Kathputli is a string puppet theatre, native to Rajasthan, India, and is the most popular form of Indian puppetry. [1] Being a string marionette, it is controlled by a single string that passes it from the top of the puppet over the puppeteers. [2]
Putli meaning a doll. Kathputli means a puppet which is made entirely from wood. However it is made out of wood, cotton cloth and metal wire.
Some scholars believe Kathputli art tradition is more than thousands years old. [3] One finds its reference in Rajasthani folk tales, ballads and sometimes even in folk songs. Similar puppets which are rod-puppets, are also found in west Bengal. But it is truly rajasthan's amazing kathputli which made India one of the first countries to invent its traditional puppetry. Tribes of Rajasthan have been performing this art from the ancient times and it has become an eternal part of Rajasthani culture diversity and tradition. No village fair no religious festival and no social gathering in Rajasthan can be complete without the Kathputlis. It is believed that somewhere 1500 years ago, tribal Rajasthani Bhat community started the use of Kathputli as string marionette art and it is in their love for tradition that art of Kathputli survived the test of time. Tradition of Kathputli is based on folk tales and stories. Scholars believe that folk tales convey the lifestyle of ancient Rajasthani tribal people and Kathputli art might have originated from present day Nagaur and surrounding areas. [4] Rajasthani Kings and nobles were patrons of Art and Craft and they encouraged the craftsmen in activities ranging from wood and marble carving to weaving, pottery, painting and jewellery. Over the last 500 years, Kathputli was a system of patronage supported by kings and well-off families. The patrons would look after the artists in return for the artists singing praises of the patrons’ ancestors. Bhat community claim that their ancestors had performed for royal families, and received great honour and prestige from the rulers of Rajasthan. [5]
Today Kathputli art is one of the most popular performing arts of Rajasthan state of India after Ghoomar. Organisations like Rupayan Sansthan in Jodhpur founded by Vijaydan Detha and Komal Kothari in 1960 and Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal, Udaipur, founded by Devilal Samar in 1952, are working in the field preserving and promoting the art of Kathputli, the latter even has a puppet theater as well as puppet museum. [6] Capital New Delhi also has an area known as 'Kathputli Colony', in Shadipur Depot, where puppeteers, magicians, acrobats, dancers and musicians and other itinerant performance groups have settled for half a century. [7] [8] [9]
Characteristic to this form are the shrill voices produced by the lead puppeteer which are spoken through a bamboo reed. The art of Rajasthani puppetry (also called Kathputli) originated a thousand years ago when the Bhat community began to practice this art. Patronised by many ruling families in the state, it soon grew into a major art form of the region.
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performance is also known as a puppet production. The script for a puppet production is called a puppet play. Puppeteers use movements from hands and arms to control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer sometimes speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, while at other times they perform to a recorded soundtrack.
Chinese folk art are artistic forms inherited from a regional or ethnic scene in China. Usually there are some variation between provinces. Individual folk arts have a long history, and many traditions are still practiced today. The general definition of folk art incorporates Chinese art forms that are not classified as Chinese fine art.
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues. They have also been used in films and on television. The attachment of the strings varies according to its character or purpose.
A hand puppet is a type of puppet that is controlled by the hand or hands that occupies the interior of the puppet. A glove puppet is a variation of hand puppets. Rod puppets require one of the puppeteer's hands inside the puppet glove holding a rod which controls the head, and the puppet's body then hangs over most or all of the forearm of the puppeteer, and possibly extends further. Other parts of the puppet may be controlled by different means, e.g., by rods operated by the puppeteer's free hand, or strings or levers pulled the head or body. A smaller variety, simple hand puppets often have no significant manipulable parts at all. Finger puppets are not hand puppets as they are used only on a finger.
Youssouf Coulibaly is a Malian puppet designer, puppeteer and storyteller from Mali.
Dadi Pudumjee is a leading puppeteer in India and he is the founder of The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1992.
Devi Lal Samar was an Indian puppeteer who was the founder-director of a folk-theatre museum called the Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal in Udaipur, Rajasthan. He was awarded Padma Shri for his outstanding work. He wrote several books in Hindi about Rajasthani theatre and puppetry.
Shadipur Depot is a residential and industrial area in West Delhi, named after nearby Shadipur settlement. This is also a depot for the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). It is also known for the 'Baljit Nagar', were in Kathputli Colony, puppeteers, magicians, acrobats, dancers and musicians, and other itinerant performance groups have settled for half a century.
Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy was a professor of folk and classical music of South Asia at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he was the founding chair of the Department of Ethnomusicology and Systematic Musicology. He was appointed professor of music at UCLA in 1975, and retired in 1994. He was president of the Society for Ethnomusicology.
The culture of Rajasthan includes many artistic traditions that reflect the ancient Indian way of life. Rajasthan is also called "Land of Kings". It has many tourist attractions and facilities for tourists. This historical state of India attracts tourists and vacationers with its rich culture, tradition, heritage, and monuments. It also has some wildlife sanctuaries and national parks.
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet's mouth with this spoken part. The actions, gestures and spoken parts acted out by the puppeteer with the puppet are typically used in storytelling. Puppetry is a very ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in Ancient Greece. There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made from a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They range from very simple in construction and operation to very complex.
Kathputli may refer to:
Yoke thé is the Burmese name for marionette puppetry. Although the term can be used for puppetry in general, its usage usually refers to the local form of string puppetry. Like most of Burmese refined art, yoke thé performances originated from royal patronage and were gradually adapted for the wider populace. Yoke thé are almost always performed in the form of Burmese operas.
The crafts of India are diverse, rich in history, culture and religion. The craft of each state in India reflect the influence of different empires. Throughout centuries, crafts have been embedded as a culture and tradition within rural communities.
Water puppetry is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam. Today's Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique variation on the ancient Asian puppet tradition.
Sakhi kandhei is a string puppetry show popular in the Indian state of Odisha, especially in the Kendrapara district of Odisha. This form of art is still performed by local artists in and around Palakana, a small village in Kendrapara. Puppeteers generally form groups and travel from village to village for performing shows. Wooden dolls are tied to strings which are controlled by pulling and releasing the strings. Different expression by pulling the strings narrate tales from the Puranas and modern social life. A group of artists perform music and give background voice for the narration of stories.
Kathputli Colony is a colony of street performers in Shadipur Depot area of Delhi. For the last 50 years, it is home to some 2,800 families of magicians, snake charmers, acrobats, singers, dancers, actors, traditional healers and musicians and especially puppeteers or kathputli-performers from Rajasthan. This makes it world’s largest community of street performers.
Russian puppet theater appears to have originated either in migrations from the Byzantine Empire in the sixth century or possibly by Mongols travelling from China. Itinerant Slavic minstrels were presenting puppet shows in western Russia by the thirteenth century, arriving in Moscow in the mid-sixteenth century. Although Russian traditions were increasingly influenced by puppeteers from western Europe in the eighteenth century, Petrushka continued to be one of the principal figures. In addition to glove puppets and marionettes, rod puppets and flat puppets were introduced for a time but disappeared in the late nineteenth century.
Bhāt is a "generic term" used to refer to a bard in India. The majority of Bhats hail from Rajasthan and worked as genealogists for their patrons, however, they are viewed as mythographers. In India, the inception of Rajputization was followed by the emanation of two groups of bards with one group of them serving the society's influential communities and the other serving the communities with deep Charani literature knowledge they got importance in king's courts.
Gopalila also called as Krishnalila is a traditional form of itinerant glove - puppet theatre of Odisha state. The art of Gopalila is mainly concentrated in the coastal district includes, Cuttack, Puri, Kendrapara, Ganjam and Dhenkanal. Gopa refers to the "cowherd boys" in associated with the life of lord Krishna and Lila means "play". The puppeteers are Gopals belongs to the caste of cowherds. In religious occasions, especially Janmastami and Govardhan Puja, the puppeteers performed to entertain local villagers. Puppets are made of wood and paper and their bodies are padded with cloth. The lower half being covered with a long skirt. In southern Odisha, the puppets have legs which touch the ground; but in the north Odisha, the puppets are without legs.