Mahabali to come alive as puppets

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mention Onam, and you immediately think ‘Onapattu’, ‘Thiruvathirakali’, or colourful ‘Pookkalams.’  But this festival season,  K K Ramachandra Pulavar, the shadow-puppetry maestro from Palakkad, is planning to relate the engaging tale of Mahabali through his art form."Mahabali’s generosity, Vamana’s entry disguised as a Brahmin boy and the oft-told story of how Vamana pushed the king down into the netherworld, all will be told through shadow puppetry,’’ Ramachandra Pulavar’s son K Rajeev, who is now in the city with his father for the shows, says. The first show on Mahabali will be staged in their home district Palakkad, where Ramachandra Pulavar runs the Krishnankutty Pulavar Memorial Tolpava Koothu and Puppetry Centre, named after his father and guru.Once confined to the Koothumadams in Bhagavathi temples in northern Kerala, shadow puppetry gained popularity through the relentless efforts of a few artistes such as Ramachandra Pulavar. On Saturday evening, Pulavar and Rajeev staged Ramayana at the Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan.Mythological themes aside, contemporary issues also find expression in shadow puppetry today. "Recently, we staged a show based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi. We also did some shows on HIV/AIDS to raise awareness among the public,’’ Ramachandra Pulavar says.The father-son duo has also staged shows based on the Panchatantra tales and on the life of Jesus in Scotland, France, Holland,  Russia, Thailand,  Germany and Sweden.Meantime, Rajeev is busy adapting Shakespeare’s plays Othello, King Lear and Macbeth for shadow-puppetry. "We abridge the versions of Shakespeare’s plays to 45 minutes. We are also planning to conduct plays in English to widen our reach among audiences. Themes like conservation of forests and wild animals and other environmental issues also find an expression in our art,” Rajeev says.“Although the puppet theatre originated in Kerala, people are not at all interested in watching the traditional Ramayana Katha. But ever since we began to present contemporary issues, people started taking it seriously,” says Ramachandra Pulavar."If we are confined to the Koothumadam, the shadow puppet theatre will face a premature death,” he adds. It was to preserve the ancient art form that he set up the Krishnankutty Pulvar Memorial Tolpava Koothu and Puppetry Centre at  Koonathara, near Shoranur.“Actually, it was my father Krishnankutty Pulavar who brought  puppet shows into the spotlight. He worked hard to make it compact by reducing the duration to impress viewers,” says Pulavar, who quit his job in the Postal Department  to promote the art form. But few youngsters are interested in adopting it as their life’s vocation, he says. Reason - shadow puppetry provides seasonal employment as it is performed only from August to December.“We also make leather puppets and sell them to tourists as wall hangings, door decorations and lampshades to make both ends meet ” says Ramachandra Pulavar.