Ancient Hindu philosophers have paid the greatest tribute to puppeteers by likening the God (Almighty) to a puppeteer and considering the entire universe to a puppet stage. Srimad Bhagavata, the great epic says that with three strings-Satt, Raj and Tama, God manipulates each object in the universe as a marionette.
Kathputli is a string puppet theatre and that is the most popular form of Indian puppetry. In Hindi, Putli meaning a doll. Kathputli means a puppet made of wood. Practically, it is made out of wood, cotton cloth and metal wire. The most popular Kathputli art is from Rajasthan, India. It is a centuries-old art of India and used in different regions in different themes and flavours. Its references are found in various folk tales, ballads and sometimes even in folk songs.
Puppetry has held an important place in traditional entertainment. Similar to traditional theatre, themes for puppet theatre are mostly based on epics and legends. Puppets from different parts of the country have their own variations reflecting the regional styles of painting and sculpture in them.
Traditionally, the Bhats of Rajasthan performed the Kathpuli dance where Rajasthani Kings and nobles were patrons of Art and Craft. They encouraged the craftsmen in activities ranging from wood and marble carving to weaving, pottery and painting. The patrons would look after the artists in return for the artists singing praises of the patrons’ ancestors and their clans.
Broadly, there are the following categories of puppetry in India.
1. String puppets –
India has a rich and ancient tradition of string puppets having jointed limbs that are controlled by strings giving them greater flexibility. Rajasthan, Orissa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are some of the regions where this form of puppetry has flourished. Following are the statewise poplar puppetry styles –
Rajasthan – Kathpultli
Odisha – Kundhei
Karnataka – Gombeyatta
Tamil Nadu – Bommalattam
2. Shadow puppets –
Shadow puppets are flat figures, cut out of leather and treated to make it translucent. Shadow puppets are placed between the screen and a strong source of light behind it. The manipulation between the light and the screen make silhouettes or colourful shadows 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. Following are the statewise shadow puppetry styles –
Karnataka – Togalu Gombeyatta
Andhra Pradesh – Tholu Bommalata
Orissa – Ravanachhaya
3. Glove puppets –
Glove puppets, are also known as hand, palm or sleeve puppets. The head of these puppets 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. The manipulation technique is simple the movements are controlled by the human hand where the first finger is inserted in the head and the middle finger and the thumb are the two arms of the puppet. The tradition of glove puppets in India is popular in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Kerala.
4. Rod puppets –
Rod puppets are an extension of glove-puppets with much larger and supported and manipulated by rods from below. This form of puppetry is found mostly in West Bengal and Orissa. Following are the statewise Rod puppetry styles –
West Bengal – Putul Nautch
Bihar – Yampuri
