Andhra Pradesh (South India)
Framed Leather Shadow Puppet
In Andhra Pradesh the Tholu Bomalatta tradition of travelling shadow puppet theatre typically enacts the voluminous epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Made from goat, cow or buffalo skin, the Andhra Pradesh puppets are sometimes more than five feet high. They are translucent, stained in vegetable dyes and are extremely stylised in facial garment rendering. Viewed as shadows from behind a lamp-lit cloth screen, the puppets are manipulated with the help of bamboo sticks at certain points, usually at the joints on the shoulders, knees, elbows and head. The highly animated performance, along with the drum beat and loud narration of stories is highly effective in mesmerising the spectators transporting them into another world.
