India
In India, shadow theatre still lives on in four states; Orissa, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. In Orissa and Kerala, performances exclusively enact the Ramayana, while in Karnataka and in Andhra Pradesh, the plays are also based on the Mahabharata. In all cases, at the end of each performance, the gods are offered flowers, coconuts and rice along with the recital of prayers. Most commonly invoked are Ganesh, the distributor of wealth, and Sarasvati, the goddess of the arts and music. The latter is called upon with the objective of ensuring the success of the performance and the safety of the puppeteers and their audiences given that danger is ever present in summoning the spirits and being in their presence, especially because the ghosts and demons may take advantage of the occasion to return and haunt the living.
As with other styles of shadow theatre in Asia, its origins remain uncertain given that this represented an overly popular art form to attract the attentions of the wise and learned down through history. The Mahanataka play dates back to around the mid-9th century given the known reference by a scribe of that time and may have been written specifically for shadow theatre. A commentary on the Mahanataka made by Neelakantha, and dated to the 12th century, contains this expression: 《The life of the personalities that they call jala mandapika is popular in Southern India: they show parchment figures behind a screen and evoke the high deeds done by kings and dignitaries》. Pieces in Sanskrit such as Dutangada, by Subhata, and Ullagharaghava, by Someswara, both from the 12th century, are known to have been purpose written for shadow theatre. Furthermore, in Orissa and Karnataka, we still find many of the ancient forms of shadow theatre and making recourse to non-moveable figures.
Beyond the technique, which we may only suppose to have been of Indian origin, the greatest contribution made by India stems from the two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which make up the bulk of the shadow theatre repertoire not only of India but also of Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia.