All about Indian Puppetry
Posted on July 15, 2008 in Art & Culture by Gitanjali
Puppetry, as the name suggests, is an artistic performance which involves skilful manipulation of puppets. The art is supposed to be a very ancient one, going back to around 30,000 BC. Puppetry demands a high level of creativity and imagination on part of the puppeteer (one who manipulates the puppets). The art is meant not only for entertainment, but also to convey meaningful messages through story telling.
The Theme
The early puppet shows in India were mostly concerned with the splendid histories of mighty kings, princes and heroes. They also dealt with political satire in rural locales. Religious depictions in puppetry evolved in South India with shadow puppet performances. The theme usually consisted of stories out of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Even till date, in Kerala especially, shadow puppet continues to be a temple ritual performed year after tear during temple festivals, for a specified duration.
With the progress and advancement of civilization, the mysticism associated with traditional puppetry gradually started to fade away, and was replaced with some amount of entertainment. By and by, puppetry grew out of the confines of temple and villages to reach out to the outside world performing on various social and contemporary themes in Indian towns and cities.
In Rajasthan, puppetry is popularly known as ‘Katputli khel’. Going by Rajasthani myths, puppeteers were traditionally a wandering community of Bhatts in rural Rajasthan. In due course, puppetry has emerged to be a powerful means of communication in Rajasthan and no local festival or fair is complete without the charm and grace of a puppetry show.
Some Famous Puppeteers
There are many Indian ventriloquists and puppeteers. Prof Y.K. Padhye is the first Indian Ventriloquist. He introduced this form of puppetry in India in the 1920s. His son, Ramdas Padhye, popularised ventriloquism and puppetry. Satyajit Padhye, son of Ramdas, is a third generation ventriloquist who continues this form of puppetry.
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