The Sangeet Natak Akademi has organized a five-day long ‘Putul Parampara – India Puppetry Festival’, in Agartala, the capital city of Tripura to showcase the significance of the country’s traditional folk culture.
Puppet troupes from New Delhi, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha besides Tripura took part in the carnival, inaugurated by renowned puppetry artiste and Padmashree award winner Suresh Dutta in Agartala on Thursday evening.
A senior official of Sangeet Natak Akademi was of the view that the ‘Putul Parampara’ is a series focusing on developing the classics of puppetry into the northeastern region.
The official further went on to state the Academy aims at presenting all forms of puppetry – String, Rod, Glove, Banraku and Shadow puppetry during the five-day long festival.
Eleven states of the country have about 18 living puppet traditions at a time when puppetry is being considered a dying art.
The festival would showcase both contemporary and traditional performance, the official added.
The Akademi, India’s national academy under the Ministry of Culture for music, dance and drama, so far organised similar puppet show in Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.