What we are

IPTA: Eight Decades of Spring Organized against the brutality and colonial rule of the British administration, the Indian People’s Theatre Association, which later grew into the largest cultural movement in the country, was born. The abbreviation of the organization is IPTA. In the Hindi-speaking regions it was known as Bhartiya Jan Natya Sangh and in Telugu regions as Praja Natya Mandali. Its motto was: "People’s art makes people stars." Recognizing the necessity of artists participating in the Indian freedom struggle, a national conference of cultural workers was held on May 25, 1943, at the Marwari School in Bombay. The first Progressive Writers’ Association conference in 1936, the establishment of the Youth Cultural Institute in Calcutta in 1940, and the formation of the Indian People’s Theatre group under the leadership of Anil De Silva in 1941 served as inspirations for this conference. At a 1941 gathering in Bangalore, IPTA’s constitution was drafted. In 1942, another IPTA group emerged in Bombay under Anil De Silva’s leadership. The following year, the first national-level conference was held in Bombay.