India has hundreds of distinct theatre traditions. Some are thriving. Some are quietly enormous. But several are genuinely on the edge of disappearing. Not in a hundred years. In one generation. The artists are aging. The audiences have moved on. The economic conditions for transmission are tough.
Here are five Indian theatre forms in real danger right now, and the people fighting to keep them alive.
What are India’s most endangered theatre forms in 2026?
Several Indian theatre forms are critically endangered today. Among the most fragile are Bhand Pather of Kashmir, threatened by decades of conflict and dwindling audiences. Bhavai of Gujarat, with very few full-time practitioners left. Pavakathakali, the puppet version of Kathakali in Kerala. Therukoothu street theatre of Tamil Nadu, struggling with shrinking village audiences. And Wari Liba and Lai Haraoba performance traditions of Manipur, threatened by political conflict and migration. Each form is being kept alive by a small number of dedicated artists, families, and institutions, often with limited support.
1. Bhand Pather (Kashmir)
What it is: A satirical street theatre tradition from the Kashmir Valley combining masked performance, music, dance, and biting social commentary. Performers, called Bhands, traditionally travelled village to village playing characters that critiqued local power: corrupt officials, greedy landlords, hypocritical religious figures.
Why it is endangered: Decades of armed conflict in Kashmir devastated village life and the touring economy. Many performers migrated, switched professions, or stopped performing. The current generation of Bhand Pather artists is small, aging, and lives mostly in a few villages near Akingam in Anantnag district.
Who is saving it: The Akingam Bhand Pather community, with support from Sangeet Natak Akademi, the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, and individual scholars who have documented and recorded performances. M.K. Raina, the Kashmir-born theatre director, has been instrumental in bringing Bhand Pather to wider Indian audiences through workshops and festival appearances.
2. Bhavai (Gujarat)
What it is: A 700-year-old Gujarati folk theatre form, mixing satire, devotion, music, and rapid character switches by male performers playing all roles, including women. The Naik community of performers carried the tradition for generations. Performances called Vesh were staged in village squares with minimal props and direct audience interaction.
Why it is endangered: Television and Bollywood absorbed Bhavai’s audiences. Young people from the Naik community moved into other professions. Full-time Bhavai practitioners are very few. Many villages no longer host annual Vesh performances.
Who is saving it: The Darpana Academy of Performing Arts (Ahmedabad), founded by Mrinalini Sarabhai, has worked to preserve Bhavai through documentation, training programs, and stage productions. Theatre director Naik families in Gujarat continue to perform occasional Vesh. Researchers like the late Dhirubhai Thakar contributed significant scholarship.
3. Pavakathakali (Kerala)
What it is: The glove puppet version of Kathakali, performed in the Palakkad and Thrissur districts of Kerala. Small wooden puppets in full Kathakali costume, manipulated by the hand, perform Kathakali stories accompanied by traditional Kathakali music. The form is roughly 250 years old.
Why it is endangered: Pavakathakali requires combined expertise in puppet making, Kathakali tradition, and the music. The number of families maintaining the practice has dropped to a handful. The local rural audience that traditionally supported the form has shifted to other entertainment.
Who is saving it: The Pavakathakali Centre at Paruthippully (Palakkad) and a small group of dedicated Pulavar families. Kerala Folklore Akademi, Sangeet Natak Akademi, and several individual scholars have supported documentation and small-scale performances. Bharatiya Kalakshetra and other Kerala institutions have featured the form at festivals.
4. Therukoothu and related Tamil street theatre traditions
What it is: Tamil Nadu’s traditional street theatre, performed in temple courtyards and village squares, with elaborate costumes, painted faces, music, and energetic dance. The form usually performs Mahabharata stories, especially around the Draupadi Amman festival.
Why it is endangered: Urbanisation has shrunk traditional rural audiences. Television and cinema have absorbed entertainment attention. Many Therukoothu troupes operate informally and struggle financially. Pre-monsoon and post-harvest performances have dwindled in many districts.
Who is saving it: The late P. Rajagopal and the Purisai Duraisamy Kannappa Thambiran Parambarai Therukoothu Manram in Purisai have been a model for sustained Therukoothu practice. The Pondicherry-based Adishakti Theatre Arts Centre (founded by the late Veenapani Chawla) has trained contemporary performers in Therukoothu vocabulary. Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram and several individual researchers continue to support the form.
5. Wari Liba and Lai Haraoba (Manipur)
What it is: Wari Liba is a Manipuri storytelling performance tradition. Lai Haraoba is a much older, pre-Hindu Manipuri ritual performance form that includes dance, music, and dramatic enactment of creation myths. Both are deeply tied to Manipur’s cultural identity.
Why it is endangered: Political instability in Manipur, migration of young performers, and the steady erosion of traditional village ritual contexts have weakened both forms. Lai Haraoba in particular requires specific community settings that have been disrupted.
Who is saving it: The Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy, the Manipur State Kala Akademi, and the Lai Haraoba committees of individual Meitei villages. Scholars like the late E. Nilakanta Singh have done foundational documentation work. Maibis (priestesses) and Maibas (priests) continue to lead Lai Haraoba in some villages, holding the tradition together.
What threatens these forms in common?
Several patterns recur across endangered Indian theatre forms.
- Audience migration: rural and small-town audiences have moved to film and television
- Economic pressure: performers cannot sustain themselves on traditional fees
- Intergenerational transmission: young people in performer families take other careers
- Loss of ritual context: forms tied to specific festivals or temple cycles fade when those contexts weaken
- Political conflict: regions like Kashmir and Manipur have lost performance years to instability
- Documentation gaps: when a master performer dies without recording, irreplaceable knowledge goes with them
What can be done?
Several things actually work.
Long-term funding for living masters. A modest monthly stipend to a single elderly performer can keep a tradition transmitting for another decade.
Master-apprentice support. Programs that pay both the master and the apprentice for sustained training periods. SNA, the National Centre for the Performing Arts, and a few private foundations run these.
Documentation as priority. High-quality audio and video archives of complete performances. These are still surprisingly rare for many traditional forms.
Festival circuits. Inclusion of endangered forms in major national and international festivals provides visibility, audience interest, and income.
Tourist circuits done well. Carefully designed tourist-friendly performances can subsidise the larger traditional repertoire. Kerala has shown this works for Kathakali. The model can be adapted elsewhere.
The short version
Bhand Pather, Bhavai, Pavakathakali, Therukoothu, and Wari Liba / Lai Haraoba are five Indian theatre forms in real danger of disappearing within a generation. A handful of dedicated artists, families, and institutions are quietly holding each one together. The work of cultural preservation in India often looks like one elderly performer training one quiet apprentice in a small room, with very little fanfare. Those rooms deserve more attention.
For more, read about 10 Indian theatre forms disappearing forever, and our piece on Bhand Pather, Kashmir’s satirical theatre.