Putul Naach: The Folk Puppetry of West Bengal.

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Folk puppetry in West Bengal is called Putul Naach. Putul is a word that describes both a doll and a puppet in Bengali, while Naach means dance. Traditional form of puppetry found in West Bengal is as follow:
  1. Glove ( bene or beni Putul)  
  2.  Rod (dang  Putul)
  3.  String (taar or shutor Putul)

👉Both rod and glove puppets are indigenous to West Bengal while string was an influence of Rajasthan.

Puppeteers of Putul Naach
The puppeteers or puppet groups are mainly landless farmers or labourers, give their performance in fairs and festivals in the winters. The art is in itinerant in nature, they carry the puppets and other objects of their art with them, packed into boxes or folded and rolled into a cloth bag.

                                   
Themes of Putul Nach
The themes for the Putul Naach shows are mostly myths and legends, but have for the past several decades been increasingly influenced by the popular themes of the Jatra folk theatre tradition of West Bengal. Historical, social and even political themes began to be incorporated. Music to this day is customarily used live.But many puppeteers, who, with their simple themes, basic props and traditional music, found themselves unable to compete with increasingly popular forms of modern entertainment, gave up their tradition and moved to other occupations.  Patronage of this ancient folk form is conspicuous by its absence.

Glove puppet or Bene Putul
The roots of the glove puppet or Beni or Bene Putul tradition lie in the district of East Medinipur in West Bengal. The form is a solo act that has existed for over a hundred years, but sadly today, there are only a handful of traditional glove puppeteers struggling to keep their art and skill alive in the lone village of Padmatamali in East Medinipur. The Beni Putul puppeteers traditionally belong to a social group in the lower strata of society. In the old days, they would go from door to door demonstrating their performance or they would visit local fairs and festivals. Squatting on their haunches, they would extract two often well-worn puppets and proceed to enact scenes from the epics.The glove puppeteer is narrator, singer and actor, providing the dialogue for both the puppets, as he manoeuvres them. In present time lyrics are often laced with humour and sarcasm while the music is based on either common folk tunes or even popular Hindi or Bengali songs. There is no set format for the movements and there is no stage.

Rod puppet Or Dang Putul

The traditional rod puppet form of West Bengal or Dang Putul Naach (Rod Doll Dance), is a tradition that goes back to the 14th century. However, the emphasis on this form of puppetry is more on drama than dance. There is a great influence of the jatra (a traditional theatre form of Bengal) tradition in this form of puppetry – in the costumes, themes, script and enactment. The puppets have joints at the shoulders, elbows and sometimes even a wrist – and do not have legs. The head is mounted on a central rod or pole, which passes vertically through the torso and is then tied to the puppeteer's waist. The performance of these rod puppets takes place on a makeshift stage spanned by a high curtain over which the puppet performance can be seen. A group of musicians, sitting at the side of the stage provide vocal support and the accompanying music. Both music and dialogue are usually very dramatic, in keeping with the traditional folk theatre style.Some of the families have been carrying on this art for generations together – as much as 100 years or more. But the form is on the verge of extinction today and exists mainly in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

String or Taarer Putul

The origin of string puppets in Bengal, it is believed, is from the ‘Kathputli’ or wooden puppets of Rajasthan. About a hundred years ago, a group of itinerant puppeteers from Rajasthan had come to perform at a local fair in a village (now in Bangladesh) in undivided Bengal. Inspired by the performance, the locals adopted the form and it soon became a popular form of entertainment in the region. After the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, most of the puppeteers relocated to villages in Nadia district of West Bengal. It was thus that string puppetry became a part of West Bengal`s folk culture.

Location: Kolkata, West Bengal, India

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