Leather puppet theatre was, and continues to be (though much less now than in the past), a beloved part of South India’s rural culture and entertainment. History tells us that leather puppetry was brought to Tanjore by the Maratha rulers from where it spread to other parts of the South.
The puppet theatre of Andhra’s ‘Bombalatta’, Kerala’s ‘Poovaikuthu’ and Karnataka’s ‘Togalu Gombeyatta’ are all part of the shadow puppet theatre tradition. This involves deft manipulation of the the puppets by hand from behind a white sheet lit up by the globe of strategically placed lanterns, thereby throwing magical shadows of puppets enacting the story. An open air arena with stars as canopy, stark white stretched cloth as screen, an evocative story telling tradition based on the epics and local lore, throbbing music, participative audience- and the beautiful puppets make shadow puppetry a total cultural experience.
The puppets, which range from 1-3 feet in size, are made out of translucent goat skin or parchment paper by paramparik craftspersons. Each puppet is inserted between two bamboo splits for stiffness and movement. The figures are punched and cut in silhouette and attached to slender stems. The head, arms, legs and elbows are separately made and joined, making them mobile. And the shadow shows are full of movement of the puppets throughout such as walking, fighting, dancing and embracing.
The puppetry artisan is conceptualiser, painter and sculptor. After fashioning the figures and its many parts, he paints the puppets on both sides with vegetable dyes. The puppets’ faces have expressions that befit their characters. And they are dressed in beautifully detailed costumes and jewellery. Perforations add to the magic of the moving shadowy images. The rapt audience is vociferous in applauding the good characters and booing the baddies.
The unfolding of the Ramayana and Mahabharata evokes great enthusiasm and outbursts of emotions. Besides the main characters of the story, the shadow plays also have clowns and jokers who provide comic relief as in the Shakespearean plays. These are called ‘Vidhusakhas and Vidhusakhis’.
The Madras Museum has on display the leather puppet figure of a Vidhusakhi as a ‘Special display of the fortnight’. It is a lovely, well-crafted piece painted in red and black with charming hair ornaments, jewellery and wrapped in a sari, which seems to have ikat-like pattern with distinctly modern border made out of cut-outs in the figure.
The three feet tall lady is elegant and wraps the pallu around her waist matching it with a surprisingly modern blouse. The Vidhusakhi is graceful and stands with a proud stance, seemingly all-too-aware of the exquisite jewellery in her hair, around her neck and in the long plait into which her hair is arranged! Her face is exceptionally beautiful and she has striking eyes.
This puppet was sourced by the Museum’s archaeological section from Mysore around 1960 but definitely belongs to a much earlier era.
The Special Exhibit of the Fortnight will be on view at the Madras Museum, Pantheon Road, Egmore, till January 28.
