Indian shadow puppets enthrall Bali

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Eight Indian puppeteers from Sri Ramajaneya Togalu Gombe Mela enthralled the 300-strong audience comprising students, teachers and Balinese puppeteers (Dalangs) with their dexterity in ‘Togalu Gombyeatta’ shadow puppet show from Karnataka, India, held at the Aula Utama of SMK Negeri 3 Sukawati School in Batubulan on 29 May 2015.
The shadow puppet performance at SMKN3 Sukawati was attended by the Head of the Department of Culture of Gianyar Regency, I Gusti Ngurah Wijana, Principal of SMKN3 Sukawati School, I Gusti Ngurah Serama Semadi & former Rector of ISI Denpasar, Prof. Dibia.
‘Togalu Gombeyatta’ is a unique traditional shadow puppet theatre from the State of Karnataka in South India, which can be traced back to thousands of years. In this ancient yet still living puppetry tradition, colourful figures marked on leather sheets made transparent in an age-old traditional technique making use of natural colours drawn from plants or stones are used. The puppeteers manipulate the figures behind a translucent screen and the shadows of the puppets reflect the coloured figures like dressed actors on the screen. Shadow puppet shows are popular among the people in the whole South Indian peninusula.
The Indian artistes performed the episode from Ramayana depicting Devi Sita’s abductions from Panchvati. The audience hugely appreciated the large-sized colourful puppets and their dexterous manipulation and the story-telling by way of songs and dialogues accompanied by traditional musical instruments such as Harmonium, Dholak (drum), Cymbals (convex bronze plates) and Gejje (tiny hollow metal bell).
The puppets used in the Togalu Gombeyatta performance were large-sized and transparent while the Balinese puppets tend to be small in size. However, both Balinese and Indian puppeteers apply similar manipulation techniques and hand joints and leg joints are almost the same in puppetry arts in both countries. The Togalu Gombeyatta puppets, being the shadow puppets, are used behind a screen while the local Indonesian puppets could be manipulated either behind or in front of the screen.
The Indian puppeteers conducted an immersive learn-by-doing Workshop on 30 May 2015 at the School focussing exclusively on the ancient lively art of Togalu Gombeyatta. 50 puppetry students of the School as well as from ISI Denpasar besides teachers of puppetry attended. The Balinese students and teachers enthusiastically learnt about designing, sculpture, architecture, drawing, crafting and painting of the Indian puppets and appreciated the opportunity to experience the show and the art from India. The Indian puppeteers plan to experiment new designs and sculptures from Indonesian puppetry in their performances.
Sri Ramajanya Togalu Gombe Mela troupe, under the leadership of Belagallu Veeranna, has performed extensively across India not only featuring episodes from Ramayana and Mahabharata epics but also performed shows aimed at social objectives such as literacy and public health, in particularly family planning and the eradication of AIDS and Leprosy, Indian freedom struggle (Bharat Swatantrata Sangram), Saksharta Andolan (literacy movement) and Bapu (as Mahatma Gandhi is called affectionately) in the Togalu Gombeyatta format, winning the national stature and number of honors for their work.
During his opening remarks, the Consul General of India in Bali, Amarjeet Singh Takhi, thanked the art School for hosting the performance, while emphasizing that these eminent puppeteers from India have nurtured and popularized the traditional art of shadow puppetry not only in India but abroad as well. He elaborated that the Indonesian puppetry has been influenced by various puppetry art forms in India. Currently one of the professors of puppetry at ISI Denpasar is doing research in India for last six months, which will help both countries to learn from each other’s art and techniques for better preservation and propagation of this ancient art format.
He also informed the audience of the plans for marking the International Day of Yoga on June 21 2015 at Lapangan Puputan Margarana, opposite Bali Governor’s office from 6 am onwards and invited all students and their family and friends to participate in the celebrations to bring about harmony and peace in the world.
The event was organized by the Consulate General of India in Bali in collaboration with SMKN3 Sukawati School & Peppadi (Association of Indonesian Puppeteers of Gianyar Chapter). The event was supported by Sangeet Natak Akademi and Ministry of Culture of the Government of India. (r)www.bali-travelnews.com
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