Tholpavakoothu

In Context – Recently, a shadow leather puppet in Kerala’s famous temple art Tholpavakkoothu has been animated by a robot.

About

• The first robotic leather puppet was installed at the Palakkad District Heritage Museum, which was inaugurated by the Minister for Museums.
• The famous shadow leather puppets will tell stories of the epic Ramayana with the help of robots the first time.

About Tholpavakkoothu

• Tholpavakoothu or shadow puppetry is a temple art form which is prevalent in the Bhagavathy temples (mother Goddess) in Kerala regions. 
• Tholppava (Thol means leather, Pava means puppet) are moved with the help of strings, and their shadows are depicted on a screen with the help of a row of oil lamps in the background.
• The story of Tholpavakoothu’s performance is from the Indian epic, Ramayana.
• The narrative used for the performance is a mixture of prose and poetry called Adalpattu.
• Accompanying instruments include Ezhupara, Chenda and Maddalam.
• The puppetry is staged on a special structure in temple premises called Koothumadam.
• It is also known as Nizhalkkoothu and Olakkoothu.

Source :TH