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Indian Puppetry

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Indian Puppetry

Introduction

  • Ancient Art Form: Puppetry is one of the ancient forms of entertainment.
  • Captivating Experience: The element of a puppet being controlled by a master makes it a captivating experience.
  • Cost-Effective: The low cost of animation and production of a performance makes puppetry popular among freelance artists.
  • Artistic Freedom: This form of entertainment provides unrestricted freedom to the artist in design, color, and movement.
  • Ingenious Invention: Puppetry is considered one of the most ingenious inventions of mankind.

Indian Origin

  • Historical Significance:
    • Puppetry has long been of interest in India for both entertainment and educational purposes.
    • Excavation sites at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro have yielded puppets with sockets, indicating the presence of puppetry as an art form during those times.
    • References to marionette theatre date back to around 500 BC.
    • Written references to puppetry are found in the Tamil classic Silappadikaram (1st and 2nd century BC) and the Mahabharata.
  • Philosophical Importance:
    • In the Bhagavad Geeta, God is described as a puppeteer controlling the universe with three strings: Satta, Raja, and Tama.
    • In Indian theatre, the narrator is called Sutradhar, or the ‘holder of strings’.
  • Cultural and Artistic Diversity:
    • Various puppetry traditions have developed across India, each with distinct forms of puppets.
    • Stories from mythology, folklore, and local legends are commonly adopted.
    • Puppetry incorporates elements of painting, sculpture, music, dance, and drama, creating a unique artistic expression.
  • Challenges:
    • The lack of a devoted audience and financial insecurity has led to a decline in the art form in modern times.
  • Categories of Puppetry in India:
    • Puppetry in India can be broadly classified into four categories.

A brief outline of each with some prominent examples are given as follows:

String Puppets

  • Features of String Puppets:
    • Miniature Figures: The puppets are generally eight to nine inch miniature figures chiselled out of wood.
    • Painting: Oil paint is used to initially paint the wood and add facial features such as eyes, lips, and nose.
    • Limb Creation: Small wooden pipes are created with the body to form the limbs.
    • Dressing: The body is covered with colorful miniature dresses that are stitched.
    • Accessories: Miniature jewelry and other accessories are attached to give it a lifelike feel.
    • String Control: Strings are attached to small holes in the hands, head, and back of the body, which are then controlled by the puppeteer.
  • Popular Examples of String Puppetry in India:
    • Kathputli: Traditional string puppetry from Rajasthan.
    • Bommalattam: Puppet shows from Tamil Nadu.
    • Gombeyatta: String puppetry from Karnataka.
    • Kundhei: Marionettes from Odisha.
Kathputli
    • Name Origin: Derived from ‘kath’ meaning wood and ‘putli’ meaning doll.
    • Appearance: Puppets are covered in bright traditional Rajasthani dress.
    • Music: Shows are accompanied by dramatic folk music.
    • Unique Feature: Puppets lack legs.
    • String Attachment: Strings are attached to the fingers of the puppeteer.

Kundhei

    • Origin: String puppets of Odisha.
    • Material: Made of light wood.
    • Appearance: Dressed in long skirts.
    • Flexibility: Puppets have more joints, providing the puppeteer with greater flexibility.
    • String Attachment: Strings are attached to a triangular prop.
    • Cultural Influence: Shows exhibit a marked influence of Odissi dance.
Gombeyatta
  • Traditional Puppet Show of Karnataka:
    • Styling and Design: Based on various characters of the Yakshagana Theatres.
    • Unique Feature: Utilizes more than one puppeteer to manipulate the puppets.
Bommalattam
    • Region: Indigenous to Tamil Nadu.
    • Combination of Techniques: Combines features of rod and string puppetry.
    • String Attachment: Strings are attached to an iron ring worn by the puppeteer on the head.
    • Size and Weight: Bommalattam puppets are the largest and heaviest marionettes in India, with some as large as 4.5 ft in height and weighing up to 10 kg.
    • Theatre Stages: Bommalattam theatre has four distinct stages:
      • Vinayak Puja
      • Komali
      • Amanattam
      • Pusenkanattam

Shadow Puppetry in India:

    • Rich Tradition: Shadow puppetry has a long and enduring tradition in India.
    • Material: Puppets are flat figures cut out of leather.
    • Painting: Figures are painted identically on both sides of the leather.
    • Performance Setup: Puppets are placed on a white screen with light falling from behind, creating a shadow on the screen.
    • Manipulation: Figures are manipulated to create telling imagery through silhouettes on the blank screen.
  • Popular Examples of Shadow Puppetry:
    • Tholu Bommalata: Andhra Pradesh.
    • Togalu Gombeyata: Karnataka.
    • Ravanchhaya: Odisha.
    • Tholpavakoothu: Kerala.
Togalu Gombeyatta
    • Region: Popular shadow theatre of Karnataka.
    • Unique Feature: Variation in puppet size based on social status.
      • Large Puppets: Represent kings and religious figures.
      • Smaller Puppets: Represent common people and servants.

Ravanchhaya:

    • Region: Popular shadow puppetry of Odisha.
    • Theatrical Style: Known for its bold and dramatic postures.
    • Material: Puppets are made of deer skin.
    • Complexity: Puppets do not have any joints, making the art more complex.
    • Non-Human Puppets: Common use of puppets depicting trees and animals.
    • Artistry: Ravanchhaya artists are highly trained, creating lyrical and sensitive theatrical narrations.

Tholu Bommalata:

    • Region: Shadow theatre of Andhra Pradesh.
    • Musical Accompaniment: Shows are accompanied by a musically classical background.
    • Themes: Themed around mythological and devotional tales from the Epics and Puranas.
    • Puppet Size: Puppets are larger in size.
    • Double-Sided Coloring: Puppets are colored on both sides, enhancing visual appeal and versatility in performance.

Glove Puppetry in India:

    • Description: Also known as sleeve, hand, or palm puppets.
    • Characteristics: Small figures with heads and arms, wearing a long flowing skirt as costume.
    • Materials: Made of cloth or wood, with variations.
    • Manipulation: Puppeteer wears the puppet as a glove, manipulating the head with the index finger and the hands with the thumb and middle finger.
    • Popularity: Popular all across India.
    • Accompaniment: Performances usually accompanied by rhythmic beats of drum or dholak.

Pavakoothu

  • Traditional Glove Puppet Show of Kerala:
    • Origin: Originated around the 18th century AD.
    • Decoration: Puppets are decorated with colorful headgears, feathers, and face paints, reflecting a strong influence from the Kathakali dance form.
    • Themes: Plays are themed around narrations from the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Rod Puppets
  • Rod puppets are larger variations of glove puppet and are controlled by the puppeteer with the help of rods from behind a screen. It is mainly popular in the region of Eastern India

Yampuri

  • Traditional Rod Puppet of Bihar:
    • Material: Generally made of wood.
    • Construction: Puppets are carved out of a single piece of wood, without any joints.
    • Decoration: Painted and dressed in bright colors.

Putul Nachh

  • Traditional Rod Puppet Dance of Bengal-Odisha-Assam Region:
    • Region: Bengal, Odisha, Assam.
    • Figure Size: Figures are generally three to four feet tall.
    • Costume: Dressed like characters of Jatra (traditional folk theatre).
    • Joints: Puppets typically have three joints at the neck and shoulders.
    • Puppeteers: Each puppeteer controls a single puppet using a rod attached to their waist, positioned behind a high curtain.
    • Movement: Puppeteers move behind the curtain, imparting synchronized movements to the puppets.
    • Musical Accompaniment: Performance is accompanied by a musical troupe of three to four musicians playing harmonium, cymbals, and tabla.