Bhartiya Lok Kala Museum offers visitors a unique and curated range of traditional artefacts, jewellery, ornaments, costumes, folk musical instruments, masks, miniature paintings, icons of local deities, a history of Mewari turbans, antiques, and crafts carefully collected over a period of 65 years.
The museum has an exhibit of a rare collection of different puppets from various parts of India and abroad such as France, Germany, Russia, America, Mexico, Indonesia and Romania, including water puppets from Vietnam. Tribal dance forms portrayed in the museum, such as Terah Taal, Taal, Bhawai, the Gavari folk dance of Bhil tribes, Ram Leela, and Ras Leela, provide a great source of knowledge about folk and tribal culture.
Govind Puppet theatre conducts daily puppetry and folk dance shows for visitors in a unique, symbolic, and colourful manner. The shows are presented by traditional artists who are adept in the art of puppetry and folk dance and successfully manage to enthral the viewers. Some of the puppetry-based plays performed in the centre includes Sinhasan Battisi (presented in its current form of Rajasthani style) Ram Leela, and Rass Leela among others.
Inaugurated in 1985 by the then Honourable President of India, Giani Zail Singhji, this theatre is located adjacent to the museum. It is the outcome of extensive research conducted over the years to bring the puppetry art to the forefront.
BLKM offers regular training in puppetry to educate children, teachers, and other enthusiasts in this unique art form. Training on folk dances is also conducted at the centre regularly. In addition, BLKM trains young persons, especially women, in folk and tribal dances and music to keep these art forms alive.
These endeavours help the centre in preserving the art form of puppetry for the future generations.
The centre provides research, documentation, and publication facilities to popularize traditional folk art and culture in collaboration with scholars, students, artists, local communities, academicians, and other like-minded people. The centre’s archive section is a direct outcome of the extensive cultural survey, research, and documentation conducted by BLKM across the country over the years. Not only does it assist in research work, but it also adds value to cultural preservation. In the past, researchers from different parts of the world such as Japan, the USA, South Korea, and European countries have visited BLKM for their work.
The center also cataloged more than 10,000 folk songs. It was the first-ever attempt of such a scale made in the country to preserve our folklore. The catalog was released at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on 9th March 1993 by Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, then President of India.
For several decades, the centre published a quarterly journal “Rangayan” and a six-monthly Journal “Lok Kala”. These were subscribed to by researchers, libraries, institutions, and many individuals. Till now, the centre has more than 54 publications on folk art and culture under its name.
The centre provides skill enhancement training to traditional artisans, in terms of the latest technology, so that the craft can be improved and the craftsmen can produce fine quality craft and puppets as per the needs of modern markets. The craft centre has a separate unit for stitching traditional costumes used by performers. Besides wood craft, production of different types of string puppets, low cost glove, and rod puppets are some of the centre’s specialities. Every year a number of people, including students, receive training on wood craft and puppet making.
The centre assists craftsmen in marketing puppets and handicraft items through our souvenir outlet as tourists usually ask for souvenirs, gifts, and decorative items. Craft items and puppets produced at this centre are admired by domestic and international tourists due to their quality and originality.
The repertory consists of professional folk dancers who perform all over India and internationally. The unit tours across the country and internationally to perform folk dance, song, and puppetry. These performances create a wide level of publicity of folk art and culture of India’s native tribes. The mesmerising performances have brought many laurels to the organisation.
National and international tourists visit the BLKM daily specially to watch mesmerising folk dances such as Dandia, Terah Taal, Bhawai, Garba, folk songs and puppet plays, performed by our artists. In 2017-18, 183,000 visited Lok Kala Museum. During the same period, more than 56,000 people visited Govind Puppet theatre to see the performances. Moreover, the 2,000-seat open-air theatre holds around 50 programmes annually. Special shows are also conducted on request and on a prior booking basis. The unit is the treasure trove of Indian folk and tribal culture as it has a comprehensive repertory persistently built over the years. The dedicated artists of this unit have rejuvenated many extinct folk art and forms.
Communication in rural communities has been a challenge faced by many agencies. BLKM has developed an innovative approach of communication, using traditional means of puppets and street plays to spread messages in rural areas. Traditional media such as puppets, folk plays, street plays, etc. are designed in such a way that they effectively convey the message to the rural masses. Furthermore, BLKM commenced specialised courses in rural communications for development professionals. BLKM has conducted campaigns in the areas of biodiversity conservation, afforestation, water, and sanitation to raise environmental awareness in rural areas.
BLKM is deeply involved in community work. In the past, the institute launched massive communication drives on family planning, mother and child care, agriculture development, and health and hygiene, among others. In 1993-94, BLKM ran a successful ‘Literacy Campaign’ in collaboration with the Government of Rajasthan. Through puppetry, BLKM sensitized nearly 25,000 rural families in 300 of Rajasthan’s villages towards literacy which led to increased enrolment in schools and heightened the interest of parents to send their children to schools.
The centre facilitates a systematic study of endangered art forms in their historical context. Regular training courses also aim to extend this art form beyond the caste format to ensure their continuance in an emancipated environment. The centre also conducts regular training programmes during summer holidays for school children and artists. Hundreds of trainees take part in the summer training every year and learn folk dances and puppetry.
12 PM - 1 PM , 6 PM - 7 PMand 7:15 PM- 8:15 PM
Indian : Rs 120, Students: Rs. 60
Foreigners: Rs. 180
9 AM - 5:30 PM
Indian : Rs 60, Students: Rs. 25,
Foreigners: Rs. 120
Indian : Rs 170, Foreigners: Rs. 260
The Bhartiya Lok Kala Mandal has made significant strides in the field of research, experiments and production of folk theatre arts.
Former President of India
The puppets were handled with commendable skill and the performances were both delightful and impressive.
Former Prime Minister of India
Recently, at Nagpur, I saw folk dances performed by a troupe from Bhartiya Lok Kala Mandal of Udaipur Previously; I have seen their performances in Delhi also and have liked them.
Former Prime Minister of India
I have seen the work of Padmshri Devilal Samar in 3rd International Puppet Festival at Bucharest in the Year 1965 where he got 1st prize in traditional puppet and keen to know the activities of Bhartiya Lok Kala Mandal, Udaipur.
The most distinguished troupe of Indian puppets we have met abroad. The troupe amazed the French public with its skill.
The items were very much appreciated for their genuine character, simplicity originality and colourfulness.
They commanded audience attention through sheer vitality, impressive technical skill and silk production methods.
The Mandal presented to the public of Delhi, the rich tradition of folk art to be better known all over the country.
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