puppet festival in new delhi

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txm4-3owa-wjiv PUPPET FESTIVAL IN NEW DELHI, 2003 by Elisabeth den Otter

In March 2003 the Sangeet Natak Akademi in New Delhi organized a large puppet festival, together with the India International Centre and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. The festival was held in honour of the 50th birthday of the Akademi, and in memory of the late Kamladevi Chattopadhyay.35 Groups performed, of which 18 traditional groups from different states: Karnataka (4), West Bengal (3), Andra Pradesh / Kerala / Orissa / Tamil Nadu (2 each), and Rajasthan / Maharashtra / Assam (1 each). For twelve nights different groups performed, ususally accompanied by live music.At the occasion of the festival an exhibition was organized, showing around

200 puppets from the collection of the Sangeet Natak Akademi. A lovely sight! (Photo's of a number of these puppets can be seen in the article below.)There was also a two-day symposium with the title 'Puppetry: East-West,West-East', in association with the Union Internationale de la Marionnette (UNIMA). My contribution consisted of a lecture about the exhibition 'Distant Friends of Jan Klaassen', shown in the Tropenmuseum in 1996. The organization was excellent and being there was a fantastic experience!

From March 17-28 a large number of puppet groups performed, traditional aswell as contemporary. The majority of the puppets were stringpuppets

(sometimes combined with rods) and shadowpuppets; there were only a fewgroups with glovepuppets. The stories are mostly based on the Ramayana,but also on the Mahabharata and folk stories. Music is an important part ofpuppetry; the melody is played on a harmonium or a shawm, and thepercussion is played on a variety of drums, cymbals and other instruments.Puppetry often is part of a temple festival, and lasts a number of evenings;often the performance is preceded by a ritual.

Kerala

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Glovepuppetry is called pavakathakali in Kerala. The puppeteers haveadapted the dance stories of kathakali. The puppets are between thirty andsixty centimeters high. The head and arms are carved out of wood; the headis manipulated by the index finger and the arms are moved by the thumb and

the middle finger. The conventions of kathakali character types in respect tocostumes, headgear, make-up and color are followed in pavakathakali. Agreen face indicates a god, king or hero, whereas a red face indicates avillain. The musical instruments consist of drums, cymbals and a conch shell.The play Dakshayagam is from the Mahabharata: Daksha, the stepfather ofSati (wife of the god Shiva), insults Shiva by not inviting him for an importantceremony. Sati goes, in order to try and reconcile her stepfather and her



husband, but is received with anger by her stepfather who insults herhusband. Sati immolates herself. In great fury, Shiva comes to the ceremonytransformed into the demon Virabhadra. He cuts off Daksha's head andthrows it into the sacrificial fire, but revives him and fixes a goat's head on hisbody. Daksha begs Shivas pardon. The lively and colorful performance wasmuch appreciated.

The puppets seen in the following video are manipulated by the group Natanakairali, which was established in 1981 to revive the art of traditional Kerala puppetry.

Shadowpuppetry is called tolpavakuthu in Kerala. The leather puppetsare traditionally performed by the Vellala Chetty, the Nair and Ganaka

communities. The performers are known as Pulavars, the scholars or poets.The theme, the story of Rama from his birth to his coronation, is performedfrom seven to twenty-one nights. The performance is a part of temple

festivities and is conducted with a series of rituals. At least five artists arerequired to manipulate the puppets to cover the twelve meters long screen.The puppets made of deer skin are opaque and small, about fortyeight to

eighty centimeters high. Almost 130 puppets are needed for the telling of theentire story. The recitation of verse and prose is in a specific style; the musicalaccompaniment is provided by drums and cymbals. It is very exciting to watch

the performance from behind the scene: the puppeteers that have to

manipulate the right puppets at the right moment, the interaction that goes on,the intense singing, the percussive music ...

The puppets seen in the following video are manipulated by the group Krishnan Kutty Pulavar Memorial Tholpava Koothu & Puppet Centre.

Puppetry in Kerala has been revived thanks to Natanakairali, a center forresearch and performance of traditional arts: puppetry (glove- and shadow-),

kutiyattam (an old form of Sanskrit theater), and mohiniyattam (a classicalfemale dance form). This center was founded in 1975 by Gopal Venu,together with his wife Nirmala Paniker; their daughter Kapila is a kudiyattamactress and mohiniyattam dancer. Thanks to this center a number of theatricaltraditions from Kerala have been saved from extinction; they are kept alivethrough performances and publications.

http://homepage.mac.com/edotter/videos/Shadow_Kerala.mov

http://homepage.mac.com/edotter/videos/Glove_Kerala.mov



Rajasthan Stringpuppetry is called kathputli in Rajasthan. The heads of the puppets are

carved from mango wood, their large stylized eyes are painted white oryellow. They are up to sixty centimeters tall, costumed in the Rajasthani style,with bodies made of cloth and stuffed rags. They are manipulated with onlyone string, one end of which is attached to the puppet's head and the other toits back. The string is looped around the puppeteer's finger and all movementsare generated by a series of jerks on either end. The puppeteer 'speaks' forthe characters in a squeaky voice with a swizzle; the women sing and play thedrum. The puppeteers are 'bhats', a wandering community; they believe in adivine origin of their art, claiming to be the chief performers during the reign ofthe legendary king Vikramaditya, whose life and achievements they extolled.The stories mostly revolve around the exploits of local heroes. Amar SinghRathore, the ruler in the seventeenth century, was a great patron whoseheroic deeds and death are sung and enacted. He appears at the court ofemperor Akbar, along with other Hindu 'rajas'. Tricks and turns are performedfor their royal amusement by a magician, an acrobat, a horse rider, asnakecharmer, etc. Karnataka

Karnataka is rich in puppetry. Stringpuppetry is called yakshagana gombeyataand resembles the Yakshagana theater performances, especially in regard tothe themes, the structure of performance, music, costumes and make-up.Here also, an episode of the Ramayana is the theme. The puppet ismanipulated with six strings, two each attached to the ears, knee joints andhands. These pairs are tied to three small wooden sticks, held in the hands ofthe manipulator who also sings for the character he manipulates. Musicalaccompaniment consists of drums, cymbals and a shawm.

String&rodpuppetry is called salaki gombeyatta. Both strings and rods areused for manipulation. In addition to the strings, the puppets have an iron stickextending from each hand to form a rod, with the other end fixed in a woodenhandle. The strings at one end are tied to the ears and the centre of the headof the puppet, and at the other end to a cloth-covered iron ring placed on thehead of the manipulator. This technique enables the puppets to performspecial actions or effects, such as lighting a lamp or garlanding anothercharacter. The puppeteer can also push the heavy puppets with his knees tocreate more movement. They perform scenes from the Ramayana.



The puppets seen in the following video are manipulated by the group Sri Bhavaneshwari Sutrada Gombe Mela.

Shadowpuppetry is called togalu gombeyata. The performance opens with aninvocation to Ganesh, followed by an episode from the Ramayana.

Andra Pradesh

Shadowpuppetry is called tolubommalata in Andra Pradesh. The leatherpuppets are large and brightly colored. The puppeteers speak, sing and dancefor the characters they manipulate standing up. They are accompanied by aharmonium, drum and cymbals. Their ankle-belled feet stamp on two wooden

planks, one on top of the other, to keep rhythm or for sound effects. The menand women in the group sing and speak for respective male and femalecharacters. The stage is made with transparent cloth tied to poles on threesides. The story is from the Ramayana, and comic relief with local gossip andcaustic comments on the contemporary situation is provided by clownesquecharacters. The combination of color, sound and movement is magic ...

Stringpuppetry is called koyya bommalata, literally: 'wooden doll' . It is a veryold tradition. Thirty to one hundred puppets are required for a performancebased on the theme of the play. An episode from the Ramayana is performed.

The musical instruments are a harmonium, a drum and cymbals.

The puppets seen in the following video are manipulated by a group led by Mr Mote Upp

orissa

Orissa is a state rich in puppetry. Shadowpuppetry is called ravanachhaya,literally: 'the shadow of Ravana'. The performers are from the 'bhat'community, whose ancestors were musicians and officers in the local royalcourts. The shadows are created by simple opaque leather puppets. Deer skinis used for divine beings, while the skin of mountain goats and sheep is usedfor all the other figures. The leather is not scraped fully and the puppets arenot painted; the dark silhouette, delicately outlined, is defined by very fewincisions for clothing and jewellery. They are small, with no joints. Themanipulation is simple, with up and down and sideways swinging movements.Illusion of size is achieved by the distance of the puppet from the screen.

http://homepage.mac.com/edotter/videos/Rod_String_Karnataka.mov



Musical accompaniment is provided by a drum, wooden clappers andcymbals. The play is from the Ramayana.

The puppets seen in the following video are manipulated by the group Ravan Chhaya Natya Sansad.

Stringpuppetry is called sakhinata. The small puppets have three stringswhich are attached to a small wooden rod: one for the head and two for thehands. Puppetry is a speciality of the Kela; this ethnic group is also known forits diviners, snake charmers and magicians. The play is based on the epic'Mathura-Mangal', in which the young Krishna is the main character: the trickshe plays as a child, his flute playing and flirting with the milkmaids and Radhaas a young man, and his batlles with the demons his mean uncle sent to him. Rodpuppetry is called kandhei nach. The puppets measure up to sixty

centimeters and are jointed at the shoulders. The wooden rod holds up thehead, which is carved in wood and painted. The shoulder joints are connectedwith strings from inside the torso of the puppet to two rings which are pulledfor arm movements. The play, an episode from the Ramayana, is preceded byan invocation.

The puppets seen in the following video are manipulated by the group Utkal Vishwakarma Kalakunja Kandhei Nacha.

West Bengal Glovepuppetry is called benir putul. The two male and female characters, withterracotta faces and wooden hands, are constantly sparring with each other.The puppets keep the rhythm with bells or cymbals tied to their wrists. Therepertoire is from the epics, with some modern, topical touches added to keeppace with the times, be it an anti-smoking message or a projection of newroles for women.

The puppets seen in the following video are manipulated by the group Bishnu Priya Putul Party.

Rodpuppetry is called danger putul. The play is based on the Ramayana. Thepuppets are accompanied by a harmonium, a shawm, drums, and cymbals.There is the operatic singing, broad gestures, the declamatory delivery ofdialogue and the ornate costuming. Tamil Nadu



Shadowpuppetry is called tol bommalatam. Somewhat akin to shadowpuppetsfrom Andra Pradesh and Karnataka, these puppets are smaller in size. Thetheme is taken from the Ramayana. Musical accompaniment is with aharmonium, a drum and cymbals.

The puppets seen in the following video are manipulated by the group Selvaraja Shadow Puppet Group.

String&rodpuppetry is called bommalatam and closely resembles thestring&rodpuppetry of Karnataka. Both strings and rods are used formanipulation. In addition to the strings, the puppets have an iron stickextending from each hand to form a rod, with the other end fixed in a woodenhandle. The strings at one end are tied to the ears and the centre of the headof the puppet, and at the other end to a cloth-covered iron ring placed on thehead of the manipulator. The play is based on the Ramayana. As in thetraditional theater forms of the region, the play begins with an invocation toGanesh, and includes the clowning of the jester. Two singers, one male andone female, along with a flute, drum and cymbals, accompany theperformance.

The puppets seen in the following video are manipulated by the group Sri Murugan Sangeetha Bommalatta Sabha.

This festival was an excellent occasion to see fascinating

performances, to attend interesting lectures, and to talk about puppetry withold and new friends.

http://homepage.mac.com/edotter/videos/Rod_String_TamilNadu.mov

puppet festival in new delhi

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