Sphoorthi Theatre

Puppets are mainly of four types largely known to all in the world. They are Glove Puppets, String Puppets, Shadow Puppets, and, Rod Puppets. Most of the puppets existing around the world come under either of them. Some vary in sizes too and some adopt a combination of two or more. Chadar Badar does not fall under any of them. It is yet another type of unique puppetry called Chadar Badar of puppetry practiced by Santhal Adivasis of West Bengal and Jharkhand regions of India. Adivasis means Tribes. It is distinct from the common forms of puppets that are prevalent in other parts of India. The puppets are seven to nine inches long, and some are even five to eight inches carved out in wood and their movements are guided by a wonderful mechanism, supported by many levers. The puppeteer tugs the main cord which pulls the main lever, which in turn pushes a few small sticks upward and some downward; the limbs of the miniature puppets are attached to these sticks to make the puppets mov...

Today, application of this medium has been received well across the globe in addressing various socio-political issues and bringing awareness. In India, Meher Contractor basically from Ahmednagar, Gujurat, India is acclaimed as the mother of modern educational puppetry . She brought the technique of making simple puppets using best available materials and materials considered as waste. Again, the application of puppetry in schools and handling school syllabus through puppets. Then it is Mrs. Welthy Fisher , an elderly American philanthropist who built the Literacy House in Lucknow in 1956 at the age of 76 or so and started a hand puppet troupe that would travel to villages to perform shows for illiterate adults into order to encourage them to learn to read. She took up issues related health and presented puppet shows on “Small Pox Vaccination”, “Women Education” and “Family Planning”. The renowned puppeteer of Karnataka, Sri Dattatreya Aralikatte who performs in...