bengalurus dhaatu international puppet festival is back with its first offline edition postpandemic in its 14th year the festival is showcasing the works of over 100 artistes across three days till sundaythe purpose of this festival is to make people aware of the puppetry culture we have in india when we started this back in 2009 people werent aware of it they had forgotten about this art form over the years we have realised that people love it and there is a demand for this art form what started as a statelevel festival soon became national and now its an international festival says festival director anupama hoskerethe motto this time is tradition and innovation so we have shortlisted artistes accordingly for example the team from kerala is an allwomens team which is a milestone in the field the udaipur team has introduced an innovative format we are always in touch with artistes to see the work they are doing besides a lot of them apply to be part of the fest shares anupama adding that the lineup for the next edition is already shortlistedat the fest expect a variety of stories from fantasy to epics to contemporary showcased on stage at the festivalindia has influenced the rest of the world with its techniques of rod and shadow puppets anupama tells us it is important for us to understand the history to continue being the best in this fieldanupama offers one of the things we have achieved over the years is the respectability for the art form puppet shows are everywhere now from bank meetings to college fests to board rooms these days you find it on several platforms the potential is unlimited and thats what we have been exploring the acceptance and respectability for what this art form istime to learn1 the festival also has under its umbrella a twoday childrens festival to further their understanding of the puppetmaking process and its possibilities2 there will also be a threeday puppet workshop by masters from kolkata3 a conference will feature research and documentation of puppetry techniques traditions and history