Traditional Puppetry Art of India

 Puppets or kathaputli we all are aware from this word from our childhood only .it is an object, often resembling like a human or animal  that is animated by a person by using movements of their hands, arms, rods or by strings to move the body, head, limbs, mouth and eyes of the puppet.

The person who is responsible for the puppets action is known by a puppeteer. The puppeteer also gives their voice to the puppets of different different character in the story. Puppets are usually used to entertain people. They can be used to act out a religious story during a festival or just to tell an amusing story. People have enjoyed puppet shows for hundreds of years. But because they are so entertaining, Both children and adults can enjoy puppets shows. While making puppet shows for the audience there is combined efforts of many writers, poets, and artists .Earlier puppet shows may have started out as part of religious ceremonies but now they eventually became popular for entertainment and in celebrations such as carnivals for everyday audiences. The first Indian ventriloquist, Professor Y. K. Padhye, introduced this form of puppetry to India in the 1920s and his son, Ramdas Padhye, subsequently popularised ventriloquism and puppetry. Almost all types of puppets are found in India.

 # Origin of Puppets :

 Every region and religion all over the world has its own origin stories of this  puppetry art form but they all have something in common and that is they all originated from ancient times dating back to the caveman period.

In India, it has been found that puppetry may even be a 4000 years old .The origin of puppetry is still not very clear, Ancient Hindu philosophers have paid the greatest tribute to puppeteers. They have likened God Almighty to a puppeteer and the entire universe to a puppet stage. In Sanskrit plays, the narrator is called 'Sutradhar' or 'holder of strings', which is similar to a puppeteer. Early Indian puppet shows dealt with religious themes and political satires. Srimad Bhagavata, the great epic depicting the story of Lord Krishna in his childhood says that with three strings -Satta, Raja and Tama, God manipulates each object in the universe as a Puppet.

Shadow puppetry is one of the oldest forms of puppetry, it is developed centuries before the advent of cinema, and dating back at least 3,000 years.
Puppetry has been part of the sacred rituals which were performed to propitiate the gods and spirits. This tradition continues even to this day. It is believed that commissioning a puppet performance is equivalent to an act of divine service. The puppet plays are staged or commissioned to cure and eradicate diseases of men and animals, to ensure fertility of a woman as well as of the fields, to invoke the rain gods to procure rain, or to free a person from an evil spirit's possession. In Karnataka, the episode of ' Virataparva' from Mahabharata is performed through puppet plays to appease the rain god”.

  In Asia (India, Indonesia, Japan) unlike Europe, puppet theatre is still largely a living folk tradition. Puppet performances in Asian villages are usually informal and  lengthy . Marriages,  births ,funerals, religious as well as national holidays  all become occasion for  the performance of puppet . Frequently the performance takes place in a holy places.

 # Types of Puppets in India  :

There are 4 major different types of puppets used in India.

1. Glove Puppets
2. Rod Puppets
3. Shadow Puppets
4. String Puppets

 1) Glove Puppets :

Glove puppet is one of the simplest and most widespread types of puppet and can be found  in a variety because it is extremely portable and need very little cost  to make it .it has long been the favourite type of puppet for street performance. Traditionally operated from below the worn glove on the hand of the performer so it is also called by the name of  hand puppet. They are also known as sleeve, hand or palm puppets.The head of the puppet is made of cloth or wood with two hands emerging from just below the neck.The rest of the body consists of a long flowing skirt. The movement of the puppet is controlled by the human hand. In India, traditional glove puppets are found in Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Kerala.

There are 3  types of  glove puppets they  are given as below:

PavaKoothu :

 It is the traditional glove puppet form found in the state of Kerala, India. It came into existence during the 18th century due to the influence of Kathakali.The face of the puppet is decorated with paints, small and thin pieces of gilded tin, the feathers of the peacock, etc.The manipulator puts his hand into the bag and moves the hands and head of the puppet.The musical instruments used during the performance are Chenda, Chengiloa, Ilathalamand Shankha the conch. The theme for Glove puppet plays in Kerala is based on the episodes from either the Ramayana or the Mahabharata.

Sakhi Kundhei Nata

It is a string puppetry show popular in the Indian state of Odisha,  especially in the Kendrapara district of Odisha. This form of art is  performed by local artists in and around Palakana, a small village in Kendrapara.. Wooden dolls are tied to strings which are controlled by pulling and releasing the strings. Different expression by pulling the strings narrate tales from the Puranas and modern social life. A group of artists perform music and give background voice for the narration of stories.Considering sakhi kandhei a dying art form, Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi is taking steps to popularize and revive it. A handful of puppeteers have taken initiatives to revive this art form.

Beni Putul :

 In the  West Bengal, glove puppets carry the curious name of “merchants’ puppets or Beni Putul. The name also means “braiding of hair” and refers to the movement of the puppets, which twist and turn like hair being braided.The puppets measure 25 centimetres in height and have a head made of baked clay with wooden arms. The puppets are dressed in long, cotton skirts. The puppeteer wears one puppet on each hand and skillfully enacts dances and conversations between the puppets. The puppets have tinkling bracelets tied around their wrists, which keep time to the rhythm of their movements. The puppeteers sing popular Bengali and Hindi songs. Usually, the puppeteers roam in pairs, from one fair to another, and set up their show in the street without requiring any prior preparation. While one performer animates a puppet in each hand, the other plays a small drum, the dumroo. The stories told by the male and female puppets are semi-improvised, drawing inspiration from the jatra, those popular Bengali legends reflecting the ironic spirit and earthiness of villagers and urban dwellers. The most popular benir putul characters are Krishna and Radha or Madan and Puti, a husband and wife pair who are constantly fighting amongst themselves.

Today, there are troupes and traditional families performing benir putul, some of whom are master puppeteers recognized in their communities and sometimes nationally for their contribution to the art of puppetry.

2)Rod Puppets :

Rod puppets are an extension of glove puppets, they are much larger in size and often supported  by rods from below.These puppets are found in West Bengal and Orissa, in both these places puppets are connected with traditional folk performances. Examples of rod puppets in India include: Putul Nach (West Bengal), Yampuri (Bihar) and Kathi Kandhe – Orissa.

Putul Nach -West Bengal :

They are carved from wood and follow the various artistic styles of a particular region.The Bengal rod-puppets are about 3 to 4 feet in height and are costumed like the actors of Jatra, a traditional theatre form prevalent in the State.The technique of manipulation is highly theatrical. A bamboo-made hub is tied firmly to the waist of the puppeteer on which the rod holding the puppet is placed.The puppeteers each holding one puppet, stand behind a head-high curtain and while manipulating the rods also move and dance imparting corresponding movements to the puppets.

Yampuri (Bihar):

The traditional Rod puppet of Bihar is known as Yampuri. These puppets are made of wood. Unlike the traditional Rod puppets of West Bengal and Orissa, these puppets are in one piece and have no joints.

As these puppets have no joints, the manipulation is different from other Rod puppets and requires greater dexterity.

 Kathi Kandhe – Orissa:

The rod puppet in Orissa is known as kathi kandhe .this types of puppets are smaller in size as compare to the Putul Nach of West Bengal . it is nearly about 12 to 18 inches.the concept of stories of kathi kandhe is based on Purans and Ramayans .the puppeteers controls  the puppet seated behind the screen.

3)Shadow Puppets :

Shadow puppets aremade up of leather .Shadow puppets are pressed against the screen with a strong source of light behind it. The manipulation between the light and the screen make colourful shadows for the audiences  who sit in front of the screen.

This tradition of shadow puppets survives in Orissa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Tholu Bommalata – Andhra Pradesh

Tholu bommalata is the shadow puppet  of the state of Andhra Pradesh in India Its performers are part of a group of wandering entertainers and peddlers who pass through villages to villages during the course of a year and offer to sing ballads, tell fortunes, sell amulets, perform acrobatics, charm snakes, weave fishnets, tattoo to local people and mend pots.

The puppeteers perform all night and usually reenact various stories from  Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Togalu Gombeyata – Karnataka

Togalu gombeyaata is a puppet show of Karnataka, India. Togalu gombeyaata translates to "a play of leather dolls" in the native language of Kannada. It is a form of shadow puppetry. Karnataka . The puppets used in togalu gombeyaata are made of leather. Goat hide and deer skin are generally used for making these puppets the colours  applied on the leather using locally available vegetable dyes. Red, blue, green and black colours are usually used . The maximum size of the puppet is 4 x 3 feet and the minimum is 6 x 3 inches.

The puppets are usually characters from  the Ramayana and Mahabharata. More recently, personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi have also been created using puppets. A stage is set up using bamboo stems and woollen blankets. A white, semi-transparent cloth is strung across the stage to serve as a screen on which the images of the puppets are projected. The puppets are strung across a rope behind the screen and a bright oil lamp placed behind the puppets projects their shadows on to the screen. The puppeteers sit behind the screen and manipulate the puppets based on the scene being played.

The performance usually starts with the Hindu god Ganesha and goddess Saraswati.The puppeteers also provide voice to the puppets and an accompanying music is provided using a mukha-veena or a harmonium. The puppets are controlled using sticks and strings. The performances usually commence at night and continue till dawn.Chitrakala Parishat has undertaken research on this art and has a good collection of leather puppets.

 Tolpavakoothu – Kerala

Tholpavaikoothu is a compound word of three Tamil terms, thol meaning leather, pavai meaning doll, and koothu meaning the play or drama. The puppets used in Tholpavakoothu used to be made out of deerskin but are now typically made from goatskin. The puppets are painted in vegetable dyes, as these dyes last long. Some puppets can be as tall as four feet. The puppets are controlled using two sticks. the puppeteer holds the puppet in one hand while its limbs are manipulated using a thinner stick held in the puppeteer's other hand. The lead puppeteer is usually a pulavar which is an honorific given to a puppeteer who is also a scholar undergoes intensive training in puppetry and have a deep knowledge of Malayalam, Tamil and Sanskrit. Puppeteers have to study the Kamba Ramayana and be well read in the vedas and puranas, Ayurveda, and be trained in classical music. However, some puppeteers forgo classical music as it entails several years of study to master. It can take anywhere from 6 to 10 years of rigorous training for a puppeteer to fully master this art and be able to perform it. 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. The performance is accompanied by the recitation of slokas and the performers are required to learn over 3000 of these before they perform. The recitation is accompanied by instruments such as chenda, maddalam, ezhupara, ilathalam, conch and cherukuzhal.A full Tholpavakoothu performance, staging all the episodes of the Kamba Ramayana, takes 21 days to complete with nine-hour performances every day, and requires 180 to 200 puppets. A full performance needs up to 40 artistes. The lead puppeteer is called a pulavar. Traditionally, performances begin at night and go on till dawn. The show begins with a kelikottu and an invocation called kalarichinthu. Performances are done from January through May and during poorams. A Tholpavakoothu performance can last 7, 14, 21, 41 or 71 days depending on the tradition at the temple where it is performed. It continues to be performed in over a hundred temples across Kerala. K.K.Ramachandra pulavar was the leading puppeteer in Kerala.

 Chamadyache Bahulya – Maharashtra

Traditional shadow theatre from Maharashtra.In the Marathi language, bahulya means “figure” and chamdyacha  means “leather”.In each troupe, a puppeteer-storyteller, assisted by a helper, is accompanied by two musicians, one who plays the dholak and pakawatch , and  other the jodiwala and wata (wind instruments). Both musicians are also singers.

A complete ensemble of puppets consists of sixty-five figures carved from translucent and coloured buffalo leather, without perforations or articulations except for, sometimes, a single mobile arm attached to the body of the figure by a leather pin. A wooden or bamboo rod runs vertically through the figure. Seated on his heels, the puppeteer holds the rod with his left hand and moves the arm or the entire body by making small lateral movements with his right hand. The tallest figures measure 35 centimetres and the smallest 11 centimetres in height. The characters of kings and gods, drawn in Mughal style, have moustaches, beards and wear baggy pants.A performance usually starts with the dancer figure at the court of the god Indra, followed by the figure of Haridas, the storyteller who begins the tale in Marathi. Scenes from Valmiki’s Ramayana as well as from Panchavati (The Story of Draupadi) and episodes from Ravana Badha (The Defeat of Ravana) are sung by the principal puppeteer in Tamil or Kannada (two South Indian languages) and then spoken as dialogues by the musicians.

A permanent stage set up in the village is enlarged around the temples or sanctified places during religious festivals or during large fishing and crop harvests. The white cotton screen is 6 metres wide by 3 metres high with its lower end resting on the ground.

Today, there are troupes and traditional families performing chamdyacha bahulya, some of whom are master puppeteers recognized in their communities and sometimes nationally for their contribution to the art of puppetry.

 Ravanachhaya – Orissa

Puppets used in Ravana Chhaya are made of deerskin, range from 6 inches to 2 feet in height and are mounted on bamboo poles. A complete performance requires as many as 700 puppets with multiple puppets being used to depict a diversity of moods for individual characters. Besides these puppets, there are others that set the background and the stock characters of the village barber and his grandson. The puppets are not coloured, have no joints and have perforations that outline their figures and costumes. 

The puppeteer manipulates the puppets using a split bamboo stick that runs down the middle of the puppet. The puppeteers magnify the shadows by holding the puppets away from the screen.These puppets are treated ceremonially, being blessed before they are first used and are cremated and the ashes strewn in a river when they become worn out and unusable.

Another feature of the puppets is that the puppet form of Ravana is much larger than that of Rama with greater dramatic impact and casts an impressive shadow on the screen.Ravana Chhaya performances are held at night, the shadow of the puppets being projected onto a white curtain against the light of an oil lamp. The performance begins with the breaking of a coconut and with invocations to the Hindu gods Rama and Ganesha. The story of the performance is narrated in prose by a narrator, called gayak, who is accompanied by two singers. The performers traditionally belong to the Bhata community and the singing is accompanied by musical instruments including ramatali (castanets), kabuji (cymbals) and the khanjani, a kind of tambourine.The dialogues and the songs in the performance are accompanied by lively, rhythmic music that combines elements of folk and classical Odissi music. Performances have little by way of dance or fight sequences, the action being limited by the jointless nature of the puppets, but the dramatic effect is elevated by the use of poetic language, music and the religious themes narrated. A full performance takes an entire week with a night each for each of the seven kandas of the Ramayana but in recent years performances have been shortened to only a few hours duration.

Thol Bommalattam – Tamil Nadu

Traditional shadow theatre from Tamil Nadu in south-east India. In the Tamil language, tolu (or thol) means leather and bommalatam signifies figure, doll or puppet. In the state of Tamil Nadu, the tolu bommalatam shadow theatre is performed by different members of the same family. The troupe varies between three and nine people. The families who perform shadow theatre reside in the centre and south of the state and belong to the Mandikar community. The Ramayana epic, the story of Nallathangal, and the wedding of the god Murugan and the goddess Valli constitute the repertory of these nomadic troupes. A family can perform during ten consecutive nights depending on the financial situation of the village. In the past, the village chief would make a sort of contract with the puppeteers and would determine with them the selection of episodes, the number of nights and the remuneration that the entire village community could pay. Today, these transactions no longer take place. A performing family comes into a village, rents a hut for a certain number of performances, lives there during the day and performs there at night.A onemetre length of white cotton is stretched to form a screen. Behind the screen, the main puppeteer sits on the ground with his male assistant. A light bulb or a hurricane lamp lights the figures from one side and projects their shadows on the other, facing the spectators who view them on the screen. The perforated leather of the figures allows the public to recognize the characters that dance in the light. Each figure is held against the screen by bamboo rods directly fixed on the surface of the leather.The puppeteers themselves make the leather figuresThe colouration of the figures is of secondary importance as the skin remains opaque and thick, and thus the tints cannot be seen by the spectators. It takes approximately five years in order to manufacture a set of forty to fifty figures. During the performance, the puppeteer animates the figures and speaks for them as well. The members of his family assist him in the manipulation. The main puppeteer’s wife, or if unavailable, another woman, sits in front of the screen on the audience side and plays the harmonium. She repeats each of the puppeteer’s sung phrases and reacts to all dramatic turns of events and jokes and comments. Her role is of great importance as she sustains the dramatic effect. 

A mridangam (two-skinned drum) player gives the rhythm to the singing. The puppeteer has a wooden plank attached to his foot, which he bangs on the ground providing a sound effect to underline the fights sequences or the flight of characters. His assistant uses a kind of mouth organ, the pavra, to represent demons and traitors with appropriate sounds. Sometimes the main puppeteer ties ankle bells (kakker) to give yet another sound dimension – to enhance the grace of dancing girl puppets. There is the belief in current day Tamil Nadu that an episode of the Ramayana or the story of Nallathangal performed by the tolu bommalatam will bring rain and abundant crops and will protect society from evil spirits.

 4) String Puppets :

String puppets, often known as marionettes, have an important role in Indian culture. The string puppets are usually made of wood and are eight to nine inches tall.Oil paint is used to paint the wood and to add additional face characteristics such as eyes, mouth, nose, and other facial features.The limbs are formed by joining little wooden pipes to the body. The body is then stitched and wrapped with a colorful little garment.Miniature jewels and other embellishments have been added to give it a more realistic appearance.The puppeteer controls the strings that are attached to little holes in the hands, head, and rear of the body.

Strings are linked to each leg, arm, and shoulder, as well as the lower back and each side of the head. The strings are connected to a hand controller in the shape of the letters H or X. Even more strings are linked to various sections of the marionette's body in other cases.there are six types of string puppets they are:

 Putal Nach  - Assam

string puppet of  Assam is known as  Putala nach . The Ramayana and Mahabharata episodes is performed in putla nach. The puppeteers are happy to add dialogues or chants taken from bhaona, the local traditional theatre. In this regard, some traditional performances include contemporary educational themes such as the fight against deforestation or family planning messages. The sculpted form of the puppets, their costumes and manipulation vary according to regional style.The putala nach is also called putala bhaona due to its ancient link with bhaona theatre.

Today, there are troupes and traditional families performing putala nach, some of whom are master puppeteers recognized in their communities and sometimes nationally for their contribution to the art of puppetry.

 Gombeyatta – Karnataka

It is a unique form of art found in Karnataka. Gombeyaata involves story telling using characters made from dolls, whose performance is controlled by humans in the background using invisible threads.

They are styled and designed like the characters of Yakshagana, the traditional theatre form of the region. Episodes enacted in Gombeyatta are usually based on Prasangas of the Yakshagana plays. The music that accompanies is dramatic and beautifully blends folk and classical elements.

Kalasutri Bahulya – Maharashtra

It is a Traditional string puppet theatre from Maharashtra in south-west India. The performers of kalasutri bahulya descendants of families of puppeteers that originally came from Rajasthan and Gujarat.. Their performances centre on the many episodes of the Ramayana, beginning with the accounts of the birth of Rama and ending with the killing of Ravana.

The small puppets, finely sculpted from wood, wear elaborate headdresses, turbans and ornaments. Articulated at the shoulders and knees, the puppets do not have strings attached to their feet, which remain free. A string attached to the head joins one connecting to the back and two others extending from the hands. A single musician sings the text and alternately, in turn, plays the tabla and the cymbals.The puppeteers offer flowers, rice, and coconuts before the performance begins, which opens with the arrival of Ganesh riding on his rat. The goddess of knowledge, Saraswati, appears and dances with Ganesh. In between episodes from the Ramayana, thieves and clowns perform comical and satirical interludes. The performance ends with the appearance on stage of Shiva riding the bull Nandi.

Today, there are troupes and traditional families performing kalasutri bahulya, some of whom are master puppeteers recognized locally and sometimes nationally for their contribution to the art of puppetry.

 

Gopalila Kundhei – Orissa :

The string puppets of Orissa are known as Kundhei. Made of light wood, the Odisha puppets have no legs but wear long flowing skirts. They have more joints and are, therefore, more versatile, articulate and easy to manipulate.

 

Kathputli – Rajasthan : 

Kathputli is a string puppet performance and is an ancient and well-known form of folk entertainment. A Kathputli basically means a puppet made of wood. Kathputli dance and performance is one of the major tourist attractions of Rajasthan. The string puppets of Rajasthan are famous as kathputhlis in the local language and the main centers where they are prepared are Jaipur and Jodhpur. The Bhatt community makes these puppets as well as performs with them.The puppets are usually two feet in height having a wooden head with a huge nose and large eyes. The rest of the body is prepared of colorful and bright pieces of cloth and stuffed clothes which also allow for free movement. Unless they are horse riders, the puppets have no legs but are covered with a long pleated skirt. The puppet has a long thread for the head which reaches the manipulator and then joins the middle of the threads from the two hands of the puppet are tied to the hands of the manipulator.The costumes are regional and traditional while the themes that are performed turn around Rajasthani historical tales or local traditions.

 A few characters and items like the court dancer, stunt horse rider, and snake charmer, are a necessary. The puppeteers who make these puppets and perform with them belong to the traveling Bhatt communities who have been performing for thousands of years.The puppets in Rajasthan are one of the well-known sources of amusement in the state. The art of puppetry is practiced by a society of agricultural laborers of Rajasthan. Known as the Bhats, these people have been connected with Rajasthani string puppetry to carry forward their traditional profession. Originally they belong, to the Nagaur area in the Marwar region; they travel all over the country to show their talent. Also known by the name of the "kathputliwalas", they usually perform the puppet shows during the late evenings.

 

Bommalattam – Tamil Nadu : 

Puppets from Tamil Nadu, known as Bommalattam combine the techniques of both rod and string puppets. They are made of wood and the strings for manipulation are tied to an iron ring which the puppeteer wears like a crown on his head.

# Is Modern Day options pushing traditional puppetry towards a slow death?

Puppetry has long been ignored due to lack of funds and platforms in india . Modern day entertainment options pushing traditional puppetry towards a slow death.Performances in villages, which had once given puppetry its settings and context, are now considered demeaning by the artists. Wandering from village to village would immediately brand them as impoverished artists and label their art as ‘low-brow”. When the performers fail to get government support or make good money independently, they sell their troupes because  Hiring an auditorium for their performances is often expensive. Much of their earning goes in buying raw materials, travelling and producing shows. Therefore, government-sponsored programs are only convenient for them because they save the artists the trouble of having to book spaces, which would involve giving money to the panchayat, the police and local groups .People’s mindset does not allow them to think of puppetry beyond entertainment and they fail to see the scope of puppetry in the fields of teaching, social work and counselling.

 With the passage of time, modern elements have been weaved into the traditional flavour to cater to the changing tastes of today's audience. But there is only so much the supply side can do when the demand fails to pick up, no matter what. Government’s effort to ‘revive’ puppetry has led to often fixing scripts according to political agendas and their conception of the ‘purity’ of the art form. When the government stipulates script, musical instruments and performance parameters, there isn’t much room for innovation. The art form always demands constant improvisation and funny, out-of-the-box bits to hold the audience’s attention. Funding remains a challenge. New-age puppetry groups either do corporate shows to raise funds, or seek funding internationally. Puppeteers are dwindling in number but they still have the power to hold people in thrall, not just in the villages but also in the cities.

# Who is using puppetry creatively?

Puppetry, the good old form of storytelling, is undergoing a reinvention as puppeteers experiment with techniques to appeal to a larger audienceThe government has been using the art form to popularise its flagship programs such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and to spread awareness on HIV-AIDS, human trafficking, malaria and deforestation. 

Some of the most prominent social movements in recent times have seen the creative use of puppets. This is especially true of campaigns for the right to information (RTI) and the rural employment guarantee scheme. Many public meetings and protest dharnas were greatly enlivened by the interesting and lively presence of puppets.In Mumbai, renowned puppeteer and theatre and television personality Meena Naik and her troupe have used matchbox puppets to help commercial sex workers open up and talk about their health-related problems — something they refused to do earlier in the presence of doctors and health workers.Ramdas Padhye and his son Satyajit Padhye popularized the use of glove puppets in Hindi films like "Dil hai tumhaara". Glove puppetry is very much in demand in standup comedy too.More recently, children suffering from cancer, who do not have access to any source of entertainment, played with puppets made from brown paper bags at the Indian Cancer Society.Doordharshan has been providing short educational puppet based stories for children and adults for their educational television.

Another recent example is the use of shadow art similar to shadow hand puppetry in Madhya Pradesh Tourism Ad of Indian Government.The Union Bank of India and the Life Insurance Corporation has used the medium of puppetry in Uttar Pradesh to arouse the interest of the rural folk in bank savings, and insurance policies. Puppet shows, conveying information on what famine relief workers should get as minimum wages provoked unlettered rural women to go on strike in Rajasthan.

  Puppetry is used for psychological therapies. Puppets allow the patient to express her fantasies in a creative way.Bollywood songs and other popular music are now used by the puppet artists to attract the audiences' attention.From a form that was caught in a rut, puppetry is now a tool to educate, entertain and experiment. As stated by Kamaladari Chattopadhyay in her book ‘Handicrafts of India’, “As a medium, however, puppetry has a few equals and scores many advantages over human performances in moving and holding audiences.

 

 

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