Techniques and manner of Presentation of puppetry

Every art form possesses some unique manner and techniques of presentation, which gives them a different identity and charm. Puppetry is also not exception. However, regional differences are there in manners of presentation among puppet troupes of Assam. The upper Assam troupe follow Ankiya Bhaona tradition while lower Assam troupes follow Khulia Bhaoriya tradition of Darrang and Mongoldoi region. Traditional puppet troupes start their show with preliminaries like playing of special rhythmic patterns on khol and tal (cymbal) along with invocatory songs. This phase is call “Gurughat”or “Purvaranga”. As the upper Assam troupes follow the performance style of Bhaona, they start their show with Gayana Bayana. Here bayana is the key person. He narrates the story of the play. Rama and Krishna are major characters of this kind of puppet play. On the other hand, there is slight difference in presentation style of puppet groups of lower Assam.

After preparing the stage, preliminaries start. A curtain hangs on the open side of the stage. Musical instruments like Khol, Cymbal, Flute, Nagara, Harmonium etc. are played in a certain rhythm to indicate the opening of stage. In puppeteers language it is call “Mancha mukti”. Then the ritual of paying homage to deity starts. Most of the puppet troupes pay homage to “Nataraj” and some to pays homage to “Ganesha” or “Saraswati” for success of the play and opens the stage by pulling the hanging screen towards the temporary cloth made wall of the stage. A short duration dance drama of selected topic is performs before the main play. The main play starts instantly after ending of the dance drama. Minimum four strings are attached to a puppet. One of strings attached to puppets while other ends coils around fingers of puppet players or a thin bamboo stick hold by the puppet player.There was the tradition of sweeping of the stage floor by a pair of scavenger character called Kaoliya, Keoliya,Kalua bhelua or Kalu Bhelu. Kalu bhelu are as important as other major characters. They hold the attention of audience through their pranks and jokes while the story fails to catch attention of audience. Dress of Kalua bhelua is very funny.Stock characters like chengra or Mastor presents in the puppetry group and they make caustic comments on contemporary situations.

Noted scholar Dr. Birendranath Datta said that, in previous days during preliminary stage the bayana of puppet show used to enter among audience holding a yak–tail whisk in his right hand and performed dance like steps and gestures. The speech on male puppets lips are given by “Bayana” or narrator.Woman voice is given by woman assistant of the troupe.Bayana is expert in voice modulation.Different character becomes alive in combination of fine manipulation of Sutradhar and proper dialogue throwing of narrator. In other word, narrator has to transform puppet from inanimate to animate through his voice.Sometimes traditional puppet troupes of Assam replace human voice by a kind of squeak using a musical instrument call Pepa, which is made from bamboo frame and leaf or cane.

This instrument is play like mouth organ. Bayana interprets the squeak for audience.

“The speeches are made in a high-pitch sharp squeaking sound produced with one or more rather crude whistles made of a cane or bamboo frame and a leaf or rubber membrane. The sound is made from behind the screen by one or more of the manipulators in a manner that somehow imitates human speech but is not easily intelligible.The leader enters into a conversation with the characters “speaking” in the squeaking voice in such a skilful manner–of course, by an arranged understanding with the backstage, ghost-voice–that the audience is made to forget the time-lag between the utterances of the character and the interpretations given by the leader himself: an impression is created as though the characters were speaking in an intelligible language. The device which could be termed “instant flashback” is extremely subtle and is one that gives the traditional genre both distinctiveness and charm. Many troupes particularly of the semi-traditional category, still use the whistle to produce speech-like sounds, but in place of this subtle device someone from among the chorus just repeating the puppet-speeches in human voice. The modern troupes have completely dispensed with the whistle and use “ghost voices” that speak the lines and sing the songs for different characters.”^[1]

In present time some troupes use modern plastic whistle also.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Datta,.Birendranath: Puppetry in Assam Past And Present, North-Eastern Archival Centre for Traditional Performing Art and folklore, 1999, P:10