Taking a major deviation from their age-old practice of adapting from Kamba Ramayana, performers of the shadow puppetry form Tholpavakkoothu are now spreading the egalitarian concept of Onam by making Asura king Mahabali the central character of their latest series of performances.
First show today
Before launching a worldwide tour with a shadow puppetry show titled Mahabali Charitham, celebrated puppeteer K.K. Ramachandra Pulavar and his family will conduct the first show on the premises of Palakkad Fort on Monday, the Thiruvonam Day, on a platform provided by the Tourism Department.
Evolved from Koonathara village near Shoranur here, the 2,000-year-old art form has appreciators across the globe though it gets very little patronage in its homeland.
35 puppets
Talking to The Hindu here, Pulavar’s son Rajeev Pulavar said shadow puppetry was engaging with an Asura king for the first time. It was Rajeev, winner of a fellowship from Sangeet Natak Akademi, who did the adaptation under the supervision of his father. Thirty-five leather-based puppets would be used for the show in which the shadows recreate art forms like Kaikottikkali, Vallamkali, and Pulikali. The 45-minute show also involves Palazhymadhanam, the mythological churning of ocean to get the nectar of immortality. The performance involves a musical tribute to Mahabali in which upcoming singers Tirur Ranjith and P.K. Sai are rendering songs.
“Though we are deviating from Kamba Ramayana, there is no compromise on the tradition of puppet making. The presentation is also in the traditional format,” said Mr. Rajeev. Edappal Nandan has helped him with the script while he gets assistance behind the stage from Lakshman, Rahul, Manoj, Arun Kumar, Prashobh, and Aswathi.
Confined earlier to the premises of Devi temples in Palakkad, Thrissur and Malappuram, the puppetry form survived neglect by the local community and found global takers because of the efforts of Ramachandra Pulavar.
Pulavar’s brothers Lakshmana Pulavar and Viswanatha Pulavar have also contributed immensely to the art form.