The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is like fairyland with intriguing masked dancers and puppeteers roaming around or selling their wares via dholak and other musical instruments. The IGNCA’s Akhyaan, the celebration of masks, puppeteers and showmen in India, in collaboration with the Sangeet Natak Akademi, is truly a remarkable fare. The opening evening of this month-long happening, that teed off on the 20th, brought together groups from all parts of the country in the inaugural procession. Among them were the Hill Jatra of Uttarakhand with its Lakhia Bhoot, Kummatti from the South, a colourful Onam dance and Chaprakuttu from Kerala. This ambulatory shrine is attended by a large group of percussionists who play the chenda or the kettle drum. From Orissa comes the Sahi Jatra, a processional form that features characters from the Ramayana.
During the evening performances one heard the Chaprakuttu cendamelam (percussion ensemble) in concert. It was an exhilarating show of skill and power. Then the puppets came on with a romantic story of Dhola Maru, the story of the legendry lovers in Rajasthan. These delicate string puppets are made by the Bhat family of Rajasthan whose leader and director is Puran Bhat, who received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for puppetry last year. His manipulating of the kathputli, as the puppets are known in the vernacular, is masterly. He literally brought to life the sorrow of Maru at the non-appearance of Dhola, her beloved, who was in thrall of a witch disguised as a pretty maid. The music began in nautanki style, but got mixed with Rajasthan. The singing was superb, particularly by Guddi Bhat who has a loud resonating voice so essential for theatre. She was ably assisted by the male singer Ranjit Bhat and the percussionist Mahindra Bhat.
Unfortunately, the distance of the seats from the stage is far too much to really appreciate the nuances of the performance. One hopes the organisers do something about this for further shows. There will be shows every evening of traditional arts by artistes from Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil nadu, Gharwal, Sikkim and several other states. The demonstration by the gurus will be accompanied by workshops. The works created by the gurus will be on sale after the month-long festival comes to an end.
The performances will culminate in a Buddhist Ramayana from Arunachal on October 29. Other performances to look out for are the Kambaramayana in the Tholpava Koothu or shadow puppets and the Theyyam mask puppets from Kerala, the Seraikela Chhau from Jharkhand amongst a host of grand shows at the IGNCA.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the Akhyaan is the exhibition put together by Dadi Pudumji and Neeraj Sahai. It has an amazing collection of masks and puppets from every state in the country.
The Indian Picture Showmen of India are the narrators of painted pictures, like the phad narrators of Rajasthan where the Bhopa and Bhopi play a ravan hatha, a string instrument resembling a rustic sarangi, and with the help of a lamp go from one picture to picture telling the story drawn from mythology.
The phads are elaborately painted panels with symbolic, almost emblematic, illustrations which they then enlarge as texts. The scrolls on display are from Bengal, Gujarat Rajasthan and Bihar. Some tackle contemporary stories, like the tsunami.