Multiple functions of Indian Puppetry:
Religious Source
Puppetry in India is deeply rooted in its religious ethos. Most traditional puppet-shows are embedded in its religious fairs and festivals, narrating stories of the gods and goddesses in order to seek their blessings.
Ritual Base
The Indian connection between rituals and puppets are endemic in almost all its states. All puppeteers perform several ritual ceremonies before a puppet-show begins.
Royal Patronage
As traditional puppeteers were mostly itinerant people, royal patronage counted a lot for their continued survival and sustenance, as they moved from place to place with their shows. The royalty, in turn, often intervened to use the performances for narrating stories of their own heroism as well as conveying royal edicts and instructions to the common man.
Nomadic Spread
The nomadic and gypsy groups in India boosted puppetry. While Maharashtra saw the migration of puppeteers from Gujarat, the grand master of shadow puppets from Maharashtra went to the south and spread the art in that region.
Mass communication
Medium of Learning
in vocation
in Therapy and Rehabilitation
Puppery for Social Change
Puppets are principally of four forms:
glove, rod, string and shadow. There are also a few composite forms.
Glove
Indian glove puppets are a simple form where the puppeteer puts on the puppet-like glove and manipulates the head of the puppet in his forefinger, controlling the arms with his thumb and middle finger. Puppeteers operate either from below or squatting on level ground, mostly hiding themselves from the audience. e.g. Pavakathakali from Kerala, Bener Putul from WB, Sakhi Natch from Odisha.
Rod
An Indian rod puppet has a main rod to hold the puppet and two thin rods attached with two hands of the puppet for manipulation. The operation is from below. There are also three-dimensional moving figures that are manipulated with rods. Variations of rod puppet are as follows:
- Cylindrical Puppet (shaped cylindrically) - Using large heads capable of moving mouth and eyes, manipulated by one or two puppeteers;
- Stick Puppet - Using a simple stick to carry a light head and hanging hands, manipulated by children.
e.g. Putul Natch of WB, Kathi Kundhei from Odisha.
String
Indian string puppet (or marionette) is a figure with multiple joints and suspended by string from a control. In International terminology, it is used for a flexible puppet attached to a bar or hung by strings. String puppets operate from above.
Variations of string puppets are as following: -
- Juggling Puppet - For marionette used in conjunction with juggler's falls;
- Multiple marionettes - Manipulating a few puppets attached shoulder-to- shoulder from a single control.
e.g. Gombeyatta from Karnataka, Bommalattam from TN.
Shadow
This Indian form uses not original puppets but their shadows - in black and white or in colour. The flat figures, usually made of leather, are lightly pressed on some translucent screen with a strong source of light behind. The screen thus forms the barrier between the audience and the puppet, creating the projection of image. The impact on the audience, surrounded by darkness all around, is quite dramatic. The screen in India is a simple sheet stretched on an adjustable frame.
e.g. Tholu Bommalata from A.P. Togalu Gombeatta from Karnataka.
Religious Source
Puppetry in India is deeply rooted in its religious ethos. Most traditional puppet-shows are embedded in its religious fairs and festivals, narrating stories of the gods and goddesses in order to seek their blessings.
Ritual Base
The Indian connection between rituals and puppets are endemic in almost all its states. All puppeteers perform several ritual ceremonies before a puppet-show begins.
Royal Patronage
As traditional puppeteers were mostly itinerant people, royal patronage counted a lot for their continued survival and sustenance, as they moved from place to place with their shows. The royalty, in turn, often intervened to use the performances for narrating stories of their own heroism as well as conveying royal edicts and instructions to the common man.
Nomadic Spread
The nomadic and gypsy groups in India boosted puppetry. While Maharashtra saw the migration of puppeteers from Gujarat, the grand master of shadow puppets from Maharashtra went to the south and spread the art in that region.
Mass communication
Medium of Learning
in vocation
in Therapy and Rehabilitation
Puppery for Social Change
Puppets are principally of four forms:
glove, rod, string and shadow. There are also a few composite forms.
Glove
Indian glove puppets are a simple form where the puppeteer puts on the puppet-like glove and manipulates the head of the puppet in his forefinger, controlling the arms with his thumb and middle finger. Puppeteers operate either from below or squatting on level ground, mostly hiding themselves from the audience. e.g. Pavakathakali from Kerala, Bener Putul from WB, Sakhi Natch from Odisha.
Rod
An Indian rod puppet has a main rod to hold the puppet and two thin rods attached with two hands of the puppet for manipulation. The operation is from below. There are also three-dimensional moving figures that are manipulated with rods. Variations of rod puppet are as follows:
- Cylindrical Puppet (shaped cylindrically) - Using large heads capable of moving mouth and eyes, manipulated by one or two puppeteers;
- Stick Puppet - Using a simple stick to carry a light head and hanging hands, manipulated by children.
e.g. Putul Natch of WB, Kathi Kundhei from Odisha.
String
Indian string puppet (or marionette) is a figure with multiple joints and suspended by string from a control. In International terminology, it is used for a flexible puppet attached to a bar or hung by strings. String puppets operate from above.
Variations of string puppets are as following: -
- Juggling Puppet - For marionette used in conjunction with juggler's falls;
- Multiple marionettes - Manipulating a few puppets attached shoulder-to- shoulder from a single control.
e.g. Gombeyatta from Karnataka, Bommalattam from TN.
Shadow
This Indian form uses not original puppets but their shadows - in black and white or in colour. The flat figures, usually made of leather, are lightly pressed on some translucent screen with a strong source of light behind. The screen thus forms the barrier between the audience and the puppet, creating the projection of image. The impact on the audience, surrounded by darkness all around, is quite dramatic. The screen in India is a simple sheet stretched on an adjustable frame.
e.g. Tholu Bommalata from A.P. Togalu Gombeatta from Karnataka.
Some forms from the South:
Gombeyatta : A string puppet form of karnataka , designed like characters in yakshagana and puppets are highly stylized and have joints at the legs, shoulders, elbows, hips and knees which makes them to use in complicated movements.
Bommalattam : Poupular in tamil nadu and it is combination 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. Puppet may be as big as 4.5 feet in height weighing about ten kilograms which makes heaviest of all puppetry forms.
Tholu Bommalata : Shadow puppetry from andhra pradesh , unique feature of this form is they are coloured on both sides and it makes puppets throw coloured shadows on the screen.
Pavakathakali: A glove puppetry of kerala , came into existence due to influence of kathakali and the face of the puppets are decorated with paints, small and thin pieces of gilded tin, the feathers of the peacock makes unique to this form , themes are mostly based on ramayana or mahabharata.
Puppetry not only spotted in southern states but as connected to whole country which makes our culture more colourful in different forms with its unique blends.
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