India Kerala

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Kerala is the region where classical forms of Indian theatre

still survive such as kootyattam, kreshnattam and kathakali.

On the outskirts of the city of Palghat, there is also the

opportunity to see a type of shadow theatre entitled Tolpava

Koothu (《leather puppet theatre》). The performances are

dedicated to the goddess Bhadrakali and as proof of devotion.

This divinity, created by the god Shiva in order to combat a

demon (asura) then threatening the gods and the hermits

and slaying this monster at the same moment that Rama is

prevailing over Ravana and, thus, to her own great regret, is

not able to witness the great feats in this battle.

Here, they also perform the entire Ramayana over a total of 21

nights. Such performances take place in special locations, for

example, in front of a temple dedicated to this goddess, and

particularly on the occasion of her festival days. The epic version under performance is that of Kamban, written in Tamil (the language of Tamil Nadu). In fact, these puppeteers, originally from Tamil Nadu, speak both Tamil and Malayalam, the language of Kerala. They make recourse to verses from Kamban, conveyed orally from masters to their disciples whilst interspersing them with sometimes extremely long dialogues, episodes, digressions and also broken up with commentaries. It is difficult to precisely establish when this genre first emerged. According to the specialists, the period in which Kamban took root varies between the 9th and 13th centuries. There is a legend that, around 400 years ago, a man of letters had been prevented from witnessing the Ramayana at a gathering of Brahman due to being from a lower caste. He then resolved to adapt the Kamban text so that everybody might enjoy its story. What is certain is that whilst the genre was at its peak of popularity in the 13th century, nowadays, it experiences difficulty in surviving.

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Once again, the figures are cut out of deerskin because of its sacred nature and then painted black and yellow even whilst their thickness is such that the performance ends up being in black and white. Placed on a plank running along the foot of the screen are several small oil lamps. The orchestra, positioned behind the screen, contains a double sided drum (ezhupara), cymbals (manjira), a flute and, to reinforce the dramatic intensity of certain moments, a gong, two other types of drums (maddalam and chenda) and a horn.

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Before the performance, offerings are made to the goddess: a lamp is lit and hung from a chain with the light burning in front of a statue of the goddess; this lamp is then taken to light the small oil lamps at the foot of the screen. The interpreter of the goddess (velichapadu) who wears a red scarf around the waist, comes to bless the artists after having taken three turns around the temple. Next, the shadow of Ganesh appears on the screen and, after giving prayers to the elephant headed god, the play itself may properly begin.