Where are those cute PUPPETS?

 Kathputli is a string puppet theatre, native to Rajasthan, India, and is the most popular form of Indian puppetry.It is controlled by a single string that passes from the top of the puppet over the puppeteers. Besides entertainment puppetry presents meaningful messages and an art form.

Puppets Of Rajasthan

Puppetry is an ancient, popular form of folk entertainment.
The tradition of handmade string puppets of Rajasthan is more
than a thousand years old.These string puppets in rajasthan is
called kathputlis. Every social gathering and village fair or
religious festival would be incomplete without them.These beautiful
and colorful puppets are hand made using wood and cloth. The head
the puppets are made of wood and colored according to characters
they depict in the shows.

Making A PUPPET

The typical Rajasthani puppet has a brightly painted face and a rough torso. Appropriate brightly colored maleor female costumes are fashioned by the puppeters themselves from patches of old cloths.The string puppets of Rajasthan are unique in their style and technique. These are hand crafted with wood and cloth. Wooden faces of these puppets are colored according to the characters they play in a particular act. Generally they are painted in yellow color with their hands are stuffed with rags, cotton and cloth pieces. 

Without any joints in hands and without any leg, these puppets dance to the tunes of puppeteers. Their absence of legs is not felt as they don beautiful Rajasthani outfits.

How To Control Puppets

A dark color curtain is used as the back-stage and a colorful curtain with three arches hangs at the front. The puppets are tied with dark strings, which do not show against the dark background, and dim lights are used. One of the popular characters is the dancer Anarkali who is hung by four strings. Her limbs are sewn in such a manner that with the slightest jerk several dance-movements can be produced. A Snake charmer is another attraction of the show.
During performances, the puppeteers manipulate the puppets with a whistling, squeaking voice and are interpreted by a narrator who also provides the rhythms. The puppeteer takes a ghungroo (string of bells) in his hands and plays it according to the rhythm. He makes a loop around his fingers and manipulates the puppet. Free movement is possible due to the absence of legs. A little jerk of the string causes the puppets to produce movements of the hands, neck and shoulder. Many puppets hang on one rope: one string tied to the head and other to the waist. Movement plays a very important part in this puppetry. The puppets are shown to have great speed and vibrancy. They are shoved towards each other with brandishing swords. Greetings and salutations are done by bending the puppets and leaving their arms to hang loosely.

Why Puppets Are Loosing Their Charm?






Today, most of the Rajasthan puppet theaters have lost their charm, due to the influence of cinema, television and video. But still puppetry is famous amongst children's, educators and communicators. In the olden day time these puppets were not only a source of entertainment but also provided moral and social education.Even the Rajasthan Government, today realizes the importance of saving this ancient art of folklore and keeping all the beneficial facts, the government took initiatives to open many puppetry theaters and regularly organise puppet shows in the countryside of Rajasthan.




Copyright..... Shreeja....