Category / Palakad Puppetry

A research trip focusing on the history and cultural context of shadow puppetry and crafts in a number of places in India.

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  • Puppet Colony

    I had heard about a group of nomadic puppeteers who had settled in Jaipur, and was lucky enough to be introduced to Rajesh Bhat, a Rajasthani puppeteer living in the heart of the community. He invited me to his home on the outskirts of the city. He lives in a Kathputli-colony. This is a slum…

  • City of Makers

    On the advice of the wonderful Sound Travels director Georgie Pope, I spent the last few days of my India trip in Jaipur. Georgie had been part of a research project several years before, where they had mapped makers in the city and around. It is incredible how many people are making in the old…

  • Oriya Puppetry

    Orissa has a history of puppetry, which goes back a few hundred years. As is the story with many of the artforms I have encountered in India, there are few groups still practicing. I went to visit one of these troupes in central Orissa. The group are led by local academic Gouranga Dash. Gouranga tells…

  • Kerala Folklore Museum

    The Museum of Folklore in Cochin is truly brilliant. It is filled to the brim with folk arts from Southern India. The museum was built 4 years ago, and is based on traditional South Indian temple architecture. It is beautiful. It houses just one man’s collection -24 years of kleptomania are well appreciated here, let’s…

  • Puram

    You could say I am a well seasoned British festival goer. My calf muscles are sufficiently toned to lift my heavy wellies out of a mud trench. I can proficiently paint butterflies, flowers and miscellaneous swirls on faces, and can sing the odd ditty (almost tunefully) around a fire at silly time in the morning…

  • Making puppets

    As you can imagine making a puppet in leather is not an easy task. The hardest part is getting the detail straight (being me and generally a bit wonky this is especially difficult). Pulavar started by teaching  me the simplist of the designs (all of which have symbolic reference i.e. the diamond means ambition). These…

  • Shadows Under the Banyan Tree

    Shortly after plonking my backpack on the sofa and gulping my sweet tea, Pulavar and his son informed me of their gig in Fort Kochi. They had been booked to perform an abridged Ramayana that evening. I was quite relieved to peel myself out of the car after 8 hours wedged in between a troupe…

  • Just arrived

    I’ve finally arrived at the lovely Pulavar family home. We got here early on a bright sunny Sunday after a 13 hour train ride, and were welcomed with a much appreciated dosa, coconut chutney, and tea breakfast. Set just off the road to Shoranur, the home is part of a community of shadow puppeteers -all…

  • Happy New Year from India!

    HAPPY 2013 everyone! Just a quick post before I head further south to start the long anticipated residency in Shoranur. I am slowly getting used to the wonderfully full-of-colours-busy-topsy-turvy lifestyle in India. I arrived in Kolkata a week ago, and was met by my wonderful host Georgie from Sound Travels. I have spent most of…

  • Indian Shadow Puppetry

    At the start of next year I will go on a research trip to to India. I will carry out research into the history and cultural context of shadow puppetry and crafts in a number of places in India. [image: Ramachandra Pulvar] This will include spending 3 weeks with puppeteer Ramachandra Pulvar in Kerala. Pulvar is from a…