Tholpavakoothu is a form of shadow puppetry, of Kerala practiced especially in the Palakkad, Trichur and Malappuram districts..
The Soul of Silhouettes
Tholpavakoothu is a form of shadow puppetry, of Kerala practiced especially in the Palakkad, Trichur and Malappuram districts. This art form is recognized by UNESCO as a heritage art to be preserved and protected for the coming generations.
As per the legends, this millenium old Theatre, is the Ramayana- especially the Rama-Ravana battle- narrated by the Pulavar to goddess Bhadrakali who could not witness the same due to pre-occupation of her fight with Darika. An idol of goddess Bhadrakali is usually placed on a pedestal infront of the arena, Koothumadam, where the koothu is performed.
The performance starts with 'Keli', performed with 'Chenda'and 'Elathalam' in front of the screen is followed by 'Kalarichinthu'- an introductory verse to the performance. The artistes then move inside the screen and recites the 'Vandanasloka' and benediction of Lord Ganapathi. The chief pulavar then describes in prose the piece to be presented there. Now the performance begins, with the 'Sathvika' characters like Rama on the right side and 'Thamasik' like Ravana on the left. The atmosphere of war, devotion, love are created by the deft usage of chenda, elathalam and vocal sounds like roars, cry's etc.
A koothumadam is a separate 42-foot- long stage on which Tholpavakoothu is performed. The stage has a screen, a piece of white cloth, behind which the puppets are held. The lighting is provided by 21 lamps lit in coconut halves or earthen lamps placed behind the puppets, causing their shadows to fall on the screen. The lamps are a placed equidistantly on a specially constructed wooden beam called a vilakku madam.
Tholpavakoothu, is very elaborate in describing the stories and take several days to finish even a particular episode. It takes almost 71 days to complete the whole Ramayana story which is traditionally stages only in the Aryankavu temple of Kavalappara in Palakkad district. In other temples, only selected parts are staged lasting 7, 14, 21 etc days. By rule any episode should end with the carnation of Rama, witnessing which the audience are suppose to get 'Moksha'.
The most interesting episode is one 'Athikaya peruma'(Valor of Athikaya), 'Indrajith peruma', 'Kumbhakarna peruma', 'Angada doothu', 'Marunnau padalam' and 'Balimoksham'.
The emotion of the scene is expressed by speed and slowness of the movement of puppets and dialogue presentation. The artistes moves the puppets in such a way that, the reflection comes properly on the screen. An episode having 40 characters on the screen requires 40 artistes.
Shinka Pulavar of 13th century Palakkad is believed to be the founder of this art form. The artiste Pulavar is suppose to be having deep knowledge of Malayalam, Tamil and Sanskrit languages and Kamba Ramayana, puranas, Ayurveda. He should be trained in classical music also. It takes six to ten years of rigorous training for a Pulavar to become master of the art.
Traditionally, the dolls were prepared using deer skin, but now a days for various reasons goat skin is used. Ishtiranga Pulavar, Krishnankutty Pulavar and Viswanatha Pulavar were instrumental in the evolution of 'Tholpavakkotthu' to an international art form.
The need for intense training and searching of stages, remuneration for the artists made this art form almost extinct. The timely intervention of UNESCO and Sangeeth Natak Academy(permanent stages) gave a rejuvenation to this art and modern techniques like pre-recording of sound and music been a great boom.
