ARTICLE
Charma Bahuli Natya
Like the other performing arts of the Thakar community, the practice of charma bahuli natya has also declined considerably. By the 1970s and 1980s, only one or two families were still engaged in it. A significant hurdle has been the loss of the knowledge of crafting the puppets themselves. However, artists such as Ganpat Sakharam Masage and Parshuram Vishram Gangavane, with the support of institutions such as the Sangeet Natak Akademi, have been working to revive charma bahuli natya. Gangavane, who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2021, founded the Thakar Adivasi Kala Angan in Pinguli, Sindhudurg, a museum dedicated to documenting the Thakar community’s artistic traditions.
Bibliography
Gründ, Françoise. “Chamdyacha bahulya.” World Encyclopaedia of Puppetry Arts, 2012. Accessed November 15, 2021. https://wepa.unima.org/en/chamdyacha-bahulya/
Pani, Jiwan. Living Dolls: Story of Indian Puppets. New Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, 1986.
Stache-Rosen, Valentina. “Story-Telling in Pingulī Paintings.” Artibus Asiae 45, no. 4 (1984): 253–86. https://doi.org/10.2307/3249740.
Vidyarthi, Govind. “In Search of a Lost Tradition: Chamadyache Bahulya, Kalasutri Bahulya and Pothhi.” Sangeet Natak, no. 47 (January–March 1978): 23–26.