Glimpses of unique folk culture in West Bengal

Backstage: Tribal theatre artists preparing for a hunting scene

Backstage: Actors checking their hunting scene weapons

The background music team with authentic tribal instruments

Flute is one of the most profoundly melancholic instruments used to spawn the pathos of the tribal culture

A scene from Tepantar's latest production depicting the traditional custom of hunting in tribal culture

The tribal actors of this theatre village come from the Santhal group found in the eastern states of India such as West Bengal and Jharkhand

Hunting brigade practicing customary bow and arrow drills

One of the actors doing a monologue scene on stage

Baul - a group of mystic folk musicians performs in Satkahania village

A baul singer plays a typical folk instrument

Serving as a rural cultural centre in the village of Satkahania, where theatre and performing arts has become the main means of survival – Ebong Amra, a repertory company leads the way for a group of tribal actors towards artistic emancipation.

The village and its unusual locales provide a perfect backdrop for an out of the box escapade to experience the rural civilisation of West Bengal in the most unconventional way. Tepantar (which means a large open space in Bengali) is spread across 4 acres of land that comprises open air stage, rehearsal and workshop space for theatre practitioners, along with strategically placed cottages and dormitories for visitors. The name Tepantar in numerous Bengali fables is referred as a mysterious, boundless field at the edge of civilisation. Ebong Amra, in the course of the last fourteen years, has genuinely been fruitful in building a limitless playground for a unique coexistence of imagination and reality.