Taking a vow to revive the dying traditional art of telling stories through paintings, wooden string puppets and leather shadow puppets, Chetan Gangavane travels to places and is currently in Goa to participate in the ‘IndiGenius Fest’
BHARATI PAWASKAR
Art flows in his DNA and that’s what compelled him to leave his job as an engineer in Mumbai and return to his home village in Pinguli to be a curator at his family owned Thakar Adivasi Kala Angan Museum and Art Gallery. Today, Chetan Gangavane travels to places, demonstrating his art, conducting workshops and training youth in his arts - painting and puppetry aiming to revive and rejuvenate the forgotten tribal arts of yesteryear.
Chetan is not ashamed of his roots that take him and his family back in the history when the Thakar community to which they belong lived in the forests in Sindhudurg and earned their livelihood by travelling to the nearby villages and entertained the people by their song, dance and puppetry performances. Thakars lived on donations and had no permanent source of income. Today, the situation is different and they no more beg for living; however the arts that were their main source of earning are dying.
Chetan recalls his grandfather telling him that Thakars travelled from village to village, telling inspiring stories from the great epics of the land, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Originally they were used as spies by the ruling kings as it was through their mobility that they interacted with the local people, read their minds and conveyed their thoughts to the king who took his decisions accordingly. The kings have long died and the kingdoms are no more, but the community still lives, cherishing the memories. The Gangavanes are the last of their breed. They still practice the traditional Thakar art, and ensure that these crafts must live on.
Thakars received the patronage of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who granted them land around Pinguli and Kudal in the mid-18th century, which lead to the Thakar community giving up their nomadic lifestyle and engaging in activities like agriculture along with their traditional forms of livelihood and performance crafts. Shivaji also decreed that the Thakars would sing their songs, stories taken from the epics and life around them, in the outer courtyard of the temples during the Dussehra festival. In those days the performances by the Thakars would continue all night to large gatherings. Today the audiences have diminished, but Chetan still stages a symbolic performance at the Kelbaidevi temple.
He narrates how his life took a real U-turn in 2006 when he quit his job to devote full time to popularise his traditional family arts along with his father and brother. “Chitra means picture and katha means story. Together, the term ‘Chitrakathi’ was originally used to describe storytellers who narrated stories using visual aids accompanied by music. Broadly, Chitrakatha is identified in three forms, leather puppet shows, stringed wooden puppets and picture stories. Only the latter, picture stories, narrated using a series of paintings, are now identified as Chitrakathi.
The other art that Gangavanes practise is puppetry - which is called ‘Kalsutri Bahulya’ in Marathi or ‘Kathaputali’ in Hindi. It is yet another popular craft of the community. There are two main types of puppetry practiced by them - string puppetry and shadow puppetry. The string puppets are made of wood and dressed up in colourful costume to depict gods, demons, kings and mythological figures. The shadow puppets are made of leather which is beaten into a thin firm sheet and cut into designs of various characters.
An ancient folk tradition and a unique style of painting, dating back to the 17th century, Chitrakathi artisans were treated with respect in the princely states, but after the decline of these kingdoms and demise of royal families, the art almost lost its sheen. The artisans scattered outside Konkan in search of employment.
However, Chetan’s father, Parashuram Gangavane, was determined not only to save but to carry forward his family legacy. He took upon himself a task of revitalizing this 400 year old Chitrakathi art at both domestic and international levels by starting a small museum in a cowshed adjacent to his home in Pinguli on May 3, 2006, displaying some of the rare, family owned paintings of yesteryear. It was a very humble beginning. His efforts got recognition when he received an award from the Maharashtra State government in 2009 for the preservation of folk arts.
Today, Indians as well as foreigners visit this museum. Students of fine art and history come here to attend workshops and learn about the art. The Gangavanes still possess approximately 500 paintings but are worried that white ants may destroy them, if not conserved property.
Thankfully, the government of Maharashtra and other cultural organizations from the central government are coming forward to extend a helping hand. The Gangavane family has also initiated a homestay scheme wherein students can attend residential workshops.
Keen to promote the dying art the Gangavane family has started painting on postcards, teapots, key chains, bookmarks and frames. This has helped to popularise the art and spread it to more people. The father and sons have so far taught 1000 odd students and research scholars from India and abroad.
