Noted exponent of Tholpavakkoothu M. Lakshmana Pulavar has been chosen for the Kerala Folklore Akademi Award, 2020.
He won the award for his contributions to Palakkad’s unique temple art form. Lakshmana Pulavar is arguably the only Thopavakkoothu artiste in the State capable of presenting 2,100 slokas of Ramayana beginning from the birth of Lord Rama to his ascension to the throne ( Pattabhishekam ).
Mr. Pulavar has also won several awards from the State and Central governments. His son Sajeesh Pulavar too had won the Kerala Folklore Akademi’s Yuva Pratibha Puraskar. Mr. Pulavar runs Harishree Kannan Tholpavakkoothu Kala Kendra at Koonathara, near Shoranur, in the district, where the art form is taught and promoted.
Mr. Pulavar has presented Tholpavakkoothu not only in other States, but also in foreign countries like Germany, Sweden and Greece. Tholpavakkoothu is a shadow puppet show presented in Bhadrakali temples of Palakkad and neighbouring regions by using leather puppets.
It usually tells the stories of Ramayana. The Ramayana stories are usually told in seven or 14 or 21 days from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
