Sphoorthi Theatre

  There are beliefs, rituals, observations, and celebrations to thank “MOTHER EARTH”. As traditionally, there used to two-three crops grown by the farmers who largely depend upon nature for yielding bountiful crops. Mother Earth –the soil, Rain-the Water, Light-The Sun, Nutrients, and the microbes-the tiny worms, insects, snakes, bullocks, wind, and nature in total. There are multiple occasions when this “Thanks Giving” is celebrated and observed. Again, it varies from region to region, season to season, and culture to culture. One such is “Yellu Amavasya”, also known as “Ellamavasya”, which is observed on the no moon day in the Margashirsh month (November – December) in Karnataka and parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana States of India. “Ellu” means Sesame or Til and Amavasya is the New Moon Day or No Moon Day”. An important ceremony on the Yellu Amavasya day is the spraying of sesame and jaggery in agricultural lands. Even today the organic spray mix contains sesame, jaggery, cow...

  As a Puppeteer and a researcher, I am always fascinated and drawn towards the giant puppet pageants or parades from Western Countries. Most of the Puppet festivals of Western countries surprise the world with a mechanically devised and human-controlled giant puppet that draws all our attention to it. The French street-theatre company Royal de Luxe has presented multi-day in out outdoor performances featuring their giant marionettes for millions of people around the world for more than 20 years. They have cast big puppets—Big Giant, Little Giantess, Xolo the Dog, Giant Grandmother, and Little Boy Giant in Liverpool, England. A marionette known as the Giant Grandmother is paraded through the streets of Liverpool, England, on July 25, 2014. The parade, entitled "Memories of August 1914" by the French theater company Royal de Luxe, featured the Giant Grandmother, a giant little girl, and her dog, named Xolo, and told the story of the city's involvement in World War I. th...

Puppetry is  the oldest form of Folk Theatre in India. India is blessed with different forms of Puppets performed in different states. Andhra Pradesh is well known for Traditional Shadow Puppetry and Wooden String Puppetry. Wooden Puppets are called as "Koyya or Chakka" meaning piece of wood. " Bommalata " meaning play of dolls-puppets. Mothe Jaganathan and troupe from Ammapur Village, Warangal District of Andhra Pradesh is the only family still practicing wooden string puppets. The troupe consists of 10-12 members who are again interrelated to each other. All artists are singer, narrator, musician and also puppet manipulators. Most of them are men with 2-4 women also accompany during performance. There is one more group near Tirupati, Chittor District, Andhra Pradesh is also giving  the wooden string puppetry performance. However, not much is known for the moment and it is also believed that they no more operate in a troupe and are disintegrated. T...

I conducted a one-week training workshop on Puppetry at Nizamabad. Two Gonds tribe youth who are pursuing their higher education also accompanied me. I was moved by their involvement, commitment, and sincerity. Gonds tribes (Tribes known as Adivasi) are spread across Telangana, Maharashtra, and are also in Madhya Pradesh. They speak the  Gondi language -- it's  new and quite funny. Interestingly, the Gondi language belongs to the  Dravidian family of languages and is related to Tamil and Kannada.   I liked the language and as an eager language learner, I am now learning this language at a low pace. I love their music and songs. During my interaction, I could gather lots of information about the harmonious living nature of these Gonds , Eco-friendly practices, culture, eating habits, and so on. Let me introduce the two young Gonds One Mr. Soyam Bheemarao --I call him "Doctor"-...

Significance Pongal in other states of India: Every year, Sambara Village in Makkuva Mandal, Vizianagaram District, Andhra Pradesh, celebrates Sambara Jatra. Every year, the village welcomes Polamamba on the Tuesday before the Pongal/Sankrati festival. Since Polamaba was born in Samabara village, all the villagers treat her as their own daughter. Every girl follows the tradition of visiting her parents' house for the Sankranti festival, and during this time, the village welcomes Polamaba. The temple will perform pujas until next Tuesday, during which devotees will take darshan of the Goddess. Many people from Uttarandhra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra will participate in the Sirimanotsavam festival on the third day. Karnataka celebrates the festival as 'Sankranti,' where people gaily decorate cows and bullocks and feed them 'Pongal,' a sweet preparation of rice. Temples and houses offer special prayers. Drums and music accompany the procession...