CHENNAI: Bommalattam puppetry has been closely associated with religious ceremonies and cultural programmes in temples. But over the years, the traditional performing art form has traversed norms and has been used by educationalists to promote a plethora of themes and social issues. One such person who has taken it upon himself to revive the art form and spread social messages is M Seenivasan, a 72-year-old resident of Kovai Pudur in Coimbatore.
We catch a quick glimpse of how the former headmaster creates the puppets. He takes a piece of cloth, about five inches long and fills it with smaller pieces of cloth/wool. He then weaves the different parts of the doll together, attaches strings to the hands and the head of the doll, and inserts a rod into the hip of the doll. Once the marionette is ready, with precision, he draws the facial features using a marker and adorns the doll with ribbons and studs. Finally, he decks the doll up in a bright-coloured skirt and blouse.
Proudly displaying the end product, the septuagenarian who is fondly known as Bommalatta thatha shares, “I have more than 50 recyclable cloth dolls — of men, women, dancers, a king, queen, folk artists, babies, fox, duck, and a peacock for my puppet shows. I control them using strings and iron rods — suspended from above. The puppets are tied to the player’s hand with black strings which are not visible to the audience.”
Before he walks us down his memory lane, he treats us to a special performance. Seenivasan hides behind the screen of a make-shift stage in his house, suspends the puppets down using the strings and performs. “This is Bommalattam, a performing art using puppets. It is one of the oldest art forms in south India. During my childhood, I have seen artistes perform such acts in temples during festivals. The acts used to last for a week or ten days and usually continued until the wee hours,” he recalls.
Seenivasan who hails from Vadugapalayam, a small village near Namakkal district, settled in Coimbatore about two years back. “I started teaching in 1973. In 1990, I was promoted to the position of headmaster of a school in Namakkal. To increase the number of admissions in government schools, I conducted cultural programmes and created awareness about education. I also initiated a unique learning method. My students used to learn by singing and dancing to their lessons,” he shares.
After his retirement in 2007, he decided to work towards reviving puppetry. “Today’s generation rarely knows about puppetry. My friend, A Manivannan suggested that I take up puppetry and narrate stories to children. He had once attended a training programme on the making of puppets using waste cloth in Delhi. He taught me too,” shares the puppeteer. Usually, a puppet show troupe has eight to ten members — from keeping track of the music to handling puppets, the troupe does it all.
But, Seenivasan’s shows are a one-man show. “I started recording lessons, Tamil poems and English prose and poem in a song format with the help of a singer. I stage puppet shows for school children five days a week. I visit two schools a day to showcase my art. Every programme goes on for an hour. I conclude the act with one of my compositions. After the performance, children ask me questions like: ‘How are these puppets dancing?’,” says Seenivasan.
Apart from showcasing his art form in schools, Seenivasan performs for movie songs, folk songs, stages stories on moral values, welfare schemes of the government, awareness campaigns, voting rights, blood donation and eye donation camps. He has recently received requests to conduct puppet shows in schools in Coimbatore for the academic year 2019–2020. “My favourite part is performing puppetry for children and narrating stories. I feel very happy when kids admire this art,” he shares.