Editing Puppetry (section)

====India====
[[Image:Rajasthani-puppeteer.jpg|thumb|[[Kathputli (puppetry)|Kathputli]] Puppeteer from [[Rajasthan]], India]]
[[India]] has a long tradition of puppetry. In the ancient Indian epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'' there are references to puppets. Another ancient reference to puppetry is found in Tamil classic ‘Silappadikaaram’ written around 1st or 2nd century B.C.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Puppet Forms – |url=https://ccrtindia.gov.in/puppet-forms/ |access-date=2024-02-05 |website=Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) |language=en}}</ref> [[Kathputli (puppetry)|Kathputli]], a form of string puppet performance native to [[Rajasthan]], is notable and there are many Indian ventriloquists and puppeteers. The first Indian ventriloquist, Professor [[Y. K. Padhye]], introduced this form of puppetry to India in the 1920s and his son, Ramdas Padhye, subsequently popularised ventriloquism and puppetry. Almost all types of puppets are found in India.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://ccrtindia.gov.in/puppetforms.php|title=Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT)|website=Ccrtindia.gov.in|access-date=2018-01-03}}</ref>

;String puppets
[[File:Sakhi Kandhei (String puppets of Odisha) at Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, Pune.JPG|thumb|[[Sakhi Kandhei]] (String puppets of Odisha)]]
India has a rich and ancient tradition of string puppets or marionettes. Marionettes with jointed limbs controlled by strings allow far greater flexibility and are therefore the most articulate of the puppets. Rajasthan, Orissa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are some of the regions where this form of puppetry has flourished. The traditional marionettes of Rajasthan are known as ''[[Kathputli (puppetry)|Kathputli]]''. Carved from a single piece of wood, these puppets are like large dolls that are colourfully dressed.  The string puppets of [[Orissa]] are known as ''[[Sakhi kandhei|Kundhei]]''. The string puppets of [[Karnataka]] are called ''Gombeyatta''. Puppets from [[Tamil Nadu]], known as ''Bommalattam'', combine the techniques of rod and string puppets.

;Shadow Puppets
[[File:Tholpavakoothu Image.jpg|thumb|A scene from [[Tholpavakoothu]] shadow play.]]
Shadow puppets are an ancient part of India's culture and art, particularly regionally as the ''keelu bomme'' and ''[[Tholu bommalata]]'' of [[Andhra Pradesh]], the ''[[Togalu gombeyaata]]'' in [[Karnataka]], the ''charma bahuli natya'' in [[Maharashtra]], the ''[[Ravana chhaya]]'' in [[Odisha]], the ''[[Tholpavakoothu]]'' in [[Kerala]] and the ''thol bommalatta'' in [[Tamil Nadu]]. Shadow puppet play is also found in pictorial traditions in India, such as temple mural painting, loose-leaf folio paintings, and the narrative paintings.<ref>Lopes, Rui Oliveira. (2016) "A new light on the shadows of heavenly bodies. Indian shadow puppets: from still paintings to motion pictures". Religion and the Arts, vol. 20, no. 1-2, pp. 160-196. DOI: 10.1163/15685292-02001008</ref> Dance forms such as the [[Chhau dance|Chhau]] of [[Odisha]] literally mean "shadow".<ref>{{cite book |title=South Asian folklore: an encyclopedia|last=Claus|first=Peter J.|author2=Sarah Diamond |author3=Margaret Ann Mills  |year=2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=0-415-93919-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ienxrTPHzzwC |pages=108–110 }}</ref> The shadow theatre dance drama theatre are usually performed on platform stages attached to [[Hindu temple]]s, and in some regions these are called ''Koothu Madams'' or ''Koothambalams''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Beth Osnes| title= Acting: An International Encyclopedia |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WTkCI62oXjEC&pg=PA335 |year=2001| publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn= 978-0-87436-795-9|pages= 152, 179–180}}</ref> In many regions, the puppet drama play is performed by itinerant artist families on temporary stages during major temple festivals.<ref name="ClausDiamond2003p544"/> Legends from the Hindu epics ''[[Ramayana]]'' and the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' dominate their repertoire.<ref name="ClausDiamond2003p544"/> However, the details and the stories vary regionally.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Arjun Appadurai|author2=Frank J. Korom|author3=Margaret Ann Mills|title=Gender, Genre, and Power in South Asian Expressive Traditions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9j68pRNtezAC&pg=PA379 |year=1991|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=0-8122-1337-8|pages=379–391}}</ref><ref>Stuart Blackburn (1998), ''Looking Across the Contextual Divide: Studying Performance in South India'', South Asia Research, Volume 18, Issue 1, pages 1-11, Quote: "If performance is the cultural organisation of behaviour, it is interesting that these cultural forms vary so widely from area to area. To return to south India, tales are told and songs sung throughout the region, but the same is not true for long narrative singing (epic and the like), or for dance, or for drama; even masks, so widespread in Kerala and other parts of south India, are not significant in Tamil culture."</ref>

During the 19th century and early parts of the 20th century of the colonial era, Indologists believed that shadow puppet plays had become extinct in India, though mentioned in its ancient Sanskrit texts.<ref name="ClausDiamond2003p544"/> In the 1930s and thereafter, states Stuart Blackburn, these fears of its extinction were found to be false as evidence emerged that shadow puppetry had remained a vigorous rural tradition in central Kerala mountains, most of Karnataka, northern Andhra Pradesh, parts of Tamil Nadu, Odisha and southern Maharashtra.<ref name="ClausDiamond2003p544"/> The Marathi people, particularly of low caste, had preserved and vigorously performed the legends of Hindu epics as a folk tradition. The importance of Marathi artists is evidenced, states Blackburn, from the puppeteers speaking Marathi as their mother tongue in many non-Marathi speaking states of India.<ref name="ClausDiamond2003p544">{{cite book|author=Stuart Blackburn |editor=Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond and Margaret Ann Mills|title=South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ienxrTPHzzwC&pg=PA543 |year=2003|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-93919-5|pages=543–544}}</ref>

{{Listen
 | filename    = Tholpavakooth at Kollam.ogv
 | title       = A shadow play in Kerala
 | description = Ramayana legend, with audience response (45 seconds)
 | format      = [[Ogv]]
 | pos = left
}}
According to Beth Osnes, the ''[[tholu bommalata]]'' shadow puppet theatre dates back to the 3rd century BCE, and has attracted patronage ever since.<ref>{{cite book|author=Beth Osnes|title=Acting: An International Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WTkCI62oXjEC&pg=PA335 |year=2001| publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn= 978-0-87436-795-9|page=335}}</ref> The puppets used in a ''tholu bommalata'' performance, states Phyllis Dircks, are "translucent, lusciously multicolored leather figures four to five feet tall, and feature one or two articulated arms".<ref name="Dircks2004p110">{{cite book|author=Phyllis T. Dircks|title=American Puppetry: Collections, History and Performance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VVQd4UD7k40C&pg=PA110 |year=2004|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-1896-1|page=110}}</ref> The process of making the puppets is an elaborate ritual, where the artist families in India pray, go into seclusion, produce the required art work, then celebrate the "metaphorical birth of a puppet" with flowers and incense.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Bell|title=Puppets, Masks, and Performing Objects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DUrt2TWsHNIC |year=1999|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-52293-9|pages=146–147}}</ref>

The ''tholu pava koothu'' of Kerala uses leather puppets whose images are projected on a backlit screen. The shadows are used to creatively express characters and stories in the ''[[Ramayana]]''. A complete performance of the epic can take forty-one nights, while an abridged performance lasts as few as seven days.<ref name="Osnes2001p335">{{cite book|author=Beth Osnes|title=Acting: An International Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WTkCI62oXjEC&pg=PA335 |year=2001| publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn= 978-0-87436-795-9|pages=335–336}}</ref> One feature of the ''tholu pava koothu'' show is that it is a team performance of puppeteers, while other shadow plays such as the ''wayang'' of Indonesia are performed by a single puppeteer for the same ''Ramayana'' story.<ref name="Osnes2001p335"/> There are regional differences within India in the puppet arts. For example, women play a major role in shadow play theatre in most parts of India, except in Kerala and Maharashtra.<ref name="ClausDiamond2003p544"/> Almost everywhere, except Odisha, the puppets are made from tanned deer skin, painted and articulated. Translucent leather puppets are typical in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, while opaque puppets are typical in Kerala and Odisha. The artist troupes typically carry over a hundred puppets for their performance in rural India.<ref name="ClausDiamond2003p544"/>
;Rod puppets
Rod puppets are an extension of glove-puppets, but are often much larger and supported and manipulated by rods from below. This form of puppetry now is found mostly in [[West Bengal]] and [[Orissa]]. The traditional rod puppet form of West Bengal is known as ''Putul Nautch''. They are carved from wood and follow the various artistic styles of a particular region. The traditional rod puppet of [[Bihar]] is known as ''Yampuri''.

;Glove puppets
Glove puppets are also known as sleeve, hand or palm puppets. The head is made of either [[papier mâché]], cloth or wood, with two hands emerging from just below the neck. The rest of the figure consists of a long, flowing skirt. These puppets are like limp dolls, but in the hands of an able puppeteer, are capable of producing a wide range of movements. The manipulation technique is simple the movements are controlled by the human hand, the first finger inserted in the head and the middle finger and the thumb in the two arms of the puppet. With the help of these three fingers, the glove puppet comes alive.

The tradition of glove puppets in India is popular in Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Kerala. In [[Uttar Pradesh]], glove puppet plays usually present social themes, whereas in Orissa such plays are based on stories of Radha and Krishna. In [[Orissa]], the puppeteer plays a ''[[dholak]]'' (hand drum) with one hand and manipulates the puppet with the other. The delivery of the dialogue, the movement of the puppet and the beat of the dholak are well synchronised and create a dramatic atmosphere. In [[Kerala]], the traditional glove puppet play is called ''Pavakoothu''.