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Shadow theatre existed in
India as early as the 6th century B.C. and has since then
provided entertainment in various parts of rural India. The shadow
puppet cut form a piece of flat rawhide or stiff parchment has been
popular in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Kerala, the shadow puppets are black and white, those of Andhra and
Karnataka are multi-coloured and much bigger in size. The epics ‘
Mahabharata’ and ‘Ramayana’ with their innumerable
regional variants of story, text, singing , instrumental
accompaniment and form of execution have dominated the shadow
theatre of India.
‘Tolu Bommalata,’
the name given to the shadow theatre of Andhra Pradesh, probably has
the same ancestry as the Javanese shadow play ‘Wayang’.
Bommalatams, or the leather puppets are cut out of highly seasoned
and translucent deer or goat skin richly painted in attractive
colours. Different parts of the body are separately cut and then tied
to each other to allow free movement. The design mainly consists of
jewellery and clothing. This is done by perforating small designs on
the skin with the help of sharp chisels. The colouring of the puppets
is the most elaborate process in the preparation of the puppet
figures and the designs of the puppets are largely based on the
traditional Puranic figures seen in temple sculpture and idols. Some
of the oldest puppet now available resemble the portraits of the
kings and queens and courtiers of the 18th century,
especially the Nayaka kings.
The sizes of the Andhra
Pradesh puppet figures range between five feet by three feet and
their shadows are gigantic. Usually 100 to 110 puppet figures are
used for performing both the Ramayana and Mahabharata stories. Every
puppet is held aloft by a stick from below and the limbs are
manipulated by means of strings. A white screen is stretched across
the place of performance, a little above the head of the puppeteers
who sit behind. Bright light is thrown from behind the puppets so as
to project their shadows on the curtain to be seen by the spectators
on the other side. The colours come out beautifully and figures are
magnified or shortened by varying the distance between thelight and
the puppets. ‘Tolu Bommalata’ is a composite art containing
all the fine arts in it, music, sculpture and painting.
The battle scenes and
duels in the Andhra shadow show are very absorbing. During the fights
the entire manipulative style changes. The simulation of a filght is
achieved by thrusting two puppets against each other. This is further
accentuated by the background nose and beating of the ‘Mridangam’
or drum at its loudest. Another instrument called a ‘Pavada’
made of a hollow bone of a goat, dried and cleaned is blown during
these fights. By clamping a foot on two wooden bars of a third
instrument, a noise similar to that of exchanging blows emanates,
which adds to the furore and noisy chaos that is expected of a bitter
fight.
‘Tholpava Kutto,’
the shadow theatre of Kerala unlike Kathakali, remains unfamiliar to
a very large section of the population of Kerala for its provenance
is a small area around Palghat district. The play is an all-night
open-air function taking as many as forty-one nights for an
exhaustive treatment. The duration these days has however been
considerably reduced. These dramas form part of the festivities of
the spring festivities of the spring festival in February, March and
April. The shadow puppet stage in Kerala is a necessary adjunct to
religious life and is as such associated with temple festivals. The
text is from the Tamil Ramayana of Khambar and the performers of the
shadow theatre form a special community called ‘Pulavar’.
Fifty years ago a considerable number of Pulavar families existed,
the men being skilled performer, text reciters and producers of
figures for the shadow plays. Today only a handful remain. All
Pulavars and their assistants from other communities are being forced
to earn their livelihood not only by presenting shadow plays but by
other occupations also since the performing season lasts only from
January to May. The situation is the same in Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh, and Orissa.
The innumerable chinks in
the puppet figures emphasise the silhouette picture or shadow cast on
the white screen. They are generally small, the largest being about
two and a half feet. The screen consists of a piece of white cloth
about 18 yads in length and five feet in width over a platform wall
of three to four feet in height screening the puppeteers. Behind the
screen on a split bamboo are the foot lights, 41 in number. All the
puppets have wooden handles to facilitate manipulation. The screen is
divided by a wooden pole into two parts, the right side reserved for
the noble characters of the play like Rama and Sita, land the left
for the evil characters like Ravana.
Temple rituals and
ceremonies precede the commencement of the show each night. The
proceedings are invested with a certain sense of mystery and
solemnity almost weird. After the preliminaries which take a couple
of hours, the story proper starts and the puppets become dynamic
though their movements are few and restricted. The story-teller is
expected to be a sort of encyclopaedist, learned in the scriptures –
Vedas, Upanishads, Puransas and Itihasas, even medicine, astronomy
and politics. The dialogue and verses are chanted in a peculiar way
that suggests wailing. By modulation the trained voices of the story
tellers create in the audience the exact aesthetic emotion desired
and a sense of the supernatural. There are some very dramatic
moments. A realistic and startling effect is achieved when Sita
enters the flames to prove her chastity. Leaping camphor flames cast
lurid shadows on the screen as she emerges unscathed, resplendent in
all her glory.
A rare form of shadow
theatre of the eastern state of Orissa ‘Ravan Chhaya’ is
probably the most ancient of the different styles of the shadows have
an unmistakable primitive quality and the performance is the least
sophisticated. Unfortunately it is in the last phase of graying out
and unless some urgent steps are taken, it may soon fade into
oblivion. Today Ravan Chhaya Samsad of village Odash in Dhenkanal
district is the only group surviving in Orissa. Ravan Chhaya draws
exclusively upon the Rama lengend and used the lyrics from Vichitra
Ramayana written by Viswanath Khuntia, a medieval Oriya poet.
Unlike the Bommalatams of
Andhra and the puppets of Kerala which have one jointed hand the
Ravan Chhaya puppets have absolutely no jointed limbs. The puppets
are cut imaginatively to give a characteristically posed outline and
perforated to delineate the fashioning of the clothes and
accessories. There are also figures for props such as trees,
mountains, chariots, arrows, missiles, palanquins and others for
creating an appropriate setting. Roughly 700 puppet figures are
required for a complete show which is performed over a period of
seven nights. There are some prized moments during the show like that
of Hanuman uprooting the shadow trees of the shadowy Madhuvan or the
magnificent Rama fighting with Ravana with the exchange of shadow
arrows flashing across the screen like dark lightning. One is struck
by the dramatic vigour of the show though the shadows are extremely
lyrical. The ‘Soul’ of the performance is the music and the
style of singing a combination of the folk and classical Odissi
traditions. The accompaniment to the vocal music is provided by the
‘Khanjani’, a popular percussion instrument in rural Orissa
and the ‘Daskathi’ a type of castanet capable of producing
rhythmic patterns of amazing variety and of very fast tempo.
There are some
interesting conventions too. After a puppet figure is complete, a
sort of ‘puja’ is performed to breathe ‘life into it
and when is finally dies of ageing or accidentally gets torn, it is
taken to a river at sunset amidst the chanting of mantras and
respectfully immersed.
To see these dramas of
sound and shadow is to realize their magnificence, but if nothing is
immediately done to save them they will soon be a thing of the past.
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