Brightly coloured puppets with artistically designed eyes, manoeuvred by talented puppeteers, move to the harmonious tunes of Rajasthani folk music. It’s the puppet show, organised by the city’s first Shekhawat Restaurant – Kesariya as part of its Deepavali celebrations.
The event not only enamoured the audience, but also gave us a peek at Rajasthan’s rich customs and traditions. Called Kathputli, the puppet show was anchored by, Shekhawati Katputliwala. “We have been performing since the time of royalty in Rajasthan and have even received honour and acknowledgement from royal families,” says Milkha Singh, who started off with organising these shows.
The strings of the puppets were drawn by the main puppeteer who is known as the sutradhar to the beats of the dhol and tunes of the harmonium. The puppets were made to express their emotions perfectly by the way they were made to move.
The songs were about kings, dynasties, love and romance. The puppets, attired in traditional Rajasthani costumes, were bright and colourful. The female puppets were draped in ghaghra, choli, and odhni, and the male puppets in achkan and long kurtas.
The puppeteers were skilled enough to make them come alive with each song, which touched a cord with the audience.
The event was also a gastronomical treat too. There were traditional dishes like badam ka halwa, shahi jamun, mango shrikand and so on. To suit the mood, even the venue was designed with an ethnic look with wooden jharokas, narthdwara paintings and exquisite lamps.
