, which states: “No animals shall be used for any performances or exhibition at any circus or mobile entertainment facility.” This is the organization’s account of the rule and its wording. It is important context for understanding the legal landscape in which circus performances have been presented.
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Online shows, auditoriums and new staging
According to Beauty Without Cruelty, Rambo Circus began online shows in September 2020 during lockdown and returned to offline performances in January 2021. The organization also describes some circuses moving from tents to auditoriums, with theatre-style staging, lighting and sound effects, LED walls, graphics and aerial acts. These are specific reports about adaptations—not proof that every Indian circus adopted the same format.
Historical counts are not a current census
In a 2013 account, Beauty Without Cruelty quoted a Rambo Circus manager’s estimate of “30 operating circuses, compared with as many as 300 in the 1990s.” The figure describes that manager’s historical estimate, not the present number of operators. The available reporting does not establish a current, comprehensive census of Indian circuses.
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Animal-welfare reporting and its limits
PETA India reports that, during court proceedings, the Animal Welfare Board of India told the Delhi High Court that several named circuses had closed and information could be retrieved for only 28 of nearly 740 animals registered with it at that time. PETA also reports the Central Zoo Authority’s position that no Indian circus then had permission to use protected wildlife, including elephants. These are attributed statements about a particular period, as recounted by PETA—not a current count of animals or a present-day census of circus operations.
Taken together, the dated reports give context for the pressures and changes surrounding Indian circuses, but they do not amount to a complete industry survey. The photo essay’s performer-centered approach keeps its focus on people, while this context helps situate the world in which they work.
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Readers interested in an earlier photographic record can look for Mary Ellen Mark’s Indian Circus, which features photographs made in 1989 and 1990. It is a separate project from Jain’s essay.
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