Dhaatu Puppet Festivals, Conferences & Cultural Gatherings
We bring people together to celebrate the ancient art of puppetry. From academic conferences to joyous mahotsavas, our events are where culture meets community in Bengaluru.
The complete schedule for our Dhaatu Navaratra Mahotsava. This annual festival is a 27-year tradition, featuring doll displays, storytelling, classical dance, and of course, our signature puppet shows.
Announcing the Dhaatu Puppet Santhe, a one-day puppet festival. We invite everyone to join us for a day of puppet shows, museum tours, artist interactions, and workshops at the Mandala Cultural Centre.
Our Dhaatu International Puppet Festival includes a conference on "Puppet Traditions & Innovations". This event brings together speakers from across India and the world to discuss the past, present, and future of puppetry.
We were honored to host a rod puppet making workshop with renowned master puppeteer Dr. Subho Joardar from Kolkata. This is part of our effort to bring diverse puppetry traditions to our community.
We were pleased to welcome students from Creighton University, USA, and St. Joseph's College, Bengaluru, to our puppet museum. These immersion programs are a wonderful way to share our cultural heritage with the next generation.
Students from our India immersion program enjoy an interactive performance at our puppet theater. These sessions often include a mix of performance and explanation, giving visitors a deeper understanding of the art form.
A newspaper article highlighting our puppet fete. Media coverage helps us reach a wider audience and share the richness of India's puppetry traditions with more people.
About this collection
When you join us at the Mandala Cultural Centre, you do not just watch a performance. You step into a shared space where students, artists, and families sit together on mats, creating a community that connects directly with the puppeteers and the stories being told.
Our festivals are a bridge between the past and the present. For over 27 years, we have hosted the Dhaatu Navaratra Mahotsava, an annual celebration that transforms our space into a vibrant hub of storytelling, classical dance, and puppet performances. These gatherings are not merely shows; they are an attempt to revive the community spirit that once surrounded traditional art forms in Bharat.
At our Dhaatu International Puppet Festival, we go deeper. We host conferences featuring scholars and master puppeteers from around the world, ranging from Austria to Kerala. These sessions explore the technical and philosophical sides of the craft, such as the 'Puppets & Materials' seminars, where we discuss everything from traditional wooden carving to 3D printing in puppetry. Whether you are an academic looking to study the nuances of rod puppetry or a family seeking an afternoon of storytelling, these events are designed to be inclusive spaces for all. We invite you to be part of these ongoing dialogues and celebrations that keep our cultural heritage breathing and alive.
Dhaatu Puppet Theater
We are a family-run team in Bengaluru, led by Anupama Hoskere, who see puppetry as a way to share the wisdom of our epics. Since 2004, we have been working to keep these stories alive, not just on stage, but by building a community that values art as much as we do.
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