The strings of life and puppetry

Artiste K V Ramesh teaches puppetry to children. 

Designed to resemble humans, animals or mythological characters, puppets add colour and life to storytelling. The pairing of puppetry and storytelling is so strong that the association dates back to the pre-Vedic period.

“String puppets find mention in the Bhagavatha Purana and the Mahabharata. Shadow puppets were used in Sanskrit theatre. The theatrical form ‘Dasharupakas’ employs a style of puppetry for each form,’’ says master puppeteer Anupama Hoskere from Bengaluru.

In fact, puppet shows – ‘Bombeyata’ or ‘Gombeyata’ — are said to be among India’s 64 ancient traditional art forms. Today, string, rod, shadow and hand puppets are commonly used in performances across the state.

In order to explore the history and culture of puppetry, the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is organising the ‘Navarasa’ puppetry festival in Bengaluru from March 12 to 18.

Suresh H N, the director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, explains that the use of puppets to bring life to the nine key emotional states is unique. “The purpose of showing Navarasa through ‘Soothrada Gombegalu’ (string puppets) is to show that even lifeless puppets could be used to convey emotions effectively,” he says.

Since the art form involves working with figurines that cannot emote, the balance between form and content is key. Also important is to make sure the content is suitable for all generations. “We have a smart audience and should perform for the whole family, not just children. Our work on puppets should appeal to three generations,’’ says Anupama.

Anupama is the founder-director of Dhaatu Puppet Theater in Bengaluru. She mainly performs using string and rod puppetry.

Her group has adapted the story of Ashtavakra, a sage with disabilities for a performance. The adaptation explores the sage’s life through his childhood and how he was treated in ancient India.

Another play features a disagreement between Hiranyakashipu and his son Prahlada on their opinions on god. The group has also focused on the intricacies of partnership through Satya Harishchandra’s story and put up shows that comment on the position of women in society.

Contemporary issues

Puppetry can also be used to showcase contemporary issues. National-award-winning puppeteer Dattatreya Aralikatte says, “Our shows give solutions to problems like deforestation. We use scripts from Panchatantra to tackle issues of rising population, environment and food. We used novelist Shivaram Karanth’s ‘Kisa Gautami’ for the first time in puppet shows.’’

“Puppet shows give ‘janaranjane’, ‘manoranjane’ and ‘aatmaranjane’ (entertain the people, mind and spirit),” adds Dattatreya. Knowledge of arabhi, mohana, adana and other ragas is important to compose music for puppet shows, he says.

Dattatreya has been in this profession for 42 years and runs his team under the name Putthali Kalaranga. The group follows the school ‘Mudrika Sampradaya’ and make use of Shilpa Shastra. “The puppets that depict humans do not have legs. Instead, the artiste’s legs become the puppet’s legs,’’ says Dattatreya.

Puppetry is also used to portray other traditional dance and music forms. Rajyotsava award-winner K V Ramesh from Kasargod, for instance, conducts puppet shows in the Thenkuthittu Yakshagana style — making use of wooden puppets that are 2.5 feet in height. He runs the Gopalakrishna Yakshagana Bombeyata Sangha.

“We show chande, maddale, padya, vesha bhushana and all features of Yakshagana through our shows,’’ he says. K V Ramesh has conducted over 3,000 shows across the country.

While puppetry was fairly common about a century ago, it now faces a threat. “About 125 years ago, there were about 30 teams in Dakshina Kannada. By 1981, it came down to eight teams,” says Ramesh.

Now, this number has come down to two teams.

A revival

Interest in puppetry is gradually returning. “Currently there are more takers for puppetry in urban India than in rural India,” says Anupama.

Santosh Bayaluseeme Raghunath, a techie who also makes customised dolls, explains the attraction. He was spellbound watching Ramesh’s show at a puppet festival in the city recently.

“The visual appeal of the puppets was good. There was a good synchronisation with the ‘tala’,’’ he adds.

“Some have gotten bored of the electronic medium of entertainment and are looking back at puppetry,’’ says Ramesh. People across different professions including doctors, engineers and the CEO of a company have approached him to learn puppetry.

To cater to this growing intrigue, there is a need to bring about a formalised teaching system. “I teach puppetry to four students and have realised that to teach more people we need to produce more puppets,’’ Anupama says.

A dedicated puppet theatre could also go a long way in helping popularise the art form. “Puppetry breaks language barriers. For this and many other reasons, puppets should be made accessible to kids,’’ she says.

Social media engagement and encouragement could also help the art form grow a new audience. “Pictures of puppets can be used on TVs, in calendars, holiday cards, brochures and postcards. Details on puppet shows should be given in textbooks. Workshops on puppets in national and international conferences could also help,’’ Dattatreya suggests.

Ramesh has built a ‘Yaksha Puthali Bombe Mane’, a museum dedicated to wooden puppets, in Kasargod. He constructed the building at his expense which cost Rs 1 crore.