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Indian Puppetry

Last updated on January 3, 2023 by ClearIAS Team

Puppetry is a form of visual animation. Due to the engaging nature of the experience and the low production and animation costs, it is a favorite among independent artists. This form of entertainment gives unrestricted freedom to artists in design, colour, and movements.

The puppeteer employs their talents to give the inanimate puppet human-like speech, singing, dancing, and behaviour.

It is regarded as one of the earliest genres of storytelling.

Table of Contents

Origin of Indian Puppetry

Several references to marionette theatre from around 500 BC have been found. The discovery of puppets with sockets at the excavation sites of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro suggests that puppetry was a well-liked art form at the time.

In the Sangham age ,  Silappadikaram , which was composed in the first and second century BC, as well as the Mahabharata both mention puppetry.

Along with being an artistic medium, puppetry has philosophical significance in Indian culture. In the Bhagavad Geeta, God is compared to a puppeteer who manipulates the universe with the three cords Satta, Raja, and Tama.

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A broad variety of puppetry traditions have developed throughout India, each with its own distinct style of puppets.

Folklore, mythology, and local legends served as sources of inspiration. Puppetry has been infused with other artistic mediums, including painting, sculpture, music, dance, and theatre, creating a distinctive form of artistic expression.

However, this creative genre has been steadily diminishing in recent years because of a lack of devoted fans and financial uncertainties.

Classification of Indian puppetry

Puppetry in India can be classified into four categories:

1. String Puppet

Bommalattam

2. Shadow Puppet

Togalu Gombeyatta

• Ravanachhaya
• Tholu Bommalatta

3. Rod Puppet

• Putul Nachh

4. Glove Puppet

String Puppetry

In Indian culture, string puppets are also referred to as marionettes.

The puppets are typically chiselled wooden replicas that are eight to nine inches long.

Oil paint is used to colour the wood and add other facial features such as eyes, mouth, nose, and other facial traits.

Little wooden pipes are connected to the body to create the limbs.

The body is then stitched together and covered in brightly coloured little clothing.

To make it look more lifelike, tiny diamonds and other decorations have been added.

The strings that are tied to tiny holes in the hands, head and back of the body are moved by the puppeteer.

Either leg, arm, and shoulder, as well as the lower back and each side of the head, are connected by strings. A hand controller in the form of the letters H or X is attached to the strings. In other instances, additional strings are connected to various parts of the marionette’s body.

The most prominent examples of string puppets are:

Kundhei is the name of the string puppets of Odisha .

They are made of l ight wood , and their skirts are long .

The puppeteer can move around with more ease because the puppets have more joints.

The strings are held together by a triangular prop.

The Odissi dance is prominently featured in Kundhei puppet shows.

Kathputli, a traditional string puppet from Rajasthan, derives its name from the Hindi terms for wood and doll, respectively, “Kath” and “putli.

The puppets wear colourful traditional Rajasthani clothing.

The presentation is accompanied by a dramatic folk music score, and the puppeteer’s finger is attached to the strings.

The absence of legs on the puppets is a defining characteristic.

It combines elements of rod puppetry and string puppetry.

The puppeteer wears an iron ring on his head that is attached to the strings.

With some standing up to 4.5 feet tall and weighing up to 10 kilogrammes, the Bommalattam puppets are the biggest and heaviest marionettes in India .

The four distinctive stages of the Bommalattam theatre are Vinayak Puja, Komali, Amanattam, and Pusenkanattam.

It is a traditional puppet show from Karnataka .

They are modelled after the many characters from the Yakshagana Theatres.

One noteworthy feature of this puppet is the use of more than one puppeteer to control the puppets .

Shadow Puppetry

Shadow puppetry has a long history in India and has been handed down through the generations.

Flat figures made of leather are used as shadow puppets.

The miniatures are painted identically on both sides of the leather.

On a white screen, puppets are positioned, and light is flashed on them from behind to cast a shadow.

The figurines are altered such that the silhouettes they produce on the white screen tell a compelling story.

Shadow puppet tradition is still prevalent in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Odisha .

a few well-known examples of shadow puppetry:

It is the renowned shadow theatre of Karnataka .

A distinctive feature of Togalu Gombayetta puppets is the variation in puppet size based on social rank , with enormous puppets portraying monarchs and religious leaders and smaller puppets representing the underprivileged and slaves.

Ravanchhaya

This style of shadow puppetry is the most dramatic, and it’s very well-liked in Odisha .

The puppets made of deer skin are posed in dramatic and bold.

Since they don’t have any joints , learning this art is very challenging.

It is common to employ puppets that are not human, such trees and animals.

Because they have acquired in-depth instruction in their field, the Ravanchhaya artists are able to produce poetic and delicate theatrical narratives.

Tholu Bommalata

It is the shadow theatre of Andhra Pradesh .

With a classical musical background, the presentation focuses on legendary and holy stories from the Epics and Puranas.

The puppets have different colours on both sides and are larger.

Rod Puppetry

In Eastern India , it is most often used. Rod puppet performances are well-known in West Bengal and Odisha .

These puppets are controlled by the puppeteer with the help of rods.

Three joints normally make up these puppets.

Both hands are connected to the rods at the shoulder, and the principal rod supports the puppet’s head, which is connected to the neck.

The primary rod is concealed by the puppet’s attire. The action rods are connected to the puppet’s hands.

The puppeteer creates movement by moving their hands.

Bamboo, rice husk, and hay are used to create the puppet’s body and hands. The ingredients are mixed together and formed into the appropriate shape.

The following are a few well-known instances:

It is a typical rod puppet from Bihar.

The puppets often have no joints and are made of wood .

It is the customary rod puppet dance of the Bengal-Odisha-Assam region .

Typically three to four feet tall, the figures are dressed as Jatra characters.

During the performance, a musical group of three to four musicians uses a harmonium, cymbals, and tabla .

Glove Puppetry

Other names for glove puppets are hand, sleeve, and palm puppets. They are little figurines with a head, arms, and a skirt that is long and flowing.

Although there are notable exceptions, most puppets are made of fabric or wood .

These puppets look like limp dolls, a talented puppeteer can make them move in a number of ways.

The head is made of papier-mache, linen, or wood, and two hands protrude from right below the neck. The rest of the body is covered with a long, flowing skirt.

The human hand manipulates the puppet by placing the first finger on the head and the middle and thumb on the puppet’s two other fingers.

glove puppets are a common practice in Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha

In Odisha, glove puppet shows focus on Radha and Krishna stories, in contrast to Uttar Pradesh where they primarily address societal issues.

It developed in the 18th century as a result of the influence of Kerala’s renowned classical dance-drama known as Kathakali on puppet shows.

A puppet in Pavakoothu can be between one and two feet tall. Wooden arms and a wooden head are joined by thick fabric that has been cut and sewed into a small bag-like structure.

The puppets’ faces are adorned with paint, tiny pieces of thin gilded zinc, peacock feathers, and other decorations.

The musical instruments used during the concert were chenda, chengila, ilathalam, and shankh .

In the majority of the world’s areas, puppetry has been a crucial component of information exchange. Puppetry combines elements from a variety of artistic mediums, such as literature, painting, sculpture, music, dance, and theatre, and it gives pupils a creative out.

Article Written by: Aryadevi

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Puppet Forms in India; Notes for UPSC Art and Culture

Some scholars believe that the puppetry art tradition is more than thousands of years old. One finds its reference in many folk tales, ballads, and sometimes even in folk songs. This article will talk about the various puppet forms in India.

Almost all types of puppets are found in India. Puppetry throughout the ages has held an important place in traditional entertainment. Like traditional theatre, themes for puppet theatre are mostly based on epics and legends. Puppets from different parts of the country have their own identity. Regional styles of painting and sculpture are reflected in them.

Learn in detail about the  Forms of String Puppets in India at the linked article.

Aspirants would find this topic very helpful in the IAS Exam  and questions based on the same may be asked in the upcoming UPSC CSE prelims.

What are the different types of puppets used in India?

There are 4 major different types of puppets used in India. The types of puppets and the respective states where it is used are given below:

• PavaKoothu – Kerala
• Sakhi Kundhei Nata – Orissa 
• Beni Putul – Bengal

Read in detail about the Glove Puppet Forms in India at the linked article.

• Putul Nach – West Bengal
• Kathi Kandhe – Orissa
• Yampuri – Bihar

Refer to the linked article to know more about the Rod Puppet Forms in India .

• Tholu Bommalata – Andhra Pradesh
• Togalu Gombeyata – Karnataka
• Tolpavakoothu – Kerala
• Chamadyache Bahulya – Maharashtra
• Ravanachhaya – Orissa
• Thol Bommalattam – Tamil Nadu
• Putal Nach – Assam
• Gombeyatta – Karnataka
• Kalasutri Bahulya – Maharashtra
• Gopalila Kundhei – Orissa
• Kathputli – Rajasthan
• Bommalattam – Tamil Nadu

Learn more on how you can tackle Art and Culture for the UPSC Exam , by visiting the linked article.

What do you mean by a Puppet?

A doll or a figure controlled by a person so that it appears to be moving on its own is called a puppet.

Why is Puppetry Art Dying?

There are various reasons for it.

• Lack of patronage in the modern age.
• Competition from Electronic media, which is a preferred mode of entertainment. People find it more appealing to watch mythological stories of Ramayan and Mahabharata on electronic media rather than in Puppetry.
• Puppetry Art is usually confined to only devotional and mythological stories.
• With changing times, Puppetry does not take up modern social issues.
• Puppetry lacks modernization in terms of script, lighting, sound and other stage effects.

Who made the first Puppets?

Puppetry as an art form is believed to be more than 3000 years old. The earliest puppets probably originated in Egypt. Puppets made of ivory and clay were discovered in tombs. Even ancient Greek Scholars like Aristotle and Plato had mentioned Puppets as early as 422 B.C.

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The Rich Legacy of Puppetry Art of India

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Table of contents

The various styles and types of puppetry , string puppets , shadow puppets, glove puppets, rod puppets, famous puppeteers of india, 1. suresh dutta, 2. ranganath rao, 3. dadi pudumjee, 4. ramdas pandhye.

Puppetry is a fascinating art form that has always sparked curiosity from an audience of all ages. Contemplating the life sagas of great monarchs and heroes of this type in rural India is quite popular. Emerging from the grassroots level, the identification of puppetry in India varies from one location to the other. Over the years, a fusion of regional painting techniques and sculptures has become more holistic. But it’s a dying art, unfortunately. Puppetry has grown less respected and less well-known with other types of easily accessible entertainment. Knowledge of these old forms is generally confined to a small group, and if it is to be popularised again we must try to make it more accessible for the masses.

India’s puppetry tradition forms an integral part of the culture of performance in the country. Puppetry shows include the representation of graphic stories utilising puppets, live music, gestures and narratives. They’re therefore at the intersection of theatrics and storytelling. It has mostly been done at religious events, ceremonies and temple celebrations.

Beginnings of the tradition cannot be accurately located. There is nevertheless a narrative that says that Brahma the creator gave life to Adi, the first nat puppeteer who constructed his fellow goddess, Saraswati, the first puppet for enjoyment. Brahma was not content with his job and expelled the puppeteer to earth, starting the line of nat bhatt puppeteers. The oldest mention of puppetry was made in the Mahabharata in 9th century B.C.E., according to literary sources. Panini’s grammar(4th-century B.C.E), Patanjali’s works  (2nd-century B.C.E), are the other literary sources. Certain academics contend furthermore that puppetry arose even before theatre. The puppets show gods and heroic figures through epic poetry, theatrics and story-telling. They fulfil educational and entertainment functions. It was present throughout India as a popular medium of performance. There is a variety of puppetry traditions in India.

Puppets come in many shapes and forms, as with everything else in India. The backbone of the craftsmanship is glove, shadow, rod and string puppetry although styles differ in the country from region to state. The puppets are virtually life-sized in the northern state of Bihar, they weigh up to 10 kilos in Bengal, but they are paper-thin in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. They are manufactured from wood in Rajasthan, from leather in Tamil Nadu, from terracotta in Bengal and from wood in Odisha.

Geographies, language, music and culture, together with hyper-local demographic choices, have an important part in determining types of puppetry. In spite of the distinctions, they may be tied to a similar topic – religion. The most popular narratives told using puppetry are Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas. Native language, regional context and local accent ensure that stories continue to be relevant to the audience and the message is properly transmitted.

String puppetry remains the most frequent type of puppetry in India. It is also the most expressive with the use of cords tied to the limbs and head of the puppet. The cords are tugged from behind the screen by the Sutradhar and the dolls dance and follow his orders. The more strings the more difficult and intricate is the performance. Different variants of this form may be found throughout the country.

For example, in Rajasthan, string puppets are ornamented with tinsel and named kathputli. In tourist squares, both local residents and visitors can observe them dance to native music. They are named Putul in West Bengal where they recount local stories of Durga’s courage; most of them are found at exhibitions, festivals and in rural areas. The technique they use is called suter putul nach. Odisha utilises string puppets, gopalila kundhei, for portraying the narrative of Lord Krishna, and in Maharashtra, known as Kalasutri Bahulya, the episodes of Ramayana are depicted with cymbals and drums on the stage. Separate variants of the stringed puppets are also available in Karnataka (yakshagana gombeyaata), Kerala (nook pavakoothu), Andhra Pradesh (koyya bommalata) and Telangana (keelu bommalata and  sutram bommalata) and in Tamilnadu (bommalattam)

Two-dimensional and flat puppets make the most fascinating form of puppetry – the shadow puppetry. These puppets are often made from animal leather, first processed and later painted with natural colours and with traditional motifs, and depict the most popular legends like Ravana, Rama, Surpanakha, and Mahabharata.

In the southern states Shadow puppets are more popular; their styles are very similar but subtle. Some of these are constructed with one enormous piece of leather, like the Togalu Gombeyatta in Karnataka. Some are joined like the one in Maharashtra. The joints enable the puppet to move more quickly and more gracefully and to be agile. Large groups of men and women sing traditional folk tunes to the beats of mridangam and cymbal as the Sutradhar brings the stories live on the stage. Tholu Bommalata puppets performed in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, are recognised for their powerful performances, most of them performed after darkness with the sound, light, and visuals working together to create a fascinating ambience. Odisha’s shadow puppets are smaller and made of deerskin; and mountains, carts and trees play a vital part of the plot and the scenes from these epics come to life with realistic visuals and lyrical shadows.

The ideal demonstration of how a mute limp doll may spring to life with the small movement of the hand is what glove puppets show perfectly. Used in Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha and Bengal, a simple approach is employed: a puppeteer places his hands into the head and arms of the puppet, manipulating the entire scenario. Uttar Pradesh’s Gulabo-Sitabo puppets mainly play social subjects in a fun and comedic style; they tell the story of Radha and Krishna in Odisha; however, Kerala’s glove puppets are the most captivating. These enormous, kathakali-like dolls, Pavakoothu, feature intricately wooden faces and garments in the fabric between one to two feet in height. Like Kathakali, the stories from both epics and dance to the enjoyable music of the chenda, chengiloa, ilathalam and shankha are also depicted. The performance of Pavakoothu is often as fascinating as the performance of Kathakali.

An extension for the glove puppet – the rod puppet are sometimes much larger than their hands and are manoeuvred by a rod. The most notable forms of these are Bengal Putul Nach and Bihar Yampuri. In Bihar, the puppets in one piece are made of wood. The movement needs higher skill on the part of the puppeteer, since there are no joints.

The rod puppet of Bengal is made of giant dolls and their stories and styles are borrowed from the traditional theatre, Jatra. They’re very dramatic and theatrical. They have a bamboo rod attached to the waist, manufactured in elaborate consumes, dazzling headpieces and typical Bengali Mask styles. The puppeteers stands behind a high curtain, singing and dancing while the puppets are being manoeuvred by them. There’s a festive atmosphere around the musical ensembles who accompany this performance, playing rhythmic local tunes about harmoniums, drums and cymbals.

Suresh Dutta is an Indian puppeteer, an eminent personality in the theatre and founder of the Calcutta Puppet Theatre, situated in Kolkata. Dutta  was born in Faridpur in 1934 in the then undivided Bengal of British India. He graduated from the Albert League Temple Art School and the College, where he studied dance, play and music. Also Dutta trained in Jatra and Kathakali under Balakrishna Menon and Phani Bhushan.He also learned Bharatanatyam and Manipuri. He stood in his parala puppetry at the Calcutta Children’s Small Theatre in 1954 and made numerous shows with puppets, Mithuya in 1955 and Dustu Indur (Naughty Mouse) in 1956. He then proceeded to Russia in 1962 to train with Sergey Obraztsov, the master of puppetry, under a scholarship. He continued with the Little Children’s Theatre until 1971 when he returned.

In 1973, together with his wife Devi and a few similar artists, he established his own  puppet theatre group, the Calcutta Puppet Theatre. The stage shows performances beginning with the Aladdin, followed by Ramayana , Sita, Gulabo aur Sitabo and natun Jeebon, raining to over 3000 shows. In 1978 he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. For his contribution to puppetry, the government of India gave him in 2009 the fourth highest civil honour of Padma Shri.

Mr. Rangatha Rao was Kannada puppetry’s pioneering artist. Born in 1932, he learned traditional art from a professional puppeteer, his grandfather Narasingha Rao.. He then left his position as a school teacher to teach puppetry as a full-time profession. Supported by an academic background in theatre and drama, Ranganatha rao’s use of puppets as a medium for teaching students at school, in particular in rural Karnataka institutions was a wonderful initiative. He specializes in Rod puppetry. In order to create a wholesome mini theatre of rod puppets in traditional folk music and culture, Rao has created a team of experienced musicians and singers.

Rao and his team went throughout the country to demonstrate the rod puppetry can be a great medium of entertainment and education, by means of lecture demonstrations and workshops. In 1981, the Sangeet Natak Academy presented a national prize to Rao to recognise his achievement and to help reconstruct the form of art. In renowned world museums such as the Victoria Albert (United Kingdom), Swiss Puppet Museum (Fribourg, Switzerland), Tokyo Puppet Museum (Japan), and China Puppet Museum Rao’s puppets are displayed. The 2016 Karnataka State Rajyotsva Prize and Kamala Award from the Indian Crafts Council speak loudly on his contribution to the field of puppetry.

Dadi Pudumjee is a renowned Indian puppeteer who was born on 15 September 1951 and is the founder of The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust. In 1992 he received the Sangeet Natak Academy Prize. He is the president of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette i.e International Puppetry Association. Later on, he was educated in Pune at the NID National Institute of Design and in Darpana Academy in Ahmedabad under late Meher Contractor, where he learned puppetry under Michael Meschke and then he moved to the Marionette Theatre Institute in Stockholm (Sweden). The puppetry of Pudumjee is not limited to more frequent types of strings and hand puppets and rather has a wide range. He used semi-sculptural marionettes, which are attached to the bodies of the players and carried across the stage. 

Dadi Pudumjee, a successful artist with a remarkable skill in puppetry , is credited alone for introducing the globe to Indian puppet theatre. He led a successful HIV awareness programme and drug abuse programme in conjunction with UNESCO through medium puppetry to communicate, in order to offer art that can alter social life. He wants to strengthen the art of the traditional puppetry in India and expand the appearance and the usage of puppetry as a means of expression with his foundation, the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust.

A ventriloquist, puppeteer and puppet maker, Ramdas Pandhye is an eminent personality in this field. He has performed about 9,000 ventriloquism and puppet shows across India and internationally in the past four decades. His shows have been frequently shown since 1972 on Doordarshan and he has also created the first Indian ventriloquism and puppetry websites. He was an Indian ventriloquist, performing on NBC, ABC and CBS television in America and BBC four on ventriloquism and puppetry-based shows. During the 70s he was immensely successful with his puppets Ardhavat rao’ and ‘Awadabai. He constructed many shows on societal matters such as family planning, small savings, education for children, etc.

Due to the efforts of individuals, cultural entities and local artisans, puppetry, which had almost perished in the post-colonial period, has been not only revived but became more popular in metropolitan areas. It is also utilized for teaching (for the differently-abled), communication (in urban villages and women’s groups), and entertainment in modern everyday life.

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World Encyclopaedia of Puppetry Arts

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Bhārat Gaṇarājya

The Republic of India (Hindi: Bhārat Gaṇarājya) is a nation in South Asia (seventh largest country by area and the second in population) whose borders have included many kingdoms and ethnic groups over the ages. Different cultural strains include aboriginal groupings, Dravidian peoples of the south, Indo-Persian groups of the north and north-west, north-east groups who may share characteristics with South East Asians, Tibetan influenced groups of the Himalaya foothills, and modern multi-ethnic groups in the globalized cities of New Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai (Madras), or Kolkata (Calcutta). Four religions originated on the sub-continent: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, and during the first millennium CE, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam arrived, contributing to the region’s diverse culture. India (which up to its independence in 1947 included Pakistan and Bangladesh ) was part of the empire of Great Britain from the early 18th century. Today, India has twenty-three official languages (as well as more than one hundred major languages and possibly around sixteen hundred dialects); Hindi and English are the nation’s official languages.

Religious, Social, Literary, and Aesthetic Foundations

Puppets, scroll painting narrations, and mask performances are found in many areas. Though there is enormous diversity, there are common traits. In all areas drama, dance, visual design, and music (all needed in puppetry) have been important vehicles of religious propagation as well as entertainment since well before the beginning of the Common Era. One legend holds that the creator god Brahma made the first puppet and its performer to entertain his wife Saraswati. But when the show was found wanting, Brahma banished the artist to earth as a bhat (Rajasthani puppeteer/entertainer).

The earliest reference to puppetry in India is in the Mahabharata , which reached written form around the 4th century BCE though oral stories themselves date to the 9th century BCE. Panini, the Sanskrit grammarian (4th century BCE), and later Patanjali (2nd century BCE), the author of Yogasutra , each mentioned puppets. Tiruvalluvar, the Tamil poet (2nd century BCE) wrote: “the movements of a man who has not a sensitive conscience are like the simulation of life by marionettes moved by strings”. The important 19th century German scholar Richard Pischel (1849-1908) highlighted Indian puppetry and argued that India was the source of Western puppet traditions.

In classical Sanskrit theatre (100-1000 CE), the sutradhara – literally, the “string ( sutra ) holder” – introduced and directed the play, causing some to argue that the term is borrowed from puppetry. Noted scholar Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) sees an association of the divine and the puppeteer: Vishwakarma, who is the abstract form of the maker god, is seen as the sutradhara who pulls the strings – the destinies of human beings are in his hands.

India has over twenty living traditions of glove puppets , string puppets , rod puppets, and shadow theatre puppetry. In spite of the distinct regional identities of these forms and the many languages and dialects in which they are performed, there are similar features: the story materials of the plays, the centrality of a narrator/singer, the need for musical accompaniment and dance , the structure of the performance, the social and economic context of traditional rural artists, the underlying aesthetic shared with other theatre and visual arts genres, the moral content or worldview, and frequent links with religion, which over time have included cults of local divinities, Buddhism, Jainism, Hindu Shaivism and Vaishnavism, and Islam.

Indian puppetry has a strong connection with the traditional actor theatre forms of the region or state to which each puppet genre belongs. The ritual preliminaries of a performance are shared. Characters like the sutradhara and the vidushaka (clown) of Sanskrit drama appear under different names at the opening of shows. The interweaving of text, song, rhythm and movement, and the evocation of rasa (sentiment) and bhava (emotive state), are elements that make this connection with Sanskrit theatre apparent. Although aesthetic terms used in the Natyasastra (“Book of the Drama”, written between 200 BCE-200 CE) are not routinely part of the traditional puppeteers’ vocabulary, scholars feel the foundation for the regional forms in local languages is linked to Sanskrit drama.

There continue to be strong parallels between the traditional regional dance-drama and puppetry: Karnataka’s yakshagana and yakshagana gombeyata string puppetry, Kerala’s kathakali and pavakathakali glove puppetry, West Bengal’s jatra and danger putul nach rod puppetry, and Assam’s bhaona and putala nach string puppets are interrelated. At the visual level, costumes, headgear, jewellery, make-up, and character types match, so much so that puppet plays often seem to be miniature theatre performances. Rhythm and dance is inherent in both theatres. Puppeteers with ankle-bells may dance backstage while their puppets dance in the front and drummers and other musical instruments beat the bols (drum syllables), which correspond to dance steps. However, further comparative studies of texts, music, and movements are required to understand the distinctness of the forms.

Puppet making is routinely related to the visual art tradition of the region. Consider similarities in the treatment of eyes in 16th century Lepakshi temple murals of Andhra Pradesh and the shadow puppets of the region, the patachitras (iconic paintings on walls, cloth, palm leaves, scrolls) and gopalila kundhei puppets of Orissa, and the patas (paintings, painted scrolls) and danger putul nach rod puppets of West Bengal. References to these picture scrolls can be found from the 2nd century BCE and, for example, a 3rd century text Bhagavati Sutra relates that the great Jain teacher Mankhali Gosala was the son of a picture showman. Buddhist literature mentions charana chitta (mobile paintings) of the punishments of hell, commonly called yama pata (scrolls of the god Yama, ruler of the underworld): even today we find Bengali performers who play hell scenes called yam pot , and contemporary Gujarati panels may show the Lord of Death (Yama) dealing out punishments. These picture narratives are performed with music and movement that reminds us that puppetry and performers and painters often come from the same groups as puppeteers.

Traditional puppet plays in India enact stories of heroes and heroines, gods and goddesses, taken from ancient literary texts such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics and the Puranas (literally “Of Ancient Times”, i.e. stories of various deities), besides local myths and tales. The known stories and simple performances recharge memories of the community and share significant moral and spiritual ideas while also bringing comment on present situations via clowns and other devices.

The stylized iconography of the characters determines the shape, colours and costumes of the puppets. In some genres, puppets speak in their own special language using a reed instrument (see Voice , Swazzle ). The art is transmitted from generation to generation, as children assist their elders in performance. Puppetry has been a part of festivals, celebrations of special occasions and rituals, and shows were and sometimes are staged to ward off evil spirits or relieve drought (see Rites and Rituals ).  

Traditional Puppetry of India

Although a number of traditional forms are disappearing due to modernization, efforts are being made to preserve them and contemporary puppetry, developing in the 20th century, has many noted practitioners in urban areas. The following brief discussion, organized by state, will list prime traditional genres.

Although puppet traditions of the four southern states show similarities due to centuries of migrations, languages continue to create differences. Tamil Nadu in the south-east of India has two major traditions of puppetry, tolu bommalatam shadow puppetry and bommalatam string-cum-rod figures. Both tell the tales from the epics and the Puranas . Pava koothu (glove puppetry), which almost died out, represents the victory dance of Goddess Lakshmi after she destroys demons.

Tolu bommalatam (“leather puppet dance”), now extremely rare, was reportedly created by migrants from Maharashtra and is related to the shadow puppetry of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, though the Tamil Nadu figures are slightly smaller. One performer and an assistant give the show. Sometime performers now use cardboard figures. Folk tales as well as the epics and Puranas are presented.

Selvaraja Shadow Puppet Group (director A. Selvaraja) in Tirukalukundram, 60 kilometres from Chennai, is a family group that has adapted to present child welfare, community health, population control, and other “social awareness” themes, and does children’s shows. Another group, Indian Puppeteers (director S. Seethalaxmi), founded by Chennai shadow master M.V. Ramanamurthi, has performed in Europe, the United States, and throughout Asia, staging the Ramayana , Mahabharata , Lord Ayyappa , and Panchatantra (animal fables).

L. Rajappa (b.1952), an eighth-generation puppeteer from a family of tolu bommalatam performers, received the nation’s prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to the art form in 2007. The Sangeet Natak Akademi is India’s National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama.

Bommalatam (“doll/puppet dance”) , which is also common to bordering areas of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, was patronized by the kings of Tanjavur in the 18th and 19th centuries and presented in villages and temples to propitiate gods, bring rain, or prevent disease. The performance opens with a ritual puja (worship) to Ganesh , the elephant-headed son of God Shiva . The 10-kilogram figures are about 90 centimetres high and have rods attached to the hands. A cane or iron ring with the strings attached to the figure is worn on the puppeteer’s head. Rods attached to the puppets’ hands are manipulated from above. Characters roughly move in the style of bharatanatyam , the classical dance of the region, and can even play with a ball ( ammanattam ). Music is drum ( mridangam ), oboe ( ottu ), gong ( jalar ), and cymbals. One male and one female singer are needed. Old Thanjavur puppets are elegantly carved, finely dressed and decorated; contemporary figures are simpler. A character like the god Indra will have an elephant head tied to his waist to signify Airavata, his animal mount.

The Sri Rama Vilasa Kattabommu Nataka Sabha in Chinna, Siragapatti in Salem district, and Mangala Gana Bommalattam Sabha and Sri Murugan Sangeetha Bommalatta Sabha in Kumbakonam are some current troupes. The latter group was spearheaded by the nationally recognized T.N. Sankaranathan, whose son, T.S. Murugan, now leads the troupe; he has introduced a keyboard and modern stage lighting to attract new audiences.

This south-western state has three puppet genres, tolpava koothu ( tolpava kuthu ; shadow puppetry), pavakathakali (glove puppetry), and nool pavakoothu (string puppetry). Performances tell the two epics and stories from the Puranas .

Tolpava koothu is traditionally performed by the Vellala Chetty, Nair and Ganka communities with the puppeteers called pulavar (scholar, poet). Lead performers infuse complex ideas into performances. Puppeteers’ palm leaf manuscripts of the Ramayana by the Tamil poet Kambar (Kamban, 9-13th century?) – Ramavataram , popularly known as Kamba Ramayana – are the basis for the show, which lasts between 7 and 21 nights and is dedicated to Bhadrakali (Goddess Durga). It is said she was busy fighting the demon Darikasura during the actual events experienced by Rama , so she likes to see the story via shadow performance during her temple festival. A permanent puppet stage ( koothu madam ) faces the goddess’ image and 21 coconut oil lamps illuminate the screen. The temple oracle ritually lights these lamps from the deity’s votive lamp. Rituals open the show, which uses approximately 130 deerskin puppets (48-80 centimetres). Five or more puppeteers perform to the powerful percussive music.

K.K. Ramachandra Pulavar (b.1960), director of Krishnan Kutty Pulavar Memorial Tolpava Koothu & Puppet Centre at Koonathara, comes from a puppeteer lineage and performs in India and internationally. His late father, K.L. Krishanan Kutty (1926-2000), received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1980 for his lifetime dedication to his genre of puppetry art. Since 1979, Ramachandra has also innovated new plays on contemporary issues.

Pavakathakali (“glove puppet kathakali ”) is found today in Irinjalakuda. This genre, developed in the 18th century, uses the complex stories of the classical Kerala kathakali dance drama. The spectacular headdresses, face painting, and complex music of the actors are reiterated. Carved wooden figures are 30-60 centimetres high – the head is moved by the index figure and arms by thumb and middle finger. The puppeteer is visible and the performer’s active eyes interpret emotions, as the performer melds with dancing figures. Language mixes Malayalam and Telugu. Performers, from the Adhi Pandaram community, came from Andhra Pradesh and were specialists in leading pujas and pilgrimages to the shrine of Subramanian (a son of Shiva).

This almost extinct art was revived in 1982 by Natana Kairali Research & Performing Centre for Traditional Arts based in Thrissur, under Gopal Venu (b.1945). Sangeet Natak Akademi, then under the leadership of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, had granted the initial financial assistance for the training programme in the art of pavakathakali , including training in music, manipulation , and puppet-making. The revitalized pavakathakli has performed nationally and at international festivals, including in Poland (1984), Japan (1986), and Switzerland (1987). In 2010, troupe artists K.V. Ramakrishnan and K.C. Ramakrishnan were jointly honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, and Ravi Gopalan Nair received the Dakshina Chitra Virutha Award.

Nool pavakoothu (“string doll dance”) was confined to Ernakulam District and presented by Nair caste members patronized by royalty at temple festivals in Tripunithura (Thrippunithura) telling stories from the epics or folk narratives. By the mid 20th century it was extinct, but then revived. Figures are 60-80 centimetres high. A female dancer tossing a ball opens the show and is followed by the amusing dialogue between two clowns, Koru and Unnaikan.  

The mask performance kummatti is a processional performance where people wear masks of Krishna , the god Narada, the Elephant Ganesh, hunters, and old people (i.e. the “mother of the universe”) appear carrying agricultural products and, clothed in skirts of plaited grass, exorcise evil as they visit homes to music of a bowed stringed instrument ( onavillu ) played with a bamboo stick. Tiger dance ( pulikali ) is another mask/body puppet genre. Spectacular costumes of theyyam oracles, who divine in trance, while not strictly puppetry, are visually linked to both kathakali and puppet imagery, as is, too, the masked ritual dance-drama, mutiyettu (performed in the Kali temples, specifically in Kali’s manifestation as Bhadrakali), and also the animal masks used in krishnattam which presents the Ramayana in a dance drama.

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh, where Telugu is the main language, boasts four traditional puppet forms: tolu bommalata (shadow puppetry), koyya bommalata , keelu bommalata , and sutram bommalata (all three string puppetry) . All these traditional puppetry forms of Andhra Pradesh perform episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata .

Tolu Bommalata (“leather doll play”) was brought to Kerala by migrants from Maharashtra in the 17th century. Settling on Andhra Pradesh’s border with Karnataka, they developed the form developed in both states. Puppeteers spoke a dialect of Marathi at home, but local languages for their performances. Plays are improvised based on King Kona Reddi’s Telugu version of the Ranganath Ramayana (13th century) while Mahabharata stories are derived from yakshagana dance drama texts. The translucent coloured puppets are up to 1.8 metres high and usually of goatskin. Figures appear in profile with the exception of the ten-headed demon-king, Ravana . Traditionally, figures’ clothing reflected yakshagana costuming, but more recently tight coats, shoes, and socks are depicted. Figures moved freely at head, neck, shoulders, elbows, and wrists. Dancing puppets ( keelu bommalu ) have their feet separately stitched. A central bamboo stick attaches to the figure’s head and two sticks are attached to the hands. The 3 metre by 2.4 metre white cloth screen tilts at the top toward the audience, and about eight performers of both sexes present. Singing, speaking, and dancing the characters, they stamp on wooden planks and use their ankle bells to create sound. Drum ( mridangam ), harmonium, and cymbals ( talam ) add music. Performances would be held for Shivaratri (birth of Shiva) Festival for nine nights, with performances lasting up to eight hours an evening. Ritual openings honour the elephant god, Ganesh, and goddess of learning, Saraswati. Then comes the sabha vandanam (greeting of the audience) and the sutradhara introduces the theme, and comedy is provided by the character Kethigadu and his wife Bangarakka (also, Killekyatha and Bangaraku).

K. Chinna Anjannamma (b.1957) was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his work in this genre in 2010. Chhaya Nataka Brundam is group led by S. Chidambara Rao who comes from a traditional puppetry lineage. Sri Nataraja Nilaya Charmachita Kala Pradarsana Committee is another group that has added new works incorporating such social topics as HIV/AIDS awareness, family planning, and deforestation into epic stories. Anjaneyulu Shadow Puppet Theatre, lead by Hanumant Rao, does performances of Sundara Kanda telling of the exploits of Hanuman , based on Tulsidas’ 16th century version of the Ramayana . Puppeteers struggle to adapt to contemporary audience needs.

Koyya bommalata (“wooden doll play”) is documented by the 12th century and was widely found until the 20th century. Costume and music were analogous to the local yakshagana theatre, with the same colourful headdresses and acrobatic dance routines. Stories told were from the two epics, local myths, or folk tales. Figures are 1.2 to 1.65 metres high and the skirts of the figures create an illusion of even greater height. The play is shown on a 3-metre stage formed by a cloth stretched between two poles. Thirty to a hundred figures may be used for a performance.

M. Upplaiah from Ammapur village of Warangal district performs the Ramayana , mythical plays, and some wonder tales like Balanagamma Katha (in which Princess Balanagamma is kidnapped and changed into a dog while imprisoned).

The earliest references to leather puppetry in Karnataka are from the 10th-11th centuries and string puppetry is associated with Basavana (Basava), a saint poet of the 12th century. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the kings of Vijayanagara patronized marionettes. Shadow and string puppetry were prominent, while simple chinni patti – glove puppets played on one hand and kartal (cymbals) with the other – were also performed by mendicants.

Togalu gombeyata (“leather puppet dance”) performs the two epics (especially the 15th century Kannada Torave Thorave Ramayana by Kumaravalmiki), stories from the Puranas, and folk tales. Figures echo costuming and iconography of local theatre and painting traditions. Puppets are of two variants. Chikka (small, .30 to 1.2 metre) figures are found in Mysore, Bellary, Bijapur and Raichur; they are manipulated while seated. Dodda (big, 1.8 metre) figures are found on the border of Andhra Pradesh and are manipulated while standing. Performers are from the Killikyeta (Killikyata or Killekyata) tribe of Maharashtra and speak a dialect of Marathi; however they use Kannada for local performances. Performances are on a stage set up outside the village or in a temple courtyard. As in Andhra Pradesh, Ganesh, Saraswati, and the comics (here Killikyeta and his wife Bangarakka) appear at the opening. The singer, drum ( mandalam ), cymbals ( tala ), and ankle-bells ( gejje ) are prominent.

Sri Annapurneshwari Leather Puppet Mela, a 5-member shadow group led by Virupaxappa Kshatrix from a traditional family, has toured internationally. Belagallu Veeranna (b.1936) from a Killikyeta family has trained his children and also developed a new work on Gandhi’s life, Bapu , presented at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in New Delhi. In 2011, he received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.

Ramaiah, the son of famous puppeteer T. Hombaiah (1900-?, recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1995), and K.S. Sanjeevamurthy are other notable traditional shadow masters. Patronage is limited.

String puppetry has three major styles: southern style which is related to Tamil Nadu and uses larger figures and hands that are moved by rods; the northern style which is a string puppet tradition and gives special importance to the comic character; and a third, the coastal style, which is very close to its yakshagana theatre.

Names may vary. Sutrada gombeyata (“string puppet dance”) is found in the south and is similar to Tamil traditions. Gombeyata is the usual name in the north. Yakshagana gombeyata (“string puppet yakshagana ”) is the name in the coastal district and it may take elements from north and south. Performances reflect local variations on yakshagana dance drama in costume, movement, and music. Themes are drawn from the epics and Puranas and moulded by Shaivism and Vaishnavism. The carved wooden puppets are up to 1 metre tall and weigh up to 8 kilograms. The puppets in the south do not have legs: skirts mask the lower body. In the north, legs can be visible and complex dance manipulation shows off dance footwork. Six strings attach the figure’s ears, hands, and knees going up to three wooden control sticks. Puppeteers speak for their figure and a narrator-singer ( bhagvathar ) plays cymbals ( tala ), with other musicians on the maddale and chende drums, harmonium, and oboe ( mukhaveene ). A booth with a playing area of 1.8 x 1.2 x .75 metres is usually erected outside a temple. Salaki gombeyata (or rod gombeyata ), like Tamil traditions, uses string and rod manipulation: an iron ring placed on the head of the performer with strings attached reaching down to the puppet and rods attached to the figure’s hands for operation. The puppeteer pushes the figure with his knees for forceful movements.

The yakshagana gombeyata troupe, Sri Ganesha Yakshagana Gombeyata Mandali, is led by director Bhaskar Kogga Kamath, son of Kogga Kamath (1921-2003) who was a 1979 Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee who claims a 350-year lineage and did yakshagana coastal style puppetry. K.V. Ramesh, a graduate from the University of Calicut, learned with the late Parthi Subba and performs string puppets in Kannada, Malayalam, and Tulu languages. Sri Gopalkrishna Yakshagana Bombeyata Sangha in Kasaragod has shifted from string figures to rod puppets. M.R. Ranganatha Rao (b.1932) is a multi-faceted director, designer, singer, composer, author, and educator from Bangalore who was trained in traditional yakshagana bommalata by his grandfather. Rao’s Garuda Bommai body puppets are 2.1 metres tall and are used during ratha yatra (cart festivals) in South Indian temples. He does new and traditional work with his group Ragaputhali, which has toured in India and abroad. Ranganatha Rao received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1981. A 15-member troupe, Puthali Kalaranga, is specialized in traditional bommalata puppetry and is performed by youth at Bangalore using modern techniques but traditional themes under director Dattatreya Aralikatte who directed Purana Kathamala , a TV serial in Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu. B.H. Puttaswamachar (1924-?) was the recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1999 for sutrada gombeyata .

Maharashtra

The area of Paithan has been an important cultural centre for painting and the related tradition of chitrakathi or picture narration in which the performer explicates the sequence of images. Puppetry in this region is called chitren dekhavane (picture showing) and painters/puppet makers/narrators/puppeteers are from the same families. In Gudiwadi, Pinguli, and Ratnagiri districts near the Goa border, two puppetry forms are found.  

Chamdyacha bahulya ( chamadyacha bahulya ; leather puppetry) is performed by the Thakar community. It is believed that kithli bhavali khel (“bark cloth/paper puppet play”) was precursor to the leather shadow figures.

Kalasutri bahulya (string puppetry) present Ramayana materials. The singer with musicians on drum ( tabla ), stringed drone instrument ( tuntune ), cymbals, and conch sit in front of the playing stage. An invocation to Ganesh begins the show. The small figures wear skirts that create the illusion of the lower body. Three strings run from the figure’s two hands and head to the control held in the hand of the operator. Performers present the same stories in picture narration form.

Ganpat Sakharam Masge (b.1958), from Pinguli village in Sindhudurg District, is currently the principal exponent of kalasutri bahulya . He performs with his group of musicians, manipulates all the puppets, is the main narrator, and is the group’s director. He was honoured by the Government of India with a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2005.

Kathputli ka khel (“wooden-puppet play”) is the string puppetry of Rajasthan in the north-west of India. Performance style links to traditions of puppetry and popular entertainment in the north-west and on to Iran . Performers are called nats or bhats and present plays during the dry season, returning to farming after the rains. Puppeteers claim divine origin for the art and say they descend from performers patronized by Maharaja Vikramaditya (1st century BCE) of Ujjain: bhats saw the thirty-two ( batai pachisi ) images carved on his throne representing his great works and were inspired to make figures to tell of his exploits – the Simhasana Dwatrimshika (Thirty-two Tales of the Throne). Forms related to Rajasthan are also found in areas of neighbour state Gujarat.

Kathputli are up to 60 centimetres. The bodies of the figures are stuffed with rags, and skirts give the impression of legs for most figures: they are colourfully costumed in medieval-style Rajasthani dress. Figures earlier were created by craftsmen in the Sawai-Madhopur, Basi, and Udaipur areas, but are now made by puppeteers themselves. Puppets share visual iconography with local phad or painted scrolls (1.5 x 5 metres) of picture narrators ( bhopa ) that depict the divinized hero Pabuji (a 14th century Rajput king) or Dev Nayan (a new incarnation of Vishnu).

Two string beds are used for the booth covered with colourfully embroidered cloth arches to give the look of a palace. Most figures have one long string, which attaches to both the head and the back, and loops over the manipulator’s fingers. The dancing girl (Anarkali) has up to four strings so she can have additional movements. The puppeteer wears a bracelet of bells ( ghungroos ) and uses a piece of split bamboo ( boli ) to create the puppet’s voice. The drum ( dholak ) player speaks with and interprets the language of the puppet. Comic dialogue and songs of the female singer/interpreter enliven the performance. Shows pivot around the sequential performances of acrobats, dancers, snake charmers, the drummer Khabar Khan, horse riders, and a bahurupia (impersonator who has two heads – male and female – one hidden under his skirt until the puppet flips). The eponymous title of the work is Amar Singh Rathore , after a ruler of Nagaur in the 17th century. He is called to the court of Badash (variously believed to be the Mughal Emperor Akbar or Emperor Shah Jahan). Two communities, Hindu and Muslim, can be distinguished by beards and costumes. Hirni Aur Shikari ( shikari means “hunter”) and Ruthi Rajkumari (Princess Ruthi, a Rajput woman warrior) are sometimes listed as other stories.

Performers of the bhat community traditionally lived at the bottom of the social scale and few have successfully transitioned into modern performers. A notable exception is Puran Bhatt (b.1952?), from a traditional family, who founded the group, Aakar (Shape), in 1991 in Kathputli Colony, Shadipur Depot, Delhi. The group, which tours nationally and internationally, performs for schools and television . Aakar creates shows on social issues and experiments with rod, string, shadow, black light theatre, and mask forms. Puran Bhatt’s contemporary piece Carvaan tells the legendary history of kathputli performers. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2003. Another Sangeet Natak Akademi Award winner from Rajasthan is Naurang Bhat (1937-2007), who received his award for kathputli puppet making in 2006.

Uttar Pradesh

Gulabo-Sitabo is a simple glove puppet tradition believed to date from the 17th century and performed out of doors in the Lucknow region. It is rarely performed today. The eponymous characters are two wives of the same husband. Gulabo is domineering and Sitabo is dominated. Humorous dialogues, songs, and fights prevail. Puppets are 60 centimetres and heads and hands were carved and painted wood, but now papier-mâché. The figures wear bells on their wrists. Costumes are traditional female attire and jewellery. One manipulator improvises the dialogue, accompanied by musicians on the drum ( dholak ) and cymbals ( manjira ).

Orissa (Odisha)

Vaishna themes in the Oriya language form the major traditional repertory of this east India state. Krishna’s youth and the exploits of Rama – as related in the Srimadbhagwat (Eternal Tales of Supreme Lord), Gita Govinda (Love Song of the Dark Lord, by Jayadeva, 12th century), Puranas and Oriya Ramayana – are themes for puppet dance and song. Orissa has shadow, string, glove, and rod puppet forms.

Ravanachhaya (“Ravana’s shadow”) is the Oriya shadow form; popular in the late 19th century in the Anugul (Angul) and Dhenkanal districts, it is found today only in the Odasa area of Anugul. The Ramayana by poet Vishvanath Khuntia (17th century) is the base. Performers are from the bhat community and claim their ancestors received land grants from the rajas of Pallahara. The show takes its name from Ravana, the demon king, because it is believed that Rama, being a god, casts no shadow. Opaque leather from goat/sheepskin is used for most characters, but god figures are made from deerskin and demons from stag skin. Carving is simple for the small (20-60 centimetre), non-articulated, but expressive figures. Important characters have multiple shapes and sizes – thus monkey Hanuman flying away can become smaller and smaller. Trees, mountains, and chariots help create strong screen pictures. The white screen is stretched on bamboo poles with straw mats masking the area below where puppeteers sit on the ground. A ritual accompanies the lighting of the lamp, Ganesh appears, and the village barber and his son provide comic relief. Musicians sit in front of the screen with drum ( khanjani ), castanets ( daskathi ), and cymbals ( kubuji ).

In 1978, Kathinanda Das (1909-1987) was the first master puppeteer to receive national recognition for his contribution to Indian puppetry for ravanachhaya , receiving a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Subsequently, in 1998, his student Kolhacharan Sahu (b.1936) who now directs the institute, Ravan Chhaya Natya Sansad, Orissa, was also honoured with a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. The ravanachhaya group has innovated a new set of puppets, cut to the model of traditional pata scroll painting of the region.

Gopalila kundhei (“cowherder-play puppet”) is a disappearing string puppet form which tells young Krishna’s pranks with the cow herders ( gopa/gopi ) and his love for Radha. Themes are from the Srimadbhagwat and Oriya poetic songs, especially the Mathura Mangal by Bhakta Charan Das (1729-1813), set to folk tunes. Carved wooden puppets 50 centimetres high are painted – face features and chest and arms with textile motifs, jewellery, and other adornments. Cloth skirt and scarf are added. Three strings run up from the figure’s head and the wrists to the control. The traditional backdrop is peacock feathers. The five itinerant performers in a group include narrator-singers and musicians with drum ( dholak ) and cymbals; they traditionally travel from village to village.  

Sakhi kundhei (“friend doll”) is a glove puppet tradition of the Ahir Kelas of Cuttack, Kendrapada and Dhenkanal districts given by performers who speak a mixture of Bengali and Oriya. The stories of Radha and Krishna are based on texts like Vastraharan , Radha Krishna Milan , and Navkeli , a poem by Banmali Das (17th century). The mandatory puppets are Radha and Krishna, but Kalita and Vishakha ( sakhi friends of Radha) are sometimes added. Head and torso are wood and the costume is in jatra (folk-theatre) style. Radha has bells under her skirt that ring as she moves. Itinerant puppeteers sit on a mat with the audience around them. The puppeteer puts the drum ( dolak ) on his knee and has the puppets play.

Kathi kundhei nacha (“wooden-rod puppet dance”) is a recent reconstruction of an old form. Stories are from the epics or Puranas and begin with an invocation ( stuti ) and the introduction of the sutradhara . Puppets are 60 centimetres tall, carved, painted, and costumed in jatra style. Strings inside the torso are pulled to move the characters’ arms. Puppeteers sit on the ground behind a screen. Musicians play drums, cymbals, and reed instruments while a multi-person group manipulates.

Maguni Charan Kuanr (b.1937) was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2004) and is currently the best-known exponent of kathi kundhei nacha . He learned this form of traditional puppetry from the Jhara community in his village in Keonjhar district, Orissa, and has improvised within the genre over many years with his company, Utkala Biswakarma Kalakunja. The group addresses modern themes as well as performing the traditional repertoire based on the Ramayana and other mythic sources, but he notes: “Sadly, the art form again awaits passionate puppeteers who could save it in the age of television and cinema.”

West Bengal

The rise of devotional performance in 16th century Bengal with its praise of Vishnu created human and puppet performances popular for hundreds of years. Today, however, puppetry is more likely to draw its repertoire from jatra, an urban popular melodramatic musical theatre, rather than from the epics and Purana s. String, rod, and glove puppetry are traditional forms.  

Tarer putul nach (string puppetry), also known as sutor putul , originally drew its shows from the epics and Puranas, bur now from jatra or popular films. Costumes, music, and dialogue emulate the source. Puppets of .60 to .80 centimetres tall are made from Shola pith (a milky white spongy plant of Bengal). Strings are tied to a bamboo control stick held by the puppeteer. Puppets are jointed at the elbows and performers can handle up to two puppets together. Itinerant puppet companies bring up to forty puppets and their booth with painted backdrops. A dance prelude is followed by a song from a character who introduces the play. The narrator speaks for the character and is accompanied by drum ( tabla ), harmonium, clarinet, violin, and cymbals.

Dhiren Natya Putul Nach Company in West Bengal is directed by Krishna Pada Sardar, whose father founded the group, and Sardar reworks the tradition with his offspring for contemporary audiences The group has fifty plays in the repertory.

Danger putul nach (“rod puppet dance”) uses puppets of up to 1.25 metres tall and from 5 to 10 kilograms in weight, which are carved wood with clay-and-cloth moulded faces. A rod passes through the body and supports the head and arms. The impression of the lower body is created by the figure’s skirt. The central rod is attached to a kere (bamboo cup) attached at the puppeteer’s waist. A shorter rod allows head manipulation. Strings inside the torso attach to the arms at the shoulder and move them. Painting is reminiscent of the painted scroll ( pata ) tradition of the area. Costumes may include velvet jackets and headgear adorned with gold and silver thread. The repertory includes the epics, jatra , folk stories, and Bengali film narratives. Operatic singing, broad gestures, and declamatory dialogue prevail in the three-hour performances. The booth is made from bamboo poles draped with cloth: puppeteers are masked as they manipulate the figures from below. Painted scenery includes court scenes, forest, etc. A singer and musicians on khol and nagara drums, harmonium, and cymbals assist.

Jadunath Haldar Putul Natch Opera (director, Jagadish Chandra Haldar) is the oldest active rod puppet group in West Bengal and performs stories from the epics and Puranas , Panchatantra animal stories, and works on social issues. This group has performed at Festival of India, USSR, and national festivals in India. Satya Narayan Putul Natya Sanstha, of West Bengal, was founded by the late Kangal Chandra Mondal in the 1980s. Current director Nirapada Mondal has attended new puppetry workshops, studying with modern Bengali puppet theatre director Suresh Dutta , and has produced Raja Harish Chandra (King Harishchandra) and other innovative works including the ecological story Arannyer Rodan (Crying of the Forest): evil characters threaten the environment and animals unite to save their world. Prafulla Karmakar (b.1939) who does performances largely based on the Ramayana and Mahabharata received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his lifetime contribution to danger putul nach in 2012.

Benir putul ( bener putul ; glove puppetry) is performed by one or two puppeteers who travel from village to village. It traditionally shows a man and a woman who constantly quarrel. Figures have terracotta heads and wooden arms with bells attached to the figures’ wrists. Benir putul performer Basanto Ghoroi from Midnapore, West Bengal, tells of his family of labourers who would take puppets as they travelled and thereby supplement their income. Basanto and his family now rely on puppetry and perform their folk and educational puppet plays both door to door and at cultural organizations and schools. They also make and sell the puppets. Ramapada Ghoroi is a traditional benir putul exponent who has migrated to Kolkata (Calcutta). His family has performed the form for more than 80 years. His repertoire comes from the epics, with topical touches added to keep pace with changing audiences, including new roles for women or references to Bollywood in lyrics of his songs.

Related forms of Bengal include chhau mask dances or scroll narration –contemporary painters in Bengal create scrolls with traditional and new topics, including the assassination of Indira Gandhi or the events of 9/11 (September 11, 2001).

Putul nach string puppets are found in Tripura and are represented by Gopal Chandra Das (b.1943) who was trained by his father in what is now Bangladesh (East Bengal). He moved to Tripura in 1990 and performs throughout the north-east of India. He has been honoured with a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2011).  

Puppetry in Assam reflects the artistic legacy of the 16th century saint-poet-social reformer Shankardeva who developed the bhaona , the traditional theatre of the area to spread Vaishnavite religion. Puppetry, like other theatre, was used to present devotional materials. Older literature refers to puppetry as tatak and performers as tatakiya or bajikar who animated figures with mechanical devices. The 16th century Bhagavata Purana mentions kashtamaya and daru putula – now defunct wood and shadow puppet traditions. Only string puppetry remains.

Putala nach (“doll dance”), also known as putul nach , putula nach , putula bhaona , or putala bhaoriya , differs by region. In the Kamrup area, bati putula is sometimes traced back to the previously mentioned thirty-two puppets/exploits of King Vikramaditya and royal patronage of bhat in Ujjain. In upper Assam, at the Nutan Kamalabari Sattra religious enclave on Majuli Island, novices performed puppet shows as taught by visiting puppeteers about 1930. The model is traditional bhaona theatre practice for costumes, musicians, and sutradhara . The Ramayana is the most popular theme, though there are some Mahabharata texts. Today, family planning or ecological concerns may be included. Puppets are 45 to 90 centimetres tall and are often made of bamboo slivers covered with clay-infused cloth with joints at neck, shoulder, and sometimes elbow. Figures are usually legless, wearing a skirt. Some demons with expandable necks or animal mounts are included. Three or four strings go to either a bamboo control or just the puppeteer’s fingers. The booth , with a 1-metre proscenium, is covered on three sides by cloth and puppeteers operate the figures from behind. Drum ( khol ) and cymbal ( tal ) players stand in front and start the show with an invocation ( vadana ) and songs. Next, come the comics Kalu and Bhelu who ceremoniously sweep the floor. Chenga or Mastor is another character that comments comically on the present. The head puppeteer uses a swazzle -like instrument.

Mohakhali Putala Natch group from Nalbari, founded in 1885 and now directed by Banikanta Dev Burman, is an old string puppet group in Assam. Rupi Puppet Theatre, from Kamrup, with group leader Abani Sharma, is another traditional putul nach company currently performing.

Laithibi jagoi ( laithibi jagol ; “doll dance”) is the string puppet tradition of Manipur that takes Vaishnava themes, especially Radha Krishna stories for the Rasleela (Play of Krishna), to local music of the drum ( mridanga ) and khon-pung . The art is said to have been introduced during the reign of Maharaja Chandrakirti Singh (r.1850-1886). Uddhab Singh (1890-1961) was a noted exponent of laithibi jagoi , and Brajomohan Sharma’s family troupe was also important in the early 20th century. Puppets are performed from a 3-metre high stage and often presented as an interlude during dance presentations.

Other Regions of India

In areas of Sikkim, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and other regions that approach the Himalaya one finds use of masks and sometimes the hobbyhorse or other puppets in performance of Tibetan-influenced groups in ’ cham ( ch’am or chham ) mask performances or lhamo dance dramas. These contribute to the wealth of traditional object theatre in an Indian context. Travelling puppeteers once migrated around the northern part of the subcontinent and probably on to areas that are now Pakistan , Afghanistan, and Iran . Hinduism, with its love of iconographical representations in both divine and demonic manifestations, developed a rich tradition of sculpture. Figures once made were sometimes moved in processions during “cart festivals”, which in some ways relate to puppetry, such as the ratha yatra of Jagannath (“Lord of the Universe”) and two other deities when they are transferred from one temple in Orissa to another in three massive wooden chariots drawn by devotees.

Visual representations can make otherwise un-seeable powers manifest. The inclinations of Buddhists, Jains, Hindus, and today even our modern preachers of HIV/AIDS education, have long turned to puppets. These figures move minds and hearts via the dancing shadows and figures.

Modern Indian Puppetry

A contemporary Indian artistic scene exists since India’s independence. Exchanges with other Asian, European, and American countries have left their mark on urban puppet theatre. New forms and artistic techniques have appeared and contemporary Indian artists no longer only rely on age-old techniques to reinvigorate the field of shadow or puppet theatre, but also introduce new styles discovered abroad. Educated urban artists well trained in modern literature, visual arts, theatre, educational ideas, and social issues have used puppetry as a tool to communicate their visions.  

In Calcutta in the 1950s, Raghunath Goswami (1931-1995) created the first events combining diverse types of puppets with his Putulpuri Studio (now The Puppets). In Bombay, Madhulal Master founded the Indian Institute of Puppet with which he mounted large rod puppet performances (for which he used blind manipulators) mixed with marionettes (string puppets). In Udaipur, educator-author Devilal Samar founded the Bharathya Lok Kala Mandal Centre, bringing together a museum, a school, and a puppet theatre. In Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Meher Rustom Contractor (1918-1992), trained in visual arts in London, played an essential role in the Shreyas school and at the Darpana Academy of the Performing Arts in Ahmedabad (1957) where she headed its puppet section. With inspiration in modern visual poetry, she used several different manipulation techniques and many styles of shadow theatre and understood how to reconcile Western and Indian traditions.

Visits to India by puppeteers like Bil Baird , Soviet troupes, the Ţăndărică troupe from Romania, the Australian Tintookies, the Marionnetteatern of Stockholm of Michael Meschke , among others, elevated the interest of young Indian puppeteers and the public, which then led to study trips and research projects, all contributing to the foundations of the modern artistic idiom used today.

In 1960-1961, four Indian puppeteers, Suresh Dutta (b.1934), R.N. Shukla Rahi, Dilip Chatterjee, and B. Sahai, studied for a year at the Central Obraztsov Puppet Theatre of Moscow under the direction of Sergei Obraztsov (see Sergei Obraztsov State Academic Central Puppet Theatre, Gosudarstvenny Akademichesky Tsentralny Teatr Kukol imeni S.V. Obraztsova ). On their return to India, Suresh Dutta founded the Calcutta Puppet Theatre, where an entire generation of puppeteers was trained in the epic Russian style of rod puppetry. In this way, Calcutta, where Ragunath Goswami’s group was already working, became a centre for the development of modern professional puppet theatre. This Indian “school” respected the creativity of individual performers, while privileging themes linked to the political, social, economic, and artistic problems of modern India.

After Independence, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (1903-1988) played a pioneering role in the study, conservation, and promotion of popular arts and crafts. Heading the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), she focused particularly on puppetry and was, for example, an instigator of the resurrection of pavakathakali (glove puppets of Kerala; see Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for Puppetry ). Other important support came from Kapila Vatsayan (b.1928), a scholar of dance, theatre, and visual arts who held a leading role in cultural politics in India and in UNESCO. She was the founder-director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and she helped promote exhibits, research, and education in puppetry and other fields (see Historical Research ).

Today, one can find modern puppets in Bengal, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. They appear in the educational sector as well as in performances for the mass audience, focusing above all on showing real life and real situations.

Ranjana Pandey and her group Jan Madhyam (founded in 1980 in New Delhi) concentrate on themes linked to the needs of women and children. Ratnamala Nori of Nori Arts and Puppet Centre (founded in 1987 in Hyderabad) deals with education and social change. Sudip Gupta and Calcutta Puppet Theatre (founded in 1990), influenced by leftist ideologies, bring to light social inequalities and the aspirations of the person on the street.  

In Delhi, puppeteers offer performances of larger dimension. Dadi Pudumjee , who trained with Meher Contractor and studied and worked in Sweden with Michael Meschke, went on to create India’s first modern puppet repertory, the Sutradhar Puppet Theatre (1980, later renamed Shri Ram Centre Puppet Repertory) at Shri Ram Centre for Art and Culture in New Delhi, and then, since 1986, has led Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust. Puran Bhatt, mentioned earlier, mixes the traditional and the contemporary in his productions (see Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for Puppetry ). Kapil Dev, a graduate of Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT, founded in 1988), an impressive non-governmental organization working with and for street children, has used puppetry extensively in SBT activities. Anurupa Roy (b.1977), a storyteller-puppeteer-performer who takes on themes of the situation of women, of war and peace, leads Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust (founded in 1997). She received the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar (Youth Award) in 2006.

In Ahmedabad, Mansingh Zala works with his group Meher (in homage to Meher Contractor), as does Mahipat Kavi, who also worked with Meher Contractor and whose glove and rod puppets are inspired by the folklore of Gujarat.

While in Kolkata, Hiren Bhattacharya (b.1926) of Peoples Puppet Theatre (founded in 1977) works on themes of social justice (see Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for Puppetry ).

These and other contemporary puppeteers are in the process of creating new traditions in a country imbued with tradition. Against all odds they manage to survive, creating a synthesis between the past and the present. They steep themselves in what they find around them: colours, forms, stories, certain that the puppet, like life, is not cut off from the world and that the figure requires the breath of the sutradhar , the narrator, “he who holds the strings”.

Government recognition of the exemplary work of contemporary puppeteers has been strong as exemplified by Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for Meher Contractor (1983), Suresh Dutta (1987), Dadi Pudumjee (1992), Hiren Bhattacharya (2001), and Mahipat Kavi (2011). Moreover, Suresh Dutta (in 2009) and Dadi Pudumjee (in 2011) received the Padmashree for their contribution to Indian puppetry from the President of the Republic of India on behalf of the Government of India, the fourth highest civilian award in the nation.

Puppeteers founded UNIMA-India in 1986 and have actively contributed to UNIMA International, including Dadi Pudumjee’s work and election as president of UNIMA-international in 2008. Meher Contractor and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay have both been UNIMA Members of Honour.

From their side, foreigners show a profound interest in Indian forms of expression. Their fascination comes at the same time from the strength of both the mythic tales and the artistic form. Not content just to study Indian puppets, they often use them as inspiration for their own creations. Michael Meschke in Sweden and Massimo Schuster in France, taking the tales of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata , respectively, have given birth to non-Indian performances that are equally strong and seductive in their syncretic aesthetic. Michael Schuster of Train Theater in Israel developed performances of kathputli and Monkey King (a jataka tale of a previous life of the Buddha).

(See also Arjuna , Draupadi , Sita .)

Bibliography

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Indian Puppetry – UPSC Art & Culture Notes

Indian puppetry, a centuries-old artistic tradition, has long been a source of intrigue, entertainment, and cultural significance. Rooted in the rich history of the Indian subcontinent, puppetry is an art form that has continually evolved, drawing inspiration from folklore, mythology, and local legends.

Table of Contents

Origin of Indian Puppetry:

The origins of Indian puppetry trace back to antiquity, with references dating as far back as 500 BC. Archaeological excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro have unearthed puppets with sockets, providing evidence of puppetry’s popularity in ancient India. Notable literary works such as Silappadikaram and the Mahabharata, composed in the first and second century BC, also mention puppetry. 

Furthermore, puppetry holds philosophical significance, with parallels drawn to the puppeteer in the Bhagavad Geeta, symbolizing the manipulation of the universe.

Classification of Indian Puppetry:

Indian puppetry can be categorized into four distinct forms, each characterized by unique puppet-making techniques and performance styles.

1. String Puppetry:

• Kundhei: Hailing from Odisha, Kundhei string puppets are crafted from light wood and boast greater mobility due to additional joints. The puppeteer manipulates the strings, often accompanied by Odissi dance.
• Kathputli: Renowned in Rajasthan, Kathputli puppets are known for their colorful traditional Rajasthani attire. These puppets are manipulated with the puppeteer’s fingers attached to the strings and are devoid of legs.
• Bommalattam: Originating in Tamil Nadu, Bommalattam combines elements of rod and string puppetry. The puppeteer wears an iron ring on their head, connected to the strings, while some puppets can reach up to 4.5 feet in height.
• Gombeyatta: A traditional puppetry style from Karnataka, Gombeyatta puppets are inspired by characters from Yakshagana Theatres. Multiple puppeteers collaborate to control these puppets.

2. Shadow Puppetry:

• Togalu Gombeyaata : Karnataka’s celebrated shadow puppetry is distinguished by variations in puppet size based on social rank. Monarchs and leaders are portrayed by larger puppets, while smaller ones represent the underprivileged.
• Ravana Chhaya: Odisha’s dramatic shadow puppetry style features puppets made from deerskin, posed dramatically. These puppets lack joints, making them challenging to manipulate but capable of conveying poetic narratives.
• Tholu Bommalata: Andhra Pradesh’s shadow theatre focuses on legendary and holy stories from the Epics and Puranas, featuring larger, double-sided puppets.

3. Rod Puppetry:

• Yampuri: Rod puppets from Bihar are typically made of wood and lack joints. These puppets are controlled by rods and are relatively simple in structure.
• Putul Nach: Hailing from the Bengal-Odisha-Assam region, this rod puppet dance features Jatra characters and involves a musical ensemble of three to four musicians.

4. Glove Puppetry:

• Pavakoothu: Kerala’s traditional glove puppetry, Pavakoothu, was influenced by Kathakali. These puppets are adorned with wooden arms, a head, and intricate decorations, creating visually captivating performances.

Indian puppetry, once a vibrant and integral part of cultural expression, has faced challenges in recent years due to dwindling audiences and financial constraints. However, it remains a testament to India’s rich cultural tapestry, blending elements from literature, painting, sculpture, music, dance, and theatre to offer a unique and creative form of storytelling.

FAQs on Indian Puppetry

Q: what is indian puppetry, and how does it differ from other forms of puppetry.

A: Indian puppetry is a traditional performing art form that involves the use of puppets to tell stories, entertain, and convey cultural messages. It varies across regions, with distinctive styles such as string puppetry (Yakshagana Bayalata), shadow puppetry (Tholu Bommalata), and glove puppetry (Pava Koothu). Each style reflects the cultural richness and diversity of different Indian states.

Q: What materials are commonly used in the making of Indian puppets?

A: Indian puppetry encompasses a wide range of materials for puppet making. Traditional materials include wood, leather, cloth, and even paper. Puppeteers often use vibrant colors and intricate designs to create visually appealing characters that represent diverse characters from mythology, folklore, and daily life.

Q: How has technology impacted Indian puppetry in the modern era?

A: While traditional forms of Indian puppetry continue to thrive, modern technology has introduced new dimensions to the art. Some puppeteers incorporate sound effects, lighting, and multimedia elements to enhance performances. Additionally, the internet has provided a platform for puppeteers to reach wider audiences and preserve this ancient art form.

Q: What are the regional variations in Indian puppetry, and how do they reflect local cultures?

A: India boasts a rich tapestry of puppetry styles, each rooted in the cultural and historical context of its region. For example, the string puppetry of Rajasthan reflects the state’s royal heritage, while the shadow puppetry of Andhra Pradesh often portrays stories from the epics. These regional variations highlight the diversity of Indian culture and storytelling traditions.

Q: Is Indian puppetry only for entertainment, or does it serve other purposes?

A: While Indian puppetry is a captivating form of entertainment, it also serves various cultural and social purposes. Many puppetry performances convey moral lessons, cultural values, and historical stories. Puppetry has been used historically to educate and communicate messages in an engaging and accessible manner, making it a versatile and culturally significant art form in India.

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An Introduction to Indian Puppetry

Serena Autiero

Serena Autiero’s major fields of interest are: South Asian and Indian Ocean art and archaeology. She’s actively involved in the study of Indian heritage. Serena is founder and Vice-President of Vidyā - Arti e Culture dell'Asia, an Italian association dedicated to the study, dissemination and preservation of Asian cultures. She has been Assistant Professor of Art History at the Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University of Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). Serena received her PhD from the Sapienza University of Rome. She was a member of the Italian Archaeological Mission to Nepal, and of the Italian Archaeological Mission in the Swat Valley (Pakistan). From 2007 to 2014 she was a collaborator to the Educational Sector of the National Museum of Oriental Art 'G. Tucci' in Rome for several projects on the arts and archaeology of Asian countries.

Indian puppetry is a subject as varied as the many cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. Several regional genres make puppetry one of the richest heritages of India. Though there is enormous diversity, there are common traits.

The origin of puppetry in India cannot be dated, but mythology provides at least two stories that are witness to the importance of this art, even if they don’t give any historical data. According to one legend, the creator Brahma gave life to the adi , the first nat puppeteer, and created the first puppet for the entertainment of his wife Saraswati. Not satisfied with his work, Brahma banished the puppeteer to earth, starting the line of nat bhatt puppeteers. This legend applies most probably to the Rajasthani tradition, nat bhatt being the name of the puppeteer cast from this region (Sarma and Singh 2010:35). An alternative legend has as protagonist the god Shiva, patron of puppetry, and his wife Parvati. An artisan manufactured two wooden dolls that captured the attention of Parvati—the goddess and his divine companion entered the dolls and started an exquisite dance; and when they got sick of this play they abandoned the dolls and the artisan was very sad at his dolls being lifeless again. With the help and blessings of the gods, the artisan then invented a system of strings to move the dolls, and so puppetry was born (Chattopadhyay 1995 (1975):159).

Divine origin of puppetry is stressed in both stories, and this testifies the importance of puppetry in India. Nowadays, traditional puppetry is regarded as a folk art typical of the rural environment—in the past it was taken into high consideration in the urban elite and among the nobles (Baird 1965:46). Further evidence of the link of puppetry with the highest social groups is in the attestation of the word gombe , meaning puppet, used as a surname for Brahmin families in the southern regions (Tilakasiri 1969:21).

Several literary sources report the existence of puppetry in ancient times. Puppetry is mentioned in the Mahabharata (dated from the 9 th century BCE, it reached the written form in the 4 th century BCE), in Panini’s grammar (4 th century BCE), and in Patanjali’s texts (2 nd century BCE) (Sarma and Singh 2010:35). Tamil texts from the 2 nd century BCE onwards mention dolls moved by strings (Chattopadhyay 1995 (1975):158). The antiquity of Indian puppetry has been highlighted by Richard Pischel (1849-1908), an important German scholar, who argued that India was the source of Western puppet traditions (Foley and Pudumjee 2013).

These data reinforce the idea that the several living traditions of Indian puppetry are heirs of a refined and noble art prospering in the past. According to a scholar, puppetry outdates theatrical plays as the word sutradhara , that indicates the director and main storyteller in Sanskrit plays, literally means the ‘string holder’ (Baird 1965:46; Philpott 1969:112).

Puppetry is a type of narrative theatre; at the crossroads between bardic storytelling and theatre plays. Shows include live music, narration and gestures taken from dance (Yarrow 2001:69). In traditional puppetry; the plots are mainly derived from the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Puranas (stories of gods and goddesses). This also happens with many other Indian performing arts, it should suffice to mention dance. Epic plays allow the puppeteers to cover a pedagogic role, teaching the masses about gods and heroes, and the many ethical implications of the sacred stories. Over the centuries puppetry fulfilled at least two functions—education and entertainment. Alongside religious education, in the last decades, government initiatives have also been propagated by puppetry, such as hygiene and family planning campaigns. Moreover puppetry has also been used and incorporated in school education.

The puppeteer gives life to the puppet, creating for the limited time of the show a new form of life. As noted by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947), the sutradhara acts as Vishwakarma, the abstract form of the maker god, who pulls the strings of human existence (Foley and Pudumjee 2013). The peculiar life of the puppet is separated by human existence, but also different from divine existence. Puppets are in an intermediate dimension, and their appearance, symbolic and stylized, does not follow human anatomy (Chattopadhyay 1995 (1975):158). In some genres, puppets speak in their own special language rendered through special devices (bamboo mouth pieces and whistles). Mostly the appearance of the puppets follow the iconography of gods and heroes as described in the texts and depicted in art, but some features are exaggerated—generally heads are disproportionate to the body. It is however very difficult to generalize among the several diverse traditions.

Another common trait in Indian puppetry is the composition of the troupes. Puppetry in India is a family business. Children start their apprenticeship looking at their elders’ work. A puppeteer’s work includes not only manufacturing and operating the puppets, but also memorizing the texts. Family troupes bequeath the puppets from generation to generation; they are a family treasure, sometimes also used as a bride’s dowry. This type of transmission suggests that over the centuries puppets did not change radically. In regional genres there has been a very limited evolution in the appearance of puppets.

Puppetry genres are strictly related to other traditions--there is a strong connection with actor theatre forms, regional dance-drama, and with visual art traditions (Foley and Pudumjee 2013).

Puppetry presents several regional forms in local languages, but some peculiar elements highlight the connection to classic Sanskrit drama. The interweaving of text, sound, rhythm and movement, and the presence of such character as the sutradhara and the clown ( vidushaka in classic Sanskrit drama, but known with different names in regional traditions) make this connection with Sanskrit drama apparent (Foley and Pudumjee 2013).

Puppet shows are traditionally linked to a ritual context—performances were usually held during festivals or celebrations such as marriages or other family and community occasions. Sometimes puppet plays were performed in order to ward off evil spirits or to solicit rain in times of draught (Chattopadhyay 1995 (1975):159).

There are many types of puppets in India; some traditions have become extinct, while others struggle to survive in the modern world. Besides traditional puppet genres, India is home to many contemporary initiatives that renovate puppetry while supporting the preservation of heritage styles.

Living traditions include different types of puppets: string puppets, rod puppets, glove puppets, and shadow puppets. Regional diversity and very distinct identities cannot hide the many common traits among puppetry traditions such as the same literary sources, similar structure of the plays with opening invocation, comic skits and/or intervention on current issues, the musical accompaniment, features shared with dance, and a moral content mostly linked to religion.

String puppets

String puppets, more precisely known as marionettes, can be made of different materials such as wood and terracotta; they are tri-dimensional and as the name suggests are moved through strings attached to the head and limbs. The number of strings can vary according to the tradition; more strings translate in a major and more complex range of attainable movements.

Marionettes are widespread in India from North to South, celebrated traditions are reported from Rajasthan ( kathputli ), West Bengal ( tarer putul nach ), Maharashtra ( kalasutri bahulya ), Odisha ( gopalila kundhei ), Karnataka ( yakshagana gombeyata ), Kerala ( nool pavakothu ), Tamil Nadu ( bommalattam ), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana ( koyya bommalata, keelu bommalata , and sutram bommalata ) (Foley and Pudumjee 2013; Sarma and Singh 2010: 38; Chattopadhyay 1995 (1975):160-164).

Kathputli marionettes from Rajasthan are noteworthy for their fine decoration and costumes inspired by medieval Rajasthani style and for the stories they perform. Kathputli shows narrate stories of Rajput heroes, one of the few exceptions from the usual Hindu epic plots (Salerno 2013: 75-88).

Tamil Nadu has a famous tradition of marionettes known as bommalattam (‘doll dance’); this style is reported also from bordering areas of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The large marionettes (about 90 centimetres per ten kilograms) are peculiar because they are moved by strings attached to a ring worn by the puppeteers on their head, and arms are moved by rods manipulated from above; bommalattam puppeteers move the marionettes with a full body effort. This tradition has noble ancestry: bommalattam was patronized by the Thanjavur court in the 18 th and 19 th centuries (Foley and Pudumjee 2013).

Rod puppets

Rod puppetry was traditionally practiced in Eastern India (Odisha and Bengal), besides the mixed string-cum-rod bommalattam puppets from Tamil Nadu. Rod puppets are manipulated from below, with one or multiple sticks of different size (Singh and Sarma 2010:37).

In the southern regions of West Bengal rod puppetry is known in local language as danger putul nach , a very peculiar style for the large dimensions of the puppets that can reach up to 1.2 metres and weigh up to ten kilograms. The lower part of the body is only suggested by the large skirts; a rod passes through the body to support it, while other smaller rods allow movements of the head and arms. Puppets are finely decorated in local painting style, and costumes are elegantly elaborated. This tradition includes nowadays not only epic and folk stories, but also plots from Bengali movies (Chattopadhyay 1995 (1975):164; Foley and Pudumjee 2013).

In Odisha rod puppetry, kathi kundhei nacha , was extinct in post-colonial times, but it has been recently revived. Performances follow the classic pattern with invocation, introduction and epic stories mostly from the Ramayana and the Puranas (Foley and Pudumjee 2013).

Glove puppets

In glove puppetry the puppeteer operate from below slipping his hand in the puppet; usually the forefinger operates the head, while the thumb and third finger move the hands. Also known as hand puppets, glove puppets are widespread in Odisha ( sakhi kundhei ), Kerala ( pavakathakali ), Tamil Nadu ( pava koothu ), Uttar Pradesh ( Gulabo-Sitabo ) and West Bengal ( benir putul ).

In Kerala pavakathakali , meaning ‘glove puppet kathakali’, is, as the name suggests, a puppetry version of the famous dance-form Kathakali. This genre developed in the 18 th century and risked extinction before it was revived in 1982 by the Natana Kairali Research & Performing Centre for Traditional Arts (Foley and Pudumjee 2013). Both the appearance of the puppets and the stories performed mirror Kathakali. An important part of this dance-drama genre is the expression of emotions through movements of the eyes. Since puppets have fixed expressions; it is the puppeteer, sitting on stage, who interprets emotions.

Most of the puppetry traditions from the south of India narrate epic stories. In the north there are interesting exceptions such as the Gulabo-Sitabo glove puppetry from Uttar Pradesh—this declining tradition portraits the quarrels between the domineering Gulabo and the submissive Sitabo, both married to the same man. The representation of this folk story with glove puppets dates back to the 17 th century in the area around Lucknow (Sarma and Singh 2010:37).

Shadow puppets

Shadow puppetry is widespread in South India, allegedly the motherland of this art; this genre is known in Odisha ( ravanachhaya ), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana ( tholu bommalatta ), Karnataka ( togalu gombe atta ), Kerala ( tholpava koothu ), Tamil Nadu ( thol bommalatta ), and Maharashtra ( charma bahuli natya ). Shadow theatre is known in Sanskrit literature as chaya nataka . Despite the diffuculty in ascertaining the historical origins of puppetry, shadow theatre very likely existed in the second half of the first millenium BCE, and was widespread in the 6 th century CE (Autiero 2013:62). The oldest known script is Subhata’s Dutangada dated to 1243 AD (Fan Pen Chen 2003:31).

The manufacturing technique of shadow puppets reveal common traits among the many traditions—the way the leather is treated to obtain sheets of stiff parchment is shared. Besides this common feature, shadow puppets vary a lot not only among the different genres but also at a local level according to the family of village tradition. The largest puppets are those from the Telugu-speaking area (tholu bommalata), they reach the height of two meters and have articulated limbs; while smaller puppets such as those from Odisha (ravanachhaya, ranging from 20 to 60 centimeters) are in one piece. Ravanachhaya puppets retain the natural leather colour, while shadow puppets are lively painted in tholu bommalatta, thol bommalattam, and togalu gombe atta. Most of the living traditions use translucent puppets, only tholpava koothu puppets from Kerala are opaque, casting a black-and-white shadow on the white screen (Sarma and Singh 2010:39). In Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, shadow puppetry share very similar names, that highlights a common origin. It is traditionally believed that shadow puppetry reached South India from Maharashtra when the nomadic group of the Killekyatas moved to Karnataka; the fact that old puppeteers could speak Marathi still in the seventies confirms their origin (Chattopadhyay 1995 (1975):168).

There are several traditional puppet genres in India and the overview provided here cannot be all-inclusive as the topic is wide and diverse, but it conveys the main features of this theatre form. Puppetry has been in India a means of entertainment and a form of cultural and religious dissemination. In the post-colonial period, the high-speed modernization wave that invested India put many of the puppetry traditions at risk of extinction; several government and private initiatives contributed to save endangered styles, but many are still struggling to survive in the age of internet.

Besides traditional puppetry, India is home to a lively contemporary scene. Independent India opened up to artistic exchange, and new forms and techniques affected puppetry, introducing new styles and giving origin to a refined urban puppet theatre (Foley and Pudumjee 2013). The birth of modern troupes and the opening to the international scene created new contexts for traditional puppetry to flourish. Several festivals organized in the last decades offer the stage to traditional troupes. So far modernity threatened the very survival of traditional puppetry, but a more conscious use of contemporary means and opportunities is actually the key to preserve this rich heritage of India.

Autiero, Serena. 2013. ‘Danzando nella luce – Il teatro delle ombre dell’India Meridionale.’ In Il Principe e la sua ombra (Catalogue of the Exhibition, National Museum of Oriental Art 'G. Tucci', Rome) , edited by Gabriella Manna, 61-70. Roma: Gangemi Editore.

Baird, Bil. 1965. The Art of the Puppet . New York: The Macmillan Company–Toronto: Collier-Macmillan.

Chattopadhyay, Kamaladevi. 1995 (first edition 1975). Handicraft of India . New Delhi:ICCR and New Age International Publishers.

Fan Pen Chen. 2003. ‘Shadow Theaters of the World.’ Asian Folklore Studies , vol. 62, n.1, 25-64. Nagoya: Nanzan University Press.

Foley, Kathy and Dadi Pudumjee. 2013. ‘India.’ Online at https://wepa.unima.org/en/india/ (viewed on November 8, 2017).

Philpott, Alexis R. 1969. Dictionary of Puppetry . London: Macdonald.

Salerno, Irene. 2013. ‘Il Teatro delle Marionette del Rajastan. Un’Arte Nomade.’ In Il Principe e la sua ombra (Catalogue of the Exhibition, National Museum of Oriental Art 'G. Tucci', Rome) , edited by Gabriella Manna, 75-88. Roma: Gangemi Editore.

Sarma, Dhurjjati and A. Homen Singh. 2010. ‘Storytelling and Puppet Traditions of India.’ In Akhyan-A Celebration of Masks, Puppets and Picture Showmen Traditions of India, 35-41. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

Tilakasiri, Jayadeva. 1970. The Puppet Theatre of Asia . Colombo:Department of Cultural Affairs.

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Shadows, Puppets and Musicality: Storytelling through Tholu Bommalata

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(Left to right) Ravana, Andhra Pradesh, India, c. 1950–1960, Animal hide painted and incised, bamboo sticks, 160 x 163 cm; Vibhishana, Andhra Pradesh, India, c. 1950–1960, Animal hide painted and incised, bamboo sticks, 170 x 176 cm.

A form of shadow puppetry practised in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, in India, tholu bommalata — ‘dance or play of the leather dolls’ in Telugu — is distinguished among South India’s shadow puppetry practices by its life-sized and richly hued articulated leather puppets. Presenting episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata , the puppeteers draw on various versions of these epics for songs, dialogue and narrative. Practised by the Aare Kapu community of the region, tholu bommalata is concentrated in the Anantapur, Guntur and Nellore districts. It shares similarities with the shadow puppetry forms of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu — togalu gombeyaata and tolu bommalatam , respectively. 

While the shadow puppetry tradition in India is known to have become popular by the third or fourth century CE, the earliest textual reference to tholu bommalata is found in a thirteenth-century Telugu text, Panditaradhya Charitra . Other references to it in inscriptions from as early as 1208 CE indicate the historic popularity of the tradition in southern India, as well as the prestige accorded to masters of the form, evident in the records of large gifts that they received as well as gave. Historically, puppeteers were patronised by the royalty and upper classes, as well as the temples where they performed during festivals. The Pallava and Chalukya dynasties, as well as rulers of the Vijayanagara empire, such as Krishnadevaraya, were patrons of shadow theatre.  These traditional puppeteers were collectively known as bommalata vallu , a title some appended to their family names. The eighteenth century witnessed the emergence of a different group of puppeteers who have shaped the modern form of tholu bommalata. Scholars suggest that these performing groups, hailing from present-day Maharashtra, migrated south to the regions of present-day Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, creating the closely related forms of tholu bommalata and togalu gombeyaata. While their descendants use Telugu and Kannada in their performances, many of them are known to use a Marathi dialect called Aare amongst themselves.

Tholu bommalata is a hereditary craft, passed down through generations patrilineally. Practitioners of the tradition are sometimes known to identify themselves with the Chitrakar caste of artists and performers, also associated with performative painting traditions such as Bengali and Odia pattachitra. The puppeteers are also the puppet-makers, and a troupe usually comprises family members, with the head of the family serving as the lead puppeteer. He is usually accompanied by two or three other puppeteers, including one or two women, in singing, narrating and performing. Up to five or six others, including younger members of the family, may be part of the troupe, performing subsidiary duties and undergoing training.

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Sita, Tholu Bommalata from Andhra Pradesh, India, Photographer: Daderot, Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, Portugal, Photographed: c. 2014.

Tholu bommalata is distinctive among Indian shadow puppetry traditions for its large puppets, typically ranging between 1 and 2 metres in height, with larger as well as smaller puppets also included in an ensemble. The principal characters of a story often have multiple puppets each, in various dimensions and poses. For instance, in the Ramayana ensemble, the Hanumana figure often has four versions, ranging from about 15 to 250 centimetres in height, corresponding to different situations within the story. 

The puppets have traditionally been made from goat, deer or buffalo hide, with the choice of skin depending on the type of character the puppet is to play. In recent times, goat hide is the most commonly used leather for these puppets. After the skin is shaved and cleaned, it is treated with herbs and beaten to render it thin and translucent, and stretched flat to prevent wrinkling. This process takes at least three days, at the end of which it resembles stiff parchment. Once the skin has been processed, the puppet maker draws an outline of the character on it, either freehand or traced from the silhouette of an existing puppet. The hide is cut along this outline, and various patterns indicating the figure’s clothing and ornaments are incised and perforated within it. 

A single puppet typically requires one skin, with up to three needed for larger puppets. The figure is composed of separate pieces, which are pierced and joined with string at the points of articulation. The head and torso are usually cut out of one piece, while the limbs are made separately, with the figure articulated at the neck, arms and legs. The head and torso are connected by a long sturdy stick that supports the figure and forms the central control, while thinner sticks manipulate the limbs. Puppets depicting female dancers have additional articulation points, such as at the hips and shoulders. Except for the figure of the ten-headed Ravana, the faces of all the puppets are rendered in profile. 

To allow them to be flipped to change direction during performances, the puppets are painted on both sides. They are traditionally rendered in red, green and black, with white highlights, using vegetable and mineral pigments; today, synthetic colours are used in a wider palette. However, the colours used follow iconographic conventions, especially for puppets depicting Rama and Krishna. The style and visual language used derives in large part from that of the murals at Virabhadra Temple, Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh. Various other aspects of the characters’ appearance, such as their dress and hairstyles, also follow traditional conventions that distinguish not only one character from another, but also a character’s role in various contexts. Immoral characters are usually depicted unclothed, for example, and a character’s hair or headgear may vary depending on whether he or she is a royal or ascetic figure in that part of the story. An ensemble also includes unarticulated composite puppets depicting one or more characters, as well as birds, animals and scenic elements.

  The action in tholu bommalata performances takes place behind a large white screen. This is a length of fabric 3 to 6 metres wide and 2 to 3.5 metres tall, tightly stretched within a bamboo or timber frame, and usually tilted towards the audience at a small angle to the vertical. The screen is raised off the ground to a height of about 1.5 metres, the part below it covered with a dark cloth to conceal the standing puppeteers. A light source behind them illuminates the puppets so that their silhouettes and coloured shadows are visible to the audience. While a row of oil lamps is used traditionally, it has largely been replaced by gas lanterns or electric lights.

Copy of tholu-bommalata-4.jpeg

Animal, Tholu Bommalata from Andhra Pradesh, India, Photographer: Daderot, Museu do Oriente, Lisbon, Portugal, Photographed: c. 2014.

Performed at religious festivals such as Shivaratri in honour of Shiva, the primary deity associated with the art form, tholu bommalata plays typically take place through the night, traditionally lasting four hours or more; modern versions are relatively shorter, running to about two hours. While performers usually borrow from various versions of the epics, chiefly the Ramayana , the sixteenth-century Ranganatha Ramayana by Gona Budda Reddy stands out as a theatrical rendition of the Ramayana that was written specifically for use in shadow puppetry. The performance begins with rituals including invocations of Ganesha and Saraswati, depicted by their puppets. Before the main play begins, there is a short skit featuring the comedic characters, Bangarakka, Jettupoligatu and Ketigadu, who offer tribute to the patrons, organisers and audience, as well as humorous or sarcastic commentary. Such comedic interjections also take place periodically through the narrative. Among the conventions of the performance is the characters’ direction of entry, which clarifies their role to the audience. Puppets representing divine characters enter from the right, while demons and villains appear from above, accompanied by loud sounds. While a puppeteer typically handles only one puppet at a time, dancing puppets are often manipulated by two puppeteers, who themselves perform intricate steps in the style of Kuchipudi. Battle scenes also demand different manipulation, and a single puppeteer may thrust two puppets against each other to denote combat. These scenes are heightened by sound effects produced by troupe members stomping on wooden planks or blowing a pavada , the hollow bone of a goat.

Music is an integral feature of tholu bommalata performances, from songs that introduce principal characters to sung dialogues and background music for scenes. The instruments that are used include the muddalam and mridangam (percussion drums), cymbals, harmonium, mukhaveena (a reed pipe), and shankha (conch). 

Since the 1970s, tholu bommalata has seen a sharp decline. Several puppeteers have moved away from working with the artform due to financial constraints, taking up work in the agriculture sector. Many have also turned to leather handicrafts, applying their puppet-making skills to fashion souvenirs and decorative products. Only a handful of troupes continue to practise the art form. Nimmalakunta in the Anantapur district, an important centre for shadow puppetry, is now a primary centre for leather goods inspired by the puppet theatre’s unique visual style. Although Andhra Pradesh’s leather puppets and related products received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2008, the recognition has had little impact towards revitalising the tradition.

This article first appeared in the  MAP Academy  Encyclopedia of Art. 

The MAP Academy is a non-profit online platform consisting of an Encyclopedia of Art, Courses and Stories, that encourages knowledge building and engagement with the visual arts and histories of South Asia. Our team of researchers, editors, writers and creatives are united by a shared goal of creating more equitable resources for the study of art histories from the region.

Published:  06 Nov 2023

Contact details:

Annamalai, C. “Bommalattam.” In The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre, edited by Ananda Lal, 71. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Autiero, Serena. “Tholu Bommalata: Telugu Shadow Puppet Theatre.” Sahapedia September 17, 2018. https://www.sahapedia.org/tholu-bommalata-telugu-shadow-puppet-theatre .

Iyer, Lalita. “Tracing the Roots of the Dancing Leather Puppets.” Deccan Chronicle, June 17, 2018. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/170618/tracing-th... .

Muralidharan, Kavitha. “In Tamil Nadu, a 400-year-old Tradition of Shadow Puppetry Struggles to Survive.” Firstpost, February 6, 2019. https://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/in-tamil-nadu-a-400-year-old-tradit... .

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Sarma, M. Nagabhushana. “The Shadow Puppet Theatre of Andhra Pradesh.” Sangeet Natak 98, no. 4 (1990): 15–28.

Sarmaya. “Tholu Bommalaata.” Guides. June 16, 2020. https://sarmaya.in/guides/tholu-bommalata/ .

Sorensen, Niels Roed. “Shadow Theatre In Andhra Pradesh: Tolu Bommalu Kattu.” Sangeet Natak 33, no. 3 (1974): 14–39.

Staff Reporter. “Puppetry Artiste Demands Patronage by Government Schools.” The Hindu, July 4, 2018. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/puppetry-artiste-demands-pa... .

Susarla, Ramesh. “Nimmalakunta Leather Puppetry Losing Its Shine.” The Hindu, November 21, 2019. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/nimmalakunta-leath... .

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String Puppetry

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Home » Indian Heritage & Culture » Puppetry » Different forms of Puppetry in India » String Puppetry

• They are attached with two to five strings which are normally tied to the fingers of the performer, who manipulate the puppets.
• The very famous string puppets in India are Kathputli tradition of Rajasthan
• These puppets are carved from single piece of wood, and then covered with colourful long flowing skirt from waist and headgears.
• String puppets are also popular in Orissa, Karnatak and Tamil Nadu.

Figure: String puppets

• Famous examples of string puppets in Indian include : Kundhei (Odisha), Gombeyatta (Karnataka), Bommalattam (Tamil Nadu)
• Kundhei, Odisha: The string puppets of Orissa are known as Kundhei. Made of light wood, the Odisha puppets have no legs but wear long flowing skirts. They have more joints and are, therefore, more versatile, articulate and easy to manipulate.

Figure: Kundhei, Odisha

Gombeyatta, Karnataka: They are styled and designed like the characters of Yakshagana, the traditional theatre form of the region. Episodes enacted in Gombeyatta are usually based on Prasangas of the Yakshagana plays . The music that accompanies is dramatic and beautifully blends folk and classical elements.

• Bommalattam, Tamil Nadu: Puppets from Tamil Nadu, known as Bommalattam combine the techniques of both rod and string puppets. They are made of wood and the strings for manipulation are tied to an iron ring which the puppeteer wears like a crown on his head.

Figure: Bommalattam, Tamil Nadu

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• Puppet Forms

A puppet is one of the most remarkable and ingenious inventions of the man. It has been said that a puppet has to be more than his live counterpart for it is definitely the suggestive element that is more captivating and enduring in a puppet.

Ancient Hindu philosophers have paid the greatest tribute to puppeteers. They have likened God Almighty to a puppeteer and the entire universe to a puppet stage. Srimad Bhagavata, the great epic depicting the story of Lord Krishna in his childhood say that with three strings-Satta, Raja and Tama, the God manipulates each object in the universe as a marionette.

In Sanskrit terminology Puttalika and Puttika means ‘little sons’. The root of Puppet is derived from the latin word ‘Pupa’ meaning a doll. India is said to be the home of puppets, but it is yet to awaken to its unlimited possibilities. The earliest reference to the art of puppetry is found in Tamil classic ‘Silappadikaaram’ written around the 1st or 2nd century B.C.

Natyashastra, the masterly treatise on dramaturgy written sometime during 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD., does not refer to the art of puppetry but the producer-cum-director of the human theater has been termed as ‘Sutradhar’ meaning the holder of strings. The word might have found its place in theater-terminology long before Natyashastra was written but it must come from marionette theater. Puppetry, therefore, must have originated in India more than 500 years before Christ.

Almost all types of puppets are found in India. Puppetry throughout the ages has held an important place in traditional entertainment. Like traditional theater, themes for puppet theater are mostly based on epics and legends. Puppets from different parts of the country have their own identity. Regional styles of painting and sculpture are reflected in them.

Puppetry has been successfully used to motivate emotionally and physically handicapped students to develop their mental and physical faculties. Awareness programmes about the conservation of the natural and cultural environment have also proved to be useful. These programmes aim at sensitising the students to the beauty in word, sound, form, colour and movement. The aesthetic satisfaction derived from making of puppets and communicating through them helps in the all round development of the personality of the child.

Stories adapted from puranic literature, local myths and legends usually form the content of traditional puppet theater in India which, in turn, imbibes elements of all creative expressions like painting, sculpture, music, dance, drama, etc. The presentation of puppet programmes involves the creative efforts of many people working together.

String Puppets

Shadow puppets, rod puppets, glove puppets.

In modern times, educationists all over the world have realized the potential of puppetry as a medium for communication. Many institutions and individuals in India are involving students and teachers in the use of puppetry for communicating educational concepts.

India has a rich and ancient tradition of string puppets or marionettes. Marionettes having jointed limbs controlled by strings allow far greater flexibility and are, therefore, the most articulate of the puppets. Rajasthan, Odisha, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are some of the regions where this form of puppetry has flourished.

Kathputli, Rajasthan The traditional marionettes of Rajasthan are known as Kathputli. Carved from a single piece of wood, these puppets are like large dolls that are colourfully dressed. Their costumes and headgears are designed in the medieval Rajasthani style of dress, which is prevalent even today. The Kathputli is accompanied by a highly dramatised version of the regional music. Oval faces, large eyes, arched eyebrows and large lips are some of the distinct facial features of these string puppets. These puppets wear long trailing skirts and do not have legs. Puppeteers manipulate them with two to five strings which are normally tied to their fingers and not to a prop or a support.

Kundhei, Odisha The string puppets of Odisha are known as Kundhei. Made of light wood, the Odisha puppets have no legs but wear long flowing skirts. They have more joints and are, therefore, more versatile, articulate and easy to manipulate. The puppeteers often hold a wooden prop, triangular in shape, to which strings are attached for manipulation. The costumes of Kundhei resemble those worn by actors of the Jatra traditional theater. The music is drawn from the popular tunes of the region and is sometimes influenced by the music of Odissi dance.

Gombeyatta, Karnataka The string puppets of Karnataka are called Gombeyatta. They are styled and designed like the characters of Yakshagana, the traditional theater form of the region. The Gombeyatta puppet figures are highly stylized and have joints at the legs, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. These puppets are manipulated by five to seven strings tied to a prop. Some of the more complicated movements of the puppet are manipulated by two to three puppeteers at a time. Episodes enacted in Gombeyatta are usually based on Prasangas of the Yakshagana plays. The music that accompanies is dramatic and beautifully blends folk and classical elements.

Bommalattam, Tamil Nadu Puppets from Tamil Nadu, known as Bommalattam combine the techniques of both rod and string puppets. They are made of wood and the strings for manipulation are tied to an iron ring which the puppeteer wears like a crown on his head.

A few puppets have jointed arms and hands, which are manipulated by rods. The Bommalattam puppets are the largest, heaviest and the most articulate of all traditional Indian marionettes. A puppet may be as big as 4.5 feet in height weighing about ten kilograms. Bommalattam theater has elaborate preliminaries which are divided into four parts – Vinayak Puja, Komali, Amanattam and Pusenkanattam.

India has the richest variety of types and styles of shadow puppets. Shadow puppets are flat figures. They are cut out of leather, which has been treated to make it translucent. Shadow puppets are pressed against the screen with a strong source of light behind it. The manipulation between the light and the screen make silhouettes or colourful shadows, as the case may be, for the viewers who sit in front of the screen. This tradition of shadow puppets survives in Orissa. Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Togalu Gombeyatta, Karnataka The shadow theatre of Karnataka is known as Togalu Gombeyatta. These puppets are mostly small in size. The puppets however differ in size according to their social status, for instance, large size for kings and religious characters and smaller size for common people or servants.

Tholu Bommalata, Andhra Pradesh Tholu Bommalata, Andhra Pradesh’s shadow theatre has the richest and strongest tradition. The puppets are large in size and have jointed waist, shoulders, elbows and knees. They are coloured on both sides. Hence, these puppets throw coloured shadows on the screen. The music is dominantly influenced by the classical music of the region and the theme of the puppet plays are drawn from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas.

Ravanachhaya, Odisha The most theatrically exciting is the Ravanachhaya of Orissa. The puppets are in one piece and have no joints. They are not coloured, hence throw opaque shadows on the screen. The manipulation requires great dexterity, since there are no joints. The puppets are made of deer skin and are conceived in bold dramatic poses. Apart from human and animal characters, many props such as trees, mountains, chariots, etc. are also used. Although, Ravanachhaya puppets are smaller in size-the largest not more than two feet have no jointed limbs, they create very sensitive and lyrical shadows.

Rod puppets are an extension of glove-puppets, but often much larger and supported and manipulated by rods from below. This form of puppetry now is found mostly in West Bengal and Orissa.

Putul Nautch, West Bengal The traditional rod puppet form of West Bengal is known as Putul Nautch. They are carved from wood and follow the various artistic styles of a particular region. In Nadia district of West Bengal, rod-puppets used to be of human size like the Bunraku puppets of Japan. This form is now almost extinct. The Bengal rod-puppets, which survive are about 3 to 4 feet in height and are costumed like the actors of Jatra, a traditional theatre form prevalent in the State. These puppets have mostly three joints. The heads, supported by the main rod, is joined at the neck and both hands attached to rods are joined at the shoulders.

The technique of manipulation is interesting and highly theatrical. A bamboo-made hub is tied firmly to the waist of the puppeteer on which the rod holding the puppet is placed. The puppeteers each holding one puppet, stand behind a head-high curtain and while manipulating the rods also move and dance imparting corresponding movements to the puppets. While the puppeteers themselves sing and deliver the stylized prose dialogues, a group of musicians, usually three to four in numbers, sitting at the side of the stage provide the accompanying music with a drum, harmonium and cymbals. The music and verbal text have close similarity with the Jatra theatre.

The Orissa Rod puppets are much smaller in size, usually about twelve to eighteen inches. They also have mostly three joints, but the hands are tied to strings instead of rods. Thus elements of rod and string puppets are combined in this form of puppetry. The technique of manipulation is somewhat different. The Orissa rod-puppeteers squat on the ground behind a screen and manipulate. Again it is more operatic in its verbal contents since impromptu prose dialogues are infrequently used. Most of the dialogues are sung. The music blends folk tunes with classical Odissi tunes. The music begins with a short piece of ritual orchestral preliminary called Stuti and is followed by the play.

The puppets of Orissa are smaller than those from Bengal or Andhra Pradesh. Rod puppet shows of Orissa are more operatic and prose dialogues are seldom used.

Yampuri, Bihar The traditional Rod puppet of Bihar is known as Yampuri. These puppets are made of wood. Unlike the traditional Rod puppets of West Bengal and Orissa, these puppets are in one piece and have no joints. As these puppets have no joints, the manipulation is different from other Rod puppets and requires greater dexterity.

Glove puppets, are also known as sleeve, hand or palm puppets. The head is made of either papier mache, cloth or wood, with two hands emerging from just below the neck. The rest of the figure consists of a long flowing skirt. These puppets are like limp dolls, but in the hands of an able puppeteer, are capable of producing a wide range of movements. The manipulation technique is simple the movements are controlled by the human hand the first finger inserted in the head and the middle finger and the thumb are the two arms of the puppet. With the help of these three fingers, the glove puppet comes alive.

The tradition of glove puppets in India is popular in Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Kerala. In Uttar Pradesh, glove puppet plays usually present social themes, whereas in Orissa such plays are based on stories of Radha and Krishna. In Orissa, the puppeteer plays on the dholak with one hand and manipulates the puppet with the other. The delivery of the dialogues, the movement of the puppet and the beat of the dholak are well synchronised and create a dramatic atmosphere.

Pavakoothu, Kerala In Kerala, the traditional glove puppet play is called Pavakoothu. It came into existence during the 18th century due to the influence of Kathakali, the famous classical dance-drama of Kerala, on puppet performances. In Pavakoothu, the height of a puppet varies from one foot to two feet. The head and the arms are carved of wood and joined together with thick cloth, cut and stitched into a small bag.

The face of the puppets are decorated with paints, small and thin pieces of gilded tin, the feathers of the peacock, etc. The manipulator puts his hand into the bag and moves the hands and head of the puppet. The musical instruments used during the performance are Chenda, Chengiloa, Ilathalam andShankhathe conch. The theme for Glove puppet plays in Kerala is based on the episodes from either the Ramayana or the Mahabharata.

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Essay on puppetry: string, shadow and glove puppets.

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Essay on Puppetry: String, Shadow and Glove Puppets!

String Puppets:

The puppet theatre of India has a long and old tradition. String, rod, glove and shadow puppets were well-known and traditional puppeteers went from place to place to entertain people with legends from myths and historical romances. The puppets show the influence of the paintings, sculpture, costumes and decorative arts of the regions to which they belong.

Rajasthani Kathaputli shows have become famous among the string puppet variety (marionettes). The puppets are made of wood and cloth and dressed in medieval Rajasthani costume. Carved from a single piece of wood, the puppets are like big dolls with colourful costumes—long trailing skirts. They do not have legs. Puppeteers manipulate the puppets with strings, varying from two to five on each.

The strings are tied to their fingers (not to a prop). The Rajasthani puppets are expertly manipulated to present historical romances. The legend of Amarsinh Rathore is very popular, with plenty of opportunity to show duels, fights and dances.

Typical of this show is the accompaniment on a whistle—boli—producing shrill notes. The Sakhi Kundhei of Odisha, Puda Nach of Assam, Malasutri Bahuly of Maharashtra and Gombeyatta of Karnataka are other variations of string puppetry in India.

The Gombeyatta puppet figures are styled like the Yakshagana characters, with joints at the legs, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. Five to seven strings on the puppet are tied to a prop. The episodes enacted are based on prasangas of Yakshagana plays. Folk and classical elements are fused in the music that is played.

Bommalattam of Tamil Nadu is a remarkably skilful art in which huge realistic puppets are manipulated by the puppeteer with the help of strings attached to a circular metal ring on his head and two rods in his hands. The art is found in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh also.

Shadow Puppets:

Shadow puppets are flat, leather puppets made translucent. When they are pressed against the screen with a strong source of light behind it, silhouettes are created on the screen. Shadow puppets, mostly made of animal hides, beautifully coloured and ornately perforated, are popular in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha and Kerala. The puppets have several joints to facilitate movement.

While the Tolpavakoothu of Kerala and the Tholu Bommalata of Andhra Pradesh mainly depict episodes from the epics, the Togalu Gombeyatta of Karnataka deals with secular themes and characters. Tholu Bommalata puppets are large with jointed waist, shoulders, elbows and knees.

The classical music of the region influences the music played in the shows. The Togalu Gombeyatta puppets are usually smaller in size, but the puppets depicting kings and religious characters are larger than those depicting the common people.

The Ravanachhaya shadow puppets made of deer skin belong to Odisha. They are joint less—that is, each is in one piece. They have to be manipulated with great skill for this reason .Human and animal characters are used as well as props like tree, mountains and chariots. The puppets are generally small in size

Glove puppets:

Glove puppets are manipulated by the puppeteer in full view of the audience. They are also called sleeve, palm or hand puppets. There is the head made of cloth, wood or papier mache. The rest of the puppet is dressed in a long-flowing skirt. The puppeteer uses three fingers to manipulate a puppet and produce a wide range of movements. This tradition is popular in the states of Odisha, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.

In Odisha, glove puppets enact tales of Radha and Krishna. The puppeteer is skilful: he manipulates the puppet even while playing the dholak with one hand. In Uttar Pradesh, the glove puppets enact social themes. The Pavakoothu is a fascinating variety from Kerala.

Originating in the eighteenth century under the influence of Kathakali, the puppets in this form are one-to-two feet in size. They are carved of wood but joined together with thick cloth. Paint decorates their faces; peacock feathers and pieces of gilded tin are among the materials used to decorate them. They enact episodes from the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Rod Puppets :

Rod puppets are larger than glove puppets. They are manipulated by rods from below. It is found in West Bengal and Odisha. The Patul Nach of West Bengal is a variety of the rod puppet art form. The big doll carved of wood is tied on to a pole fastened to the waist of the puppeteer who is behind a huge screen and controls the puppet’s movement with the help of rods.

The Bengal rod puppets found today are generally three- to-four feet in height and wear costumes resembling those of the actors who perform the Jatra plays. The puppets have three joints; the main rod supports the head and is joined at the neck; the hands are attached to the rods at the shoulders. Interestingly the puppeteers who manipulate the puppets also move and dance imparting corresponding movements to the puppets

The Odisha rod puppets (Kathikundhei Nach) are smaller, combining elements of string and rod puppets (the hands are tied to strings). The puppeteer sits on the ground and manipulates the puppets to the accompaniment of music that blends folk and classical tunes.

The rod puppet shows in the state are more operatic than those elsewhere. The puppet dance here is a rare and unusual type of stylised indigenous drama and dance based on mythological stories. The puppets are usually the representations of various characters and animals of a particular drama.

The Yampuri rod puppets of Bihar are made of wood. They are different from the rod puppets of West Bengal and Odisha in “that they do joints have joints and are of one-piece each. High skill is required to manipulate them as they are jointless.

In each mode, there is background music based on the classical and folk music of the particular region. The puppeteers deliver the songs and dialogues in prose. The puppeteers have to be not only skilful with their hands but also versatile at singing and dialogue delivery.

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Exploring the South Indian Tradition of Shadow Puppetry

Watch the full film on Tholu Bommalaata by Sarmaya here

The stage is set. On plain ground, a bamboo frame is erected with a white cloth stretched across it to serve as a screen, with the warm glow of oil lamps shining through. The audience is seated on mats in front of the screen, waiting. And then, the shadows appear. The flat, intricately detailed outlines of wide-eyed, colourful puppets, their moving limbs in the hands of master puppeteers, dancing wildly to the tunes of a troupe of musicians. Welcome to the world of Tholu Bommalaata.

Literally translated, ‘tholu’ means ‘leather’, ‘bommalu’ means ‘puppets’ and ‘aata’ from ‘attam’ means ‘dance’. Thus the dance of leather puppets, Tholu Bommalaata is a shadow theatre art from Andhra Pradesh and some parts of Karnataka. It is one of seven shadow traditions in Southern India, from where scholars say it spread to Indonesia, Sri Lanka and gradually to the rest of Asia. Several words and phrases found in religious texts from the 2nd century like the Mahabhasya and Mahabharata indicate that shadow puppetry — or some form of it — existed as far back as the first millennium BC. The legends of Tholu Bommalaata corroborate the date of origin estimated by scholars.

Hanuman in the Ashokavana, leather puppet in the Karnataka style

Shadow puppetry first received royal patronage in Karnataka under several ruling dynasties, the earliest being the Satavahanas in the 2nd century, with other influential patrons like the Rashtrakutas in the 10th century and the Vijayanagara Empire in the 15th century. It was during the expansion of the Rashtrakutas to Maharashtra and Odisha that the art form spread to these areas. Many Marathi-speaking dayatikas or ‘those who paint tanned leather’ moved to Belgaum, Karnataka during this time, later moving to Andhra Pradesh and other parts of southern India. This is the reason that many Andhra-based puppeteers can speak Marathi as well as Telugu.

Tara, the Queen of Kishkinda and wife of King Vali and later Sugreeva from the Ramayana

Between the 13th and 15th centuries, under the Vijayanagara Empire, shadow puppetry reached its peak. In the mid-14th century, the establishment of the Bahmani Sultanate increased the influx of an Islamic population in the region, which in turn led to the wonderful influence of Turkish puppetry on the art form, lending us colourful garments and sumptuous jewellery, as well as long beards on male puppets. We see a lack of references from the 16th to 20th centuries in shadow puppet performances. As the Vijayanagara empire and Bahmani Sultanate fell, royal patronage to the tradition shrank significantly, and performances became restricted to temple villages, as is still prevalent today.

Traditionally, the plays were performed in Bhajana , a form of congressional worship involving song and dance. Later, religious texts like the Bhagavata purana, Ramayana and Mahabharata began to be narrated in poetic verse. Under the Kakatiya dynasty in Andhra Pradesh, poet Gona Buddha Reddi was commissioned by his father Vithala Natha to write a script for a play, based on the oral version of Valmiki’s Ramayana, to be performed exclusively by shadow puppeteers. This script was titled the Ranganatha Ramayana and was written in Telugu. The text uses a simple style of dwipada meter, which can be recited as a poem or sung with musical instruments, and features a scene-by-scene narrative, as well as detailed information on colours in which the puppets must be painted.

Lankadipathi Ravana by S Chithambara Rao

Today, as economic and cultural shifts take place, Tholu Bommalata is staying afloat by appealing to global interests or national programs for heritage preservation. National Award-winning puppeteer Sindhe Chithambara Rao, whose puppets fill the Sarmaya collection, says his troupe still receives a sizeable audience from villages, and government and cultural forums. However, his journey is fraught with difficulty. Villagers, while keen to watch the performance, do not contribute enough to generate income for 8-10 people.

Rao laments the state of the art itself and wishes, like many of his fellow artists, that the government would do more to save the art form itself instead of extending support to a select number of artists. A school or centre where shadow puppetry is taught and offered as a career option would go a long way towards saving it and making it sustainable. It would give contemporary artists the impetus to tell new stories to both educate and enthrall new generations and urban audiences who remain largely unaware of the art and its beguiling, arresting beauty

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