Puppets to retell tragedy of Jallianwala Bagh of south India in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: Have you ever heard of Karnataka's Jallianwala Bagh? Vidurashwatha, a quiet village in Chikkballapur district, had also met with similar fate as that of Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab during the Indian freedom struggle.
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To create more awareness, a puppet show is being organised to retell the story of Vidurashwatha and its role in India's freedom struggle, using Karnataka's string puppets. Anupama Hoskere, director of the puppet show, told TOI, "Karnataka's contribution to the freedom struggle is what Vidurashwatha represents. And we have many special string puppets in Karnataka with beautiful designs and deep traditions. Possibly, string puppetry was established 6,000 years ago in Karnataka.
Since we have such a rich history of puppetry and storytelling through this format, I wanted to use the same to highlight this important historic event and roles played by locals in the freedom struggle to the present generation."
But what happened in Vidurashwatha? On April 25, 1938, local leaders from the
, along with villagers from Hindupur and Gauribidanur, gathered in Vidurashwatha to stage a peaceful protest and hoist the national flag.
She added, their plan coincided with the annual local fair, which drew large crowds. "The flag-hoisting was to take place in an area behind the village temple. However, British authorities, having learned of the planned satyagraha, imposed prohibitory orders to block the gathering.
Despite the ban, hundreds of protestors waited patiently under the trees in the afternoon heat. Around 1.30pm, police forces arrived and began firing," she narrated. The shooting is said to have lasted for four hours and at least 90 rounds were fired. While official colonial records claimed around 10 deaths, eyewitnesses said over 100 people were killed in the violence, she added.
The show will be live on Saturday from 5pm at National Gallery of Modern Art in Vasanth Nagar.
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