Leather puppetry at India Art Fair

Characters from Hindu epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata came alive at the ninth edition of the India art Fair here, with traditional art of Kannada puppetry being showcased at the Gallery Espace booth.
'Togalu Gombeyaata', which translates as 'the play of leather dolls', is a unique form of tribal art from the South Indian state that uses puppets made out of animal leather to narrate mythological stories like the 'Ashwamedha's tale' from the Ramayana or the episode from Mahabharata when Arjuna battled his own son Babruvahana.
The performance occurs on a temporary stage made out of wooden sticks, across which is strung a semi-white transparent cloth that serves as the screen on which the shadows of the puppets are projected.

According to Mandira from the gallery, the art form has been using animal hides to make the puppets since the 19th century.
"It is a classical art form in which puppets are made from skins of goats, deer and buffaloes," she says.
While deer skin was specifically used for creating the eyes of deities, goat skin and buffalo skin were used to make animal and demon puppets respectively.

"Created by the Kshatri families of Lakshmishwara and Gadag regions from northern Karnataka, the puppeteers used to tan the animal hides to translucency and then used vegetable dyes to give their characters the final touches," says Mandira.

The performance in the art form which is also popular in several parts of Andhra Pradesh is complemented with thematic musical compositions. The puppets are given voices using a 'mukha-veena'.
A 'Togalu Gombeyaata' performance typically begins at night and continues till the break of dawn.
Mandira says that the origins of this tradition can be traced back to as early as the 7th century when the migrating tribes carried their folk cultures to all the places that they travelled to for trade.
"In the 7th century when the trade between different communities began, tribes started travelling across Asia, particularly to regions like present day Malaysia, Cambodia, Bali, where they continued to practice their art," she says.

The India Art Fair that opened to the public on February 3, comes to a close today.