November 11, 2023 08:28 am | Updated 08:29 am IST – MADHAVAPATNAM (KAKINADA District)
The historical artwork type of leather-based puppetry is getting ready to extinction, even because the variety of puppeteers residing on the banks of Buckingham Canal in Madhavapatnam gram panchayat close to Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, has dwindled owing to an unprecedented change of their spiritual profile.
These puppeteers, who migrated from Maharashtra, settled in Madhavapatnam panchayat in Godavari area, practically 5 km from Kakinada metropolis. In the Nineteen Eighties, Telugu actress Jamuna helped them get home websites within the panchayat the place at the least 300 households presently reside. A majority of them embraced one other religion and subsequently give up puppetry which is only based mostly on Hindu mythological tales.
“At present, nearly 60 performers are left in the field of puppetry, More than 50% of those 300 families have adopted another faith. As a consequence, scores of performers quit puppetry. The last remaining 60 performers have been formed into five troupes, each comprising at least three to five women,” says Thota Balakrishna, one of many main performers within the Godavari area.
Nearly 100 extra households have settled in Peddapuram, Karapa, Mandapeta and Konaseema in erstwhile East Godavari district. In the erstwhile West Godavari district, there should not lower than 10 households however they lead a nomadic way of life.
Anaparthi Subba Rao with a photograph of actress Jamuna, who helped the puppeteers to get homes within the Nineteen Eighties.
| Photo Credit:
Appala Naidu
“The performers are expected to recite tales extracted from Hindu mythological texts such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. Such a requisite might lead many who have embraced another faith to quit the field,” provides Mr.Balakrishna.
In Rajiv Nagar beneath Madhavapatnam panchayat, puppeteers in one other settlement are dealing with the same predicament.
“Our troupe has performed less than 10 shows since the COVID-19 restrictions were eased. How can any family that depends on puppetry survive? Many of us are literally begging on the streets as we are left with no option to earn a livelihood,” says 34-year-old puppeteer Anaparthi Raju, who sells used garments on a two-wheeler.
“The young artistes are managing to find some or the other work. But the older ones who devoted their lives to promoting this ancient art are now reeling under psychological shock in the absence of any performances. They have nothing to cheer about when their puppets are lying idle,” provides Raju, a second-generation puppeteer. His father, Anaparthy Subba Rao, is 70 and out of business.
A resident of Rajiv Nagar, Mr.Subba Rao groomed a very good variety of puppet artistes in Andhra Pradesh and carried out throughout India. But since final yr, the All India Radio has stopped telecasting recordings of Mr.Subba Rao’s troupe.
A lady stalwart, Anaparthi Janardhanamma, is the oldest puppeteer alive in Madhavapatnam panchayat close to Kakinada however her daughter (subsequent to her) didn’t pursue the artwork
| Photo Credit:
Appala Naidu
The impression of latest and digital media in addition to a scarcity of patronage by the general public are components which have pushed the lives of the puppeteers into penury, forcing them to scout for various livelihood choices.
Muted voices
The puppeteers carry out performs based mostly on 25 core themes in Hindu mythology. All of them require about 24 girls to lend feminine voices to the characters in these performs. The phrases need to be memorised because the script just isn’t out there with them in written format anyplace.
“Today, we have less than a dozen women performers who have mastered many of the plays. Anaparthi Janardhanamma, at 90 years, is the oldest women performer alive but she is not active nowadays,” says Mr.Balakrishna.
Anaparthi Prabhavathi, Anaparthi Tirupatamma, Anaparthi Pallalamma and Thota Rajeswari are among the many girls stalwarts in leather-based puppetry in Kakinada district who’ve famously lent their voice to the mythological characters of Sita, Draupadi, Satyabhama, Rukmini, Yashoda and Subhadra. In 2021 alone, two distinguished girls performers —Thota Satyanarayamma and Thota Kusalamma — handed away.
At least 10 newbie girls performers function back-up within the absence of the common feminine troupe member.
Thota Annavaram preserves an outdated 10-headed Ravana puppet inherited from his ancestors, close to Kakinada.
| Photo Credit:
Appala Naidu
Woman puppeteer Vodimenu Nookaratnam, who’s in her 50s, says: “I learnt puppetry from my father. I have two children but they had no interest in pursuing puppetry. No girl or married woman is willing to learn puppetry as it has no scope for livelihood.”
In latest years, a bunch of youths had been groomed in leather-based puppetry beneath a programme funded by the State authorities. However, none of them pursued puppetry critically.
Slow loss of life of craft
There are 4 puppeteers who craft puppets with goat pores and skin within the panchayat — Anaparthi Subba Rao, Thota Edukondalu, Thota Annavaram and Thota Balu. However, they too discover it tough to get orders for brand new puppets. Puppets of assorted characters are crafted on goat pores and skin and painted with pure colors. Their lifespan extends to a number of many years till it’s uncovered to the weather.
Thota Nagalakshmi, one other lady puppeteer, laments, “We are not able to convince young women and men to learn the art as the future is bleak. Probably, we are the last generation to have an association with puppetry in the Godavari region.”
Experiment with challenges
The puppeteers have rewritten their performs to accommodate extra up to date themes that swimsuit authorities programmes. “The content for various State and Central government schemes has been written to suit the tone of promotion. The duration has also been reduced to half an hour. But government assignments come rarely,” says a puppeteer of Madhavapatnam.
As per the normal format of puppetry, the efficiency takes place all through the evening, regardless of the play. The identical format is adhered to if the efficiency is staged on the temples in Simhachalam and Annavaram in Andhra Pradesh. The authorities assignments are pretty distributed among the many troupes so that every of them will get a chance to carry out.
In latest years, the puppeteers have undertaken experiments to deliver out ornamental puppets to maintain the craft alive and discover the market. Among the gorgeous creations on which the puppet motifs are painted is the lampshade, however this experiment is but to search out consideration in market. In Anantapur district, the puppeteers have already tapped the marketplace for their craft.
Source: www.thehindu.com
