Technology blends with tradition: Kerala leather robotic puppets Art and Culture

Koonathara, Palakkad – 25 more people sitting in chairs sitting in chairs in Koonathara, Kerala, India’s Palakkad district, with fresh air, lively prayer verses and striking puppets. They are a mix of locals and tourists from all over the world.

Tholpavakoothu (meaning thol skin, means pava puppet and koothu games) is a form of shadow puppet performed at events and festivals held in temples dedicated to the gods Durga or Kaali. The art form is found only in the neighboring villages of Palakkad, Thrissur and Kerala.

Performed three or four times a month between January and May, a special 42-meter-long koothumadam stage is located on the temple premises. It shows mythological images or lights lit by fire behind a screen.

The festive air is noticeable when the rhythmic drum beat begins and the performers emerge carrying a light lamp. The fireworks go off to announce the start of the performance and then, except for the light of the lamp in the dark, a feeling of calm prevails.

A row of 21 fuses placed in coconut shells is lit behind the screen, consisting of white cloth stretched over the koothumadam, bounded by a black cloth.

Tholpavakoothu is based on the Kamba Ramayana (Tamil version of the epic Ramayana), which tells the story of the Hindu god Sri Rama, from his birth until he was crowned king of Ayodhia.

It is said that tholpavakoothu is performed to please the goddess Bhadrakali who could not witness the assassination of the demon king Rama Ravana, and so an idol of the goddess is placed in front of the stage on a pedestal.

About 160 puppets are used to represent the 70 strange characters of Kamba Ramayana, narrated in a diction that is a mixture of Malayalam and Tamil, with songs and poetry called Adalpattu.

Ten artists – master puppeteers, singers, storytellers and other puppeteers – are very skilled in art.

Sixty-two-year-old Lakshman Pulavar is one of them. She has been performing since she was a child, following in the footsteps of her father, grandfather and predecessors.

His family are the sole guardians of the 300-year-old artform and have been performing for eight generations.

The master puppeteer is called a “pulavan”, derived from the name of their family Pulavar, a learned scholar.

The leather puppets, which are about 80 cm high, are made by Lakshman and his sons, with the help of family members. Buffalo and deer are cut from the skins of the skin, painted with plant dyes and tied with sticks.

Manipulating them requires skill and concentration and is one of the most difficult parts of a performance. There, a total of 2,100 slokas (verses) and their meanings must also be learned.

Performance group in front of a stage [Sajeesh Pulavar/Al Jazeera]

In total, the Pulavar family performs in 82 temples throughout Palakkad, with Lakshman and his son covering the heads of 20 temples and the rest of the brothers and cousins.

The performance usually lasts 21 days around Pooram, the annual festival held in the first week of April, but can last even longer. The family also performs other shows in which different stories are told at events and functions around Palakkad. These performances are shorter, some last 30 minutes and require fewer artists.

“Artists must undergo years of rigorous training before mastering this form of art,” Lakshman explains, while training some students and holding a puppet in their hand while speaking. “It took me a long time to recite all the verses verbatim,” he added.

‘I love being a part of it’

Harisree Kannan Tholpavakoothu Kalakendram in Koonathara is an institute dedicated to tholpavakoothu performances and is run by Lakshman and his sons, 31-year-old Sajeesh and 22-year-old Sajith.

The institute organizes training sessions and summer camps to teach the art form, as well as how to make puppets, training 10 to 20 adult students and 150 to 200 school children at a time. They also conduct workshops for international students studying Indian culture. Since the pandemic, Sajeesh has been giving online classes at his home using a temporary stage.

Lakshman Pulavar in a training session with his students [Sajeesh Pulavar/Al Jazeera]

“The rhythms and music of the drums give the performance a sense of euphoria and excitement, and I really enjoy being a part of that,” says Sajith, when his eyes are sparkling.

Brother Sajeesh left the village to study mechanical engineering and work in an automobile company, but soon returned to continue the family tradition.

“I learned the art of tholpavakoothu from my father and grandfather from the age of six and I have been involved in this family tradition since my childhood,” she says.

Lakshman and his sons are passionate about art forms and are responsible for maintaining it.

But since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the family has been struggling.

Due to restrictions, the duration of performances has been reduced from seven to eight hours a day to four and fewer people attend. During lock-in periods, performances stop altogether. The lack of tourism in the last year has also meant smaller audiences.

Prior to the pandemic, they made 150,000-200,000 rupees ($ 2,057 – $ 2,744) a month for temple performances. They now make 50,000-60,000 rupees ($ 686- $ 823) a month. But each show costs 20,000-35,000 rupees ($ 274 – $ 480) to dress up – and what’s left of their profits has to be split between eight and 10 people involved in each production.

With fewer live performances, Pulavar is dependent on online workshops to supplement its revenue. They have started renting their puppets, selling puppets to tourists and also cultivating agriculture. “We’re working with rice to add to our income,” Lakshman explained.

Sajeesh Pulavar with a puppet in gloves [Sajeesh Pulavar/Al Jazeera]

Technology blends with tradition

Another problem the family has encountered is the lack of interest in the art form among the younger generations. But technology may be rescued in that sense.

Thrissur-based Inker Robotics is a 38-year-old technology startup created by Rahul Balachandran, 38. He trains school and university students in automation and robotics, as well as developing robots to work in agriculture, industry and other fields.

A few years ago, after seeing the amount of work on manipulating the puppets, Rahul suggested that Pulavar try to use robots to operate the puppets.

Sajeesh and Lakshman were immediately drawn to the ideas, believing that the introduction of something so modern into this traditional art would attract more people.

“We hoped to create an awareness of preserving local traditions and culture,” Lakshman explained.

But since each robot would cost a hundred thousand rupees, they could not afford it.

Then, a few months ago, he visited the District Heritage Museum in Palakkad, Sajeesha, home to one of India’s largest collections of musical instruments. He wanted to organize a permanent exhibition of Tholpavakoothu puppets. Sajeesh saw the possibility of using robot-operated puppets and talked to Rahul.

Together, they set out to create the first puppet show operated with a robot. Sajeesh showed the hand movements to Rahul and his team, and at the same time wrote the code to synchronize the movements.

Testing the operation of robot puppets at Inker Robotics [Photo courtesy of Rahul Balachandran]

“Sajeesh and I would spend a few hours with my team to get the best performance out of the robots so they could reflect the original style of the puppets,” Rahul explains.

It took him three months to complete.

It was first seen in front of 100 people at the museum in February.

“People were amazed and excited to see that the puppet show that works with the robot was a new experience for them,” says museum director Milton Francis.

Puppets are programmed when a sensor detects the presence of a visitor to play one of the Kamba Ramayana stories, which lasts between 30 minutes and two hours. It was a great success since it was installed and attracted a large crowd before the final blockade.

“The robot will control the movements of the puppets’ limbs and that’s the hardest part,” says Sajeesh, adding, “It felt surreal to see the robots manipulate the puppets, like a dream came true.”

Lakshman and Sajeesh Pulavar saw the museum exhibit [Photo courtesy of Sajeesh Pulavar]

Now they are exploring new places to use robots.

“We have used a prototype in the museum and are working on the product to be installed at Kochi airport, which has a huge footprint,” says Rahul. “I’m very excited about the possibilities of technology and its reach.”

But, despite the success of robot-driven puppets, Pulavar does not want to lose the human touch and has decided to limit their use to the stage by keeping traditional puppets hand-handled for temple performances “keeping the beliefs and traditions of our elders”.

“We believe that traditional art forms like this need to be spread and taught to the younger generation so that they don’t disappear,” Lakshman says.