Traditional string puppet theatre from Maharashtra in south-west India. The performers of kalasutri bahulya (kalasutri, string, and bahulya, puppet), descendants of families of puppeteers that originally came from Rajasthan and Gujarat, are today very few in number. Their performances center 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.