Soon after the release of Babruvahana in 1977, the characters of the Mahabharata caught the attention of the shadow puppetry community in Karnataka.
Over the years, they adapted traditional tales as well as accounts of contemporary personalities, like Kittur Rani Chennamma, Tipu Sultan, and Mahatma Gandhi, weaving it into their art form. However, these Togalu Gombeyaata artistes — who use leather puppets which they craft — are facing the threat of extinction, with just a few families now practising the art form.
“Karnataka is left with less than 250 puppeteer families. Less than a century ago we had 6,000 families. If we do not encourage the last surviving artistes, the form will get wiped out,” said artist M.J. Kamalakshi, general secretary, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, which is celebrating the 85th birth anniversary of founder-secretary Nanjunda Rao on July 5 by showcasing his love for leather puppets.
During his lifetime, Nanjunda had collected nearly 4,000 leather puppets. “We have documented his mammoth collection, and brought out a book on it — Karnatakada Togalu Gombe ,” Ms. Kamalakshi said.
“From July 5, some of the rarest leather puppets from the parishat’s collection will be displayed with background lighting to highlight their compositional grandeur, at the Puppet Gallery of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat (CKP),” said Ms. Kamalakshi, who had accompanied Nanjunda on his leather puppets collection mission for nearly two decades from the late 1960s.
The puppets on display include some never-seen-before ones, include a Rukmini–Satyabhama–Krishna set given by the family of artistes who performed before the kings during the Vijayanagara period.
An annual Nanjunda Rao Award for Art is being instituted for practitioners of Togalu Gombeyaata.
“I cannot forget how Nanjunda walked to villages near Tumakuru where his father, Dasappa, as a teacher, was familiar with puppeteers and Harikatha artistes. Nanjunda’s endeavour saw him make the parishath’s puppet gallery richer for its cultural significance and worthier by a few millions,” said Ms. Kamalakshi.
No longer viable
Most puppeteers are originally from Maharashtra, who settled in Karnataka.
However, in recent times, lack of financial support have seen many families switch to making leather artefacts, or working in agricultural fields.
Puppeteers Hanumathappa of Midigeshi, Hombaiah of Nagamangala, Munshyam Rao of Hoskote, and Puttasamachar of Bellur have given away some puppets to the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath “to see them permanently lodged in an institution that encourages art”.
“We gave away some of our leather puppets as many were gathering dust and we aren’t performing as payments are abysmally low. At least the CKP will display our creations; for, our children may not take the art forward,” said Hombaiah, a member of puppeteer family in Raichur.
