Gombeyatta: the puppets that speak

This is an excerpt from a wedding I had pencilled for one of my friend's cousins, held in Mangalore. The groom was an American, and the bride was a Bunt. I chose to publish it today, when I met Padmashri Anupama Hoskere, the renowned puppeteer ….

Puppets have been found in Egyptian tombs, dating back to as early as 2000 BCE. This proves that puppets have been around humankind for more than 4000 years. When we talk puppetry, Historians have always maintained that either Ancient Egypt or Ancient India has been the birthplace of the first puppet. Ancient Greek records also have reference to puppetry which was practiced as an art. In India, puppetry has always been associated with theatre performance and manipulation of these puppets is done to depict many Indian mythological stories. The puppeteers manipulate these puppets to depict the rich stories of the Indian past and mythology for the audience.

Karnataka, one of the culturally rich states of India has been known for some traditional dance performances and also art forms. One amongst them which is very predominantly South Canara is the Yakshagana. The ‘Yaksha’ is like a ‘genie’, a spirit. ‘Gana’ is music. So Yaksha + Gana is the music of the celestial beings and spirits. Down south of Karnataka, we are worshippers of spirits too, the tutelary spirits. Hence it is believed that this art form, Yakshagana, is also like the other art forms related to the worship of god.

In today’s performance, rather than the puppet show, we bring you string puppets which are also called ‘Gombeyatta’ or the dance of puppets (‘Gombe’ meaning dolls and ‘atta’ meaning performance). You will notice that these ‘string puppets’ are highly stylised and have joints at the legs, shoulders, hips and knees making them as animated as possible. The theme of the story, depicted for you today, is an excerpt from the Epic Ramayana. Ramayana, as an epic. depicts the challenges faced by Lord Rama in his life and his challenges as a son, as a brother, as a husband, and as a king and also is a historical depiction of the society of those times and of how Lord Rama is a keeper of these good values of life. of Lanka, the abode of Ravana, which was set ablaze by the monkey god, Hanuman. The excerpt from the great Epic performed today for you exclusively is of the travails faced by Lord Rama when he sets out to look for his wife Sita, who is abducted from the forest by Ravana, the King of Lanka. A synopsis of a story for your perusal is as below:

In this excerpt, the Monkey King Sugreeva, offers all help to Lord Rama, whose wife Sita, is abducted by Ravana, the king of Lanka. King Sugreeva sets up a monkey army to enable Lord Rama in his quest for Sita. Amongst his valiant monkeys, he picks Hanuman, the monkey God, to serve Lord Rama in his quest for his wife. Hanuman leaps across the

sea and enters Lanka, the abode of Ravana, in search of Sita. There he spots Sita arrested in a garden and guarded by guards day and night. Hanuman is so powerful that he can actually lift Sita in his palms and cross the seas and bring her back home. But Sita refuses to oblige and demands that her husband come and free her like a valiant hero and destroy Ravana, who represents evil in the world. Before departing the garden of Lanka, called the Ashok vana, Hanuman decides to play mischief and show Ravana the might of Lord Rama and his wrath at Ravana for having abducted his wife. Ravana is angry when he finds out that a monkey has been creating havoc in his gardens. He orders, Indrajeet, his son to capture Hanuman. Hanuman allows himself to be captured by Indrajeet, who binds him and takes him to Ravana’s court. Ravana who is indignant orders that the tail of the monkey Hanuman is set on fire. Hanuman allows this to happen and with his tail that is on fire, sets Lanka ablaze; except for the gardens where Sita is rested.

The singer of this song is called the ‘Bhagawatha’ and he is referred to as the first actor. He is accompanied by musicians who play the hand drum called ‘maddale’, the pipe which is called ‘pungi’, the harmonium and the ‘chande’ which is a pair of drums.

The puppeteers who performed this sequence in puppetry at the wedding were from Sri Ganesha Yakshagana Gombeyata Mandali at Uppinakudru. The troupe was founded by three brothers, Laxman, Narasimha and Manjappa Kamath, three centuries ago in this village. Presently, Bhaskar Kogga Kamath is leading the troupe.