Blame it on the onslaught of time, lack of assistance by Government or interest among audience, puppetry, one of the oldest forms of entertainment, is today fading into oblivion. Unfazed, though, puppeteers in the State are fighting against all odds to keep the art form alive. The recent two-day puppetry festival at Cuttack mounted by Parivatan, a local cultural organisation, was a pointer to this fact.
The festival saw four kinds of puppetry - Ravana Chhaya (shadow puppetry), Suta Kandhei (string puppetry), Kathi Kandhei (rod puppetry) and Sakhi Kandhei (glove puppetry). And along with the puppets came their masters who have been practising the art form for several years now.
Chaitanya Behera’s Suta Kandhei was a delight for viewers. His beautifully decorated dolls danced gracefully with the help of strings held by puppeteers behind the curtain. Behera and his troupe from Ganjam performed an entertaining episode from Ramayana to the accompaniment of folk musical instruments. Behera says the folk art form is on the wane because the money generated from it is very less.
‘’Onslaught of television channels and cinema halls has hit our art form. Even in villages these days, puppetry shows can be seen only during awareness camps on various schemes held by the Government. No one really comes to us for watching a full show. If we are going to different fora to perform, that is only because we want to keep this art form alive,’’ says Behera, the head of Maa Jagat Janani Kandhei Nacha Theatre at Badakodanda near Bhanjanagar.
He has been performing for last over 40 years. Maguni Charan Kuanr of Keonjhar, seconds Behera. Even as Kuanr has established himself as a pioneer in rod puppetry, he fails to find audience for his craft in the present times. ‘’Puppets are an illusion and it takes a great deal of practice to make the puppets come alive before the audience. Sadly, people do not realise the labour that goes into it,’’ said Kuanr who is a winner of several awards including the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. He has composed more than 25 productions for his troupe, Utkal Biswakarma Kalakunja.
Director of Angul’s Shriram Institute of Shadow Theatre, Gouranga Charan Dash, who brought shadow puppetry to the festival feels the art form can survive only if it adapts to changes and modernises presentation.
According to Dash, interest towards traditional puppets, including shadow puppets, have undergone a sea change.
Earlier, puppetry was based on religious and historical themes as well as stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata. Even today, a large chunk of the puppet shows are centred on these themes, besides a number of social themes.
‘’The way entertainment has progressed, it needs a lot of creativity on the part of puppeteers to engage their audiences,’’ he says. Dash has been instrumental in establishing Kandhei Ghara in Palalahara at Angul. The Kandhei Ghara houses all forms of puppetry of the State. ‘’It is also important that puppetry artistes are given financial help at regular intervals,’’ he adds.
Glove puppeteer Parameswar Singh and his troupe of eight artistes from Kendrapara have been instrumental in taking glove puppetry to different parts of the State and even outside. ‘’But for us, arranging money for presenting shows and maintaining the art form is very difficult,’’ he says. Singh feels had the Culture Department held puppetry festivals at regular intervals like it does for Odissi, the situation would have been different now. ‘’Many of the villagers who were earlier into glove puppetry have already shifted to other vocations for better livelihood. Because it takes a lot of effort and dedication to infuse life into dead objects like puppets and if the returns are not good, no one would like to stick to puppetry,’’ he adds.