World Puppet Day 2023: Powerful ancient folk art is the world of puppets

Puppet is an entertaining, educative and art-cultural program played on the oldest theater of the world. Puppets are made in the form of different types of characters like Gudde Gudiya, Joker etc. and many ancient stories are staged in it. Due to the fact that these vessels were made of wood, that is, the puppet made of wood was named puppet. World Puppetry Day is also celebrated on 21 March every year. The purpose of this day is to make this ancient folk art accessible to the masses and to make it known to the coming generations. Puppet art is a mixture of many arts, including writing, theatrical art, painting, costumes, sculpture, woodcraft, textile-making art, form-decoration, music, dance etc. This art is prevalent in India since ancient times, in which earlier only stories of Amar Singh Rathod, Prithviraj, Heer-Ranjha, Laila-Majnu, Sheeri-Farhad were shown in puppet play, but now social themes as well as satire are shown. And other entertaining programs related to knowledge are also being shown. The joy that is found in making puppets and communicating ideas through them, not only helps in the all-round development of children’s personality, but it is also an effective medium of communication of many socio-cultural and educational subjects. All types of puppets are found in India, such as thread puppets, shadow puppets, rod puppets, glove puppets etc.

It is said about the history of puppets that in the 4th century BC, the mention of puppet play is found in the Ashtadhyai Granth of Mahakavi Panini. Some mythological views about its birth are also found in such a way that Lord Shiva started this art by entering the wooden idol and entertained the mind of Mother Parvati, similarly 32 effigies embedded in the throne of King Vikramaditya of Ujjain city are mentioned in the throne. It is also found in the story named Battisi. Various programs are organized around the world on Puppet Day so that this art can be saved from extinction and an environment can be created to solve the problems related to its artists.

Rajasthan has a rich history of puppetry. Puppets are believed to be a sport that originated with the Bhat community in the Middle Ages. The people of the Bhat community used to show puppet shows from village to village. Earlier it used to contain stories of valor and bravery of most of the kings. Bhat community used to run their livelihood from this game. People used to give him grains or some money in return from their home after watching the game. Puppeteers used to make tales of the bravery of the kings and show them to everyone. The story of Amar Singh was based on how he was cheated during the Mughal rule. In this there is also a puppet named Anakarli whose dance was very famous.

Self to give popularity and fame of puppets in the country and abroad. Devilal Samar did a lot of work. Apart from traditional games, he presented new fiction works, dramas, stories through puppets. The Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal of Udaipur established by him is still doing a lot of work on traditional and innovative puppets and their sociological studies. Pupils, whether ancient or new, are theoretically bound by the same rules, and no real beings can be copied. Creating the illusion of maximum gestures with minimal body movements is the ultimate religion of traditional and modern puppets. Like painting, Indian puppets have been virtual rather than imitation originality. The effigies of Andhra, Rajasthan and Orissa come in this order. The traditional puppeteers of Rajasthan do not want to move beyond the game of Amarsingh Rathore or Rana Pratap. The puppeteers of Orissa do not leave the story of Gopikrishna. The shadow puppeteers of Andhra enact only Ramayana and Mahabharata. This is the reason why this tradition is almost dead now. But the subjects of puppet art are now mainly related to education, entertainment, social anomalies etc. A puppet show called Vasila helped to bring India and Soviet society closer.

In countries like China, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma etc., the details of puppets are found in the ancient literature there. Puppets have been associated with human drama since the time of their development. Puppet experts around the world are of the same opinion that puppets were in development even before the theatrical incarnation of human drama. Pupils basically kept on developing the religious sentiments of man. This is the reason why the puppets got connected with nature and religious and traditional events were presented through puppets. Putli Natya was a drama of folk style which developed in the form of folk dramas. Most of the characters presented in the ancient style still wear masks. Such plays are still very popular in Africa, Java, Bali, Sri Lanka, Burma. Same is the situation in India. Masks have great importance in Mewar’s Gavari, South’s Yaksha Natya etc. In almost all the folk dramas of South India, the body movements, costumes etc. are similar to the puppets.

In European countries, the puppet tradition has been considered to be 300 years old. In India it is associated with the primitive man. The use of puppets and the importance of symbols in cultural works is well known. Many such effigies have been found in the excavation of ancient tombs in countries like Greece, Egypt etc. which are buried for the peace of dead souls. Evidence is also available in India that plays originated from puppets only. Somewhere in the Puranas, the mention of effigies is found. They are also mentioned in Ramayana, Mahabharata, Panch Tantra etc. In these texts, the work of the messenger is taken from the pupils. In the Mahabharata, there is mention of Brihannala teaching the pupils. Similarly leather, paper and cloth mannequins are also described. Shadow puppets are described in the commentary of Neelkanth in the seventh century. Kathasarit Sagar mentions a craftsman who makes puppets for the amusement of children.

Even today, puppet artists of Rajasthan are found in Bhambi, Balai and Rebari castes like Nat Bhat, Rao and Bhando. These castes are found in Jaipur, Udaipur and western Rajasthan. Hundreds of families in Jaipur make, sell and perform wooden puppets. Similarly, in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat also Bhat and Nat castes play with puppets. Bhawai, Bhopon, Mangliye, Kabadiye, Khargade, Tejor etc. of Rajasthan also show the play of puppets. The puppet makers of Jaipur have also made a colony of their own, where the work of making, dyeing, painting etc. of puppets is done. From here the puppets are sent to shops, emporiums and abroad.

Udaipur, the city of lakes, has left its mark not only in the country but abroad for its beauty as well as puppetry. The Puppet World Museum in Bagore Ki Haveli here is the main attraction of foreign tourists. Here, not ten or five, but about 163 puppets, the whole world has been inhabited by folk-artists. Seeing which the tourists are very happy and take their memories with them to their country. In this puppet world, a soldier fighting on a horse, even the queens sitting near the gokhas are not looking less than a royal palace. Any fair, religious festival or social gathering in the villages of Rajasthan is incomplete without puppet dance. The puppet dance begins with the beat of the dholak and is usually narrated through a story by a female troupe. Puppet dance here is not only a source of entertainment, but also a means of propagating moral and social education through this folk art in which social issues and evils are highlighted. From this point of view, it is relevant to give liveliness to the puppet culture.

– Lalit Garg

Writer, Journalist, Columnist