India  Andhra Pradesh

 

​

The first reference to shadow theatre in Andhra Pradesh stretches back to the 12th century and arising in a poem by Palkuriki Somanatha. There is also a document dated 1208 that refers to the donation of a village to a puppeteer. Furthermore, the local iterature frequently mentions shadow theatre performances. Here, the genre is known as Tolu Bammalata. The first puppeteers would have been originally from Andhra Pradesh itself although others from Maharashtra arrived and set up in the 17th century. Currently, the majority of performances take place in Telugu, the language of Andhra Pradesh.

 

Generally, the companies travel from village to village and are family based with eight persons, four puppeteers and four musicians and with some companies holding links to specific temples. However the occasions for performaces, such as festivals and weddings, are ever rarer and many puppeteers now focus on repairing worn clothing for subsequent resale.

 

The figures are fairly large; they are, on average, around a metre and a half in height. They have joint in three places: the head, the body and the members. They are cut out of deer or goat skin and, due to their size, normally need two skins for each puppet, one for the head and body sections and another for the members. A rod holds the head onto the body. Should the character be required to dance, the trunk, the feet and the hands are also jointed. The puppets are painted on both sides so that the face, portrayed in profile, may be turned both to the left and to the right. Through utilisation of industrial paints, the colours are nowadays far lighter.

 

The musical instruments include a drum (mridangam), a gong (talam), two pieces of wood that are beaten together, a harmonica for the songs and a how goat bone which is blown, especially during battle scenes. The sung sections are based on classical music but performed in a more contemporary style; they are repeated by the whole company in choir fashion.

 

The screen measures about three and a half metres in width and two metres in height and is held up by four posts 40 centimetres off the floor. The top normally slopes somewhat towards the audience in order to support those characters that are not then in usage, securing them with a vegetal hook. Electric lighting has now replaced the former oil lamps but which unfortunately produces a far less diffused lighting effect across the screen as a whole. The puppeteers handle the figures while standing up. Often, they wear bells on their ankles and hence their own dancing movements serve to animate the figures. They secure the puppets by a central rod running along its body and with their other hand, manipulate the arm with a rod attached to the puppet’s wrist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The majority of the repertoire is sourced from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Handed down orally, they now include various local versions of these two epics. The most popular episodes from the Ramayana are when Laksmana gets wounded by the magic arrow; the death of Indrajit, son of Ravana; the scene in which Ravana’s cousin, who rules the subterranean world, assumes the form of Vibisana and kidnaps Rama and Laksmana who are subsequently, released by the moneky Hanuman and the final battle between Rama and Ravana. The most representative scenes from the Mahabharata include the episode in which the Pandavas take refuge incognito in the kingdom of Virata and, in particular, that in which the brother of the queen attempts to seduce Draupadi, the shared spouse of the five brothers and is slain by Bima; and the death of Abimanyu when attempting on his own to infiltrate the camp of the Koravas and is brought down by arrows.

 

The full representation of the final battle between the Pandavas and the Koravas, with all its respective fights, requires two companies and two screens but, despite its spectacular nature, is rarely staged.

 

In order to bring the rains, the Sundarakanda is performed: Vasistha, one of the seven great wise hermits, saves the world from drought and condemns Sundara, a semi-god, to transformation into a monster (raksasa) throughout an entire life.

 

The two clowns, Bangarakka and Kethigadu, introduce a comic facet to the performances. A third clown, Poligadu, the Hairy, also takes the stage to provide advice and make obscene allusions.