Summary:
“We gave away some of our leather puppets as many were gathering dust and we aren’t performing as payments are abysmally low. A file photograph of some leather puppets on display at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat in Bengaluru. During his lifetime, Nanjunda had collected nearly 4,000 leather puppets. However, these Togalu Gombeyaata artistes — who use leather puppets which they craft — are facing the threat of extinction, with just a few families now practising the art form. An annual Nanjunda Rao Award for Art is being instituted for practitioners of Togalu Gombeyaata..