The Story
OrganizerThe oral storytelling tradition in India is one of the most richly diverse in the world, ranging from the Panchatantra's animal fables to the Puranic recitations of Katha traditions, from the Baul songs of Bengal to the Burra Katha of Andhra, from Dastangoi's Urdu epic narration to the Harikatha tradition of south India. Yet India had no dedicated festival to celebrate and sustain the broader category of oral storytelling as a living art form.
Kathakar was founded to fill this gap. By framing oral storytelling as a category that unites diverse Indian traditions with their international counterparts, the festival creates dialogues across cultures that neither a classical music festival nor a literary festival typically enables. A Baul singer from Bengal, a Dastangoi performer from Delhi, and a griot from West Africa share a Kathakar stage because they are all practitioners of the same fundamental art: the art of shaping narrative for a live audience.
The festival's work with children and schools is a distinctive dimension: it takes seriously the argument that oral storytelling is not merely a heritage form but a living educational and developmental practice.
Kathakar addresses one of the most significant gaps in India's cultural festival landscape: the absence of a dedicated platform for oral narrative traditions. India's storytelling traditions are extraordinarily diverse and face real pressures from audio-visual media. A festival that frames oral storytelling as an art form worth curating and presenting alongside international counterparts performs an important cultural function.
Kathakar is the only Indian festival that explicitly frames oral storytelling as a distinct art form and curatorial category. At a time when oral traditions face displacement, a dedicated annual platform for their celebration and dialogue is culturally necessary.
Founded India's only international storytelling festival. Created a curatorial framework uniting diverse Indian oral narrative traditions with international storytellers. Programmed for children and schools alongside public audiences.
