Animal Puppet - Pune, Maharashtra
Puppet is a string wooden doll dressed with vibrant colour cloths. It is also known as 'kathaputli'. It is used for narrating historical stories, old myths, legends, and social awareness programmes. The joining of two Rajasthani words forms the term 'kathaputli'. 'Kath' means wood, and 'putli' means doll hence kathaputli means wooden doll or toy. A kathaputli is made up of wood, cloth, thread, and metal wire. Its upper body is made up of wood, and the rest is made of cotton and fabric. Colourful clothes and paints are used to decorate them. They are dressed in the medieval Rajasthani style. They do not have legs and are covered with long trailing skirts. The puppeteer manipulates them with his fingers tied with two to five strings. They possess distinctive facial features like large eyes, oval faces, large lips, and arched eyebrows.
A thousand years old tradition of the handmade puppet belongs to Rajasthan. A large state of India is a land of historical palaces, magnificent architecture, and royal families. Historically, the puppets were used to entertain royal families and local rulers. The tradition of handmade string puppets goes back to the era of Raja Vikramaditya of Ujjain. A puppet show was played on his life and achievements by the first Bhatt community artist. Later on, his descendants carried this tradition for hundreds of years for royal families and court members. In return, they get rewarded in terms of cash, livestock, or a portion of the harvest. The unique Rajasthani puppets are used for entertainment with some social message.
Every region of India has its own art stating its importance. Kids in the modern era having digital games and other entertainment mediums are like watching a puppet show. Everyone, right from the child to senior citizen, enjoys watching such traditional live shows. The puppeteer has the art of holding an audience throughout the show. Due to digitalization, the demand for such traditional art has been less. Hence, old artisans are shifting to other skills. Animal puppet-making is one of them. As Indian toys possess some cultural values, it's very important to upgrade these toys.
