Troupe from Tripura, Manipur to perform in Germany

Agartala: A troupe from India`s two northeastern states - Tripura and Manipur - will perform in Germany to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between that country and India, an official said here Wednesday. The group from Tripura Puppet Theatre and Manipuri Folk Music will perform in Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden, Erlangen and other German cities Sep 7-Oct 7, an official from Tripura information and cultural affairs department told IANS.

"The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is organising the cultural programmes," the official said. The ICCR was founded in 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, independent India`s first education minister. The council helps formulate and implement policies pertaining to India`s external cultural relations, to foster mutual understanding between India and other countries and to promote cultural exchanges with other people. The leader of 10-member Tripura Puppet Theatre team, Prabhitangshu Das, said: "We will perform a drama using the art of puppetry. It will be based on Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore`s masterpiece short story ‘Bisarjan’ (sacrifice)." "Puppetry has been one of the most ancient forms of entertainment in India. It has been an effective visual art to convey relevant messages to the society," Das told IANS. He said the platform would make people aware about the art of puppetry, which was facing threat from cinema, television and other entertainment media. IANS