Chadar Badar - Santhal Storytelling Tradition

Chadar Badar is an ancient form of indigenous puppetry of the Santhals, one of the largest indigenous groups of India. Traditionally, this form has been an important means of folk education, also making it a vehicle of their ancient language.

...rituals on harvest such as the Bhumi Puja (worship of the land)...

...folklores, songs, literature that got promoted initially through oral traditions and eventually by poets and writers from the community whose outstanding contribution led to its cultural vitality!

Chadar Badar puppetry, a hallmark of the Santhali culture showcases the creativity and cultural vibrancy of the Santhals by narrating stories combined with songs, music and dance.

In every show, the puppets are organized in a specific way. A line of women puppets are installed opposite to a line of men puppets. In the middle is a man, called Rashik who is always in a trance-like state, dancing.

The puppets are hand-carved out of local wood with simple tools, and are about 5-9 inches in height.

Once the puppets are shaped they are painted and clothed in their traditional attire.

The puppets are operated by an indigenous lever system made by the puppeteers themselves. These intricate lever controlled mechanisms have strings and sticks attached to them. Both the making and the operation require high level of skills.

The puppeteers have a strong emotional bond with their puppets and consider them their children.  As skilled narrators they can continue to tell stories with their puppets in a show for as long as the  audience remains interested, making the length of each show quite flexible.