In the southern states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and in some parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, you’ll find an interesting and unique tradition – one that, if you went by modern horror films, would creep you out.
But no, this is not that kind. This is the tradition of doll keeping called Golu or Bombe Habba. In this practice, dolls are arranged in steps, each representing a fascinating snippet of Indian mythology from such mighty epics as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Srimad Bhagavata and others. I recently went in search of these doll wonders. But my search didn’t last long. I knew that if I had to witness, perhaps, one of the more aesthetic displays of this tradition, I simply had to visit Dhaatu Puppets.
Bengaluru-based puppet theatre called Dhaatu Puppets marks the twenty-seventh year of its doll exhibition. Dhaatu has a large collection of dolls and India’s largest collection of puppets ranging in size from your thumb all the way up to something larger than a fully grown human.
I spoke to the lady at the helm, Anupama Hoskere, who is the artistic director at Dhaatu Puppets. She is a wonderful storyteller and I learnt more than you can imagine about puppets, the history and evolution of the art of puppetry, the arts and crafts involved in puppet making.
Hoskere has a curious background. She is an engineer with a Master’s degree in computer networking from the California State University. She was living in Los Angeles at one point and had nearly everything she could ask for - a wonderful family, beautiful children, and a satisfying job. But somehow, she felt that wasn’t enough. She revisited the definition of her success and asked herself: what does success really mean to me?
Hoskere had deep interest in studying Indian epics. She was so grounded in ancient Indian philosophy that she believed Harishchandra’s truth had to be followed, Krishna’s Dharma was to be maintained, and Ramarajya was possible.
She believed her success lay in abiding by these values and that this deep fountain of knowledge had to be passed on.
So, along with her husband Vidyashankar Hoskere started Dhaatu, a non-profit organisation to impart value education. Let’s just say Hoskere began an epic journey of taking ‘epic’ classes at Dhaatu. But she quickly felt that she needed puppets to tell the story better. She underwent rigorous training in puppetry with puppet master M R Ranganath Rao and later went to the Czech Republic to receive training in carpentry and design.
This was the start of her puppetry journey. Unsurprisingly, musicians, artists, and scholars came together to help her. And after a couple of shows, the audience served up a positive response, much to the delight of Hoskere. Things were falling in place.
Such an amazing journey, isn’t it?
And it’s not just been a personal accomplishment. She has been recognised and appreciated widely for her work.
Dhaatu has performed at various international puppet festivals in Russia, Morocco, China, Europe, and the US, and presented papers in prestigious platforms like the Paris 8 university; Academy Royal De Belgique, Brussels; Royal Academy of Belgium; Guimet Museum in Paris; International Puppet Festival Nanchong, China.
What’s more, she received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academy award for the year 2018 for her outstanding work in the field of puppetry.
Naturally, I had many questions to ask her. I wanted to know more about the art of puppetry and her journey with it all. And so, I did. Here’s the edited transcript of our conversation:
Could you tell me about Dhaatu puppets and what makes them special, especially in light of Navaratri celebrations? Navaratri is celebrated in Dhaatu with social interaction, artistic representation of dolls, and stories presented specially for children. We keep the pattada bombe, the king and queen, which symbolise prakruthi and purusha, the female and male energies.
They are brought to life by keeping kalasha, a pot filled with water, and coconut on the day of paadya.
The dolls are displayed in small sections called story boxes, also referred to as static theatre. And stories from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, India’s temples, and the village lifestyle are presented. The traditional iconic steps of devatas or gods are put up.
This year, we have five-foot tall Gowri dolls which are decorated like actors to partake in the story presentation. This year, the main theme is Shri Krishna Sandhana from Udyoga Parva.
We have not just restricted ourselves to Indian dolls; we have dolls from different parts of the world which reminds us that Vasudaiva Kutumbakam is our guiding principle.
Read More at https://swarajyamag.com/culture/when-your-art-and-soul-is-in-a-dasara-bombe-project