Tholpavakoothu, literally meaning 'leather puppet play' (a form of shadow puppetry),
is a ritual art performed during the annual festivals of the Kaali temples
in the South Malabar and Palakkad regions of Kerala, India.
Viswanatha Pulavar, (The chief puppeteer)
The play at Vazhalikkav bhagavathi Temple, Thrissur is a seven-day-long Koothu.
It is performed using leather puppets in a specially constructed playhouse on the temple premises called 'Koothumaadam'.
The puppets are arranged behind a long white curtain stretched across the Koothumadam.
The lighting is provided by lamps lit in coconut halves placed behind the puppets.
The light from these lamps casts the silhouettes of the puppets on the curtain.
The theme of the play is based on the 'Kamba Ramayana,' narrated in a diction that is a mixture of Malayalam and Tamil dialectical variations.
According to Viswanatha Pulavar, the chief puppeteer, Tholpavakoothu is a way of narrating the events of the Ramayana story to Kaali. It begins at night and goes on till dawn.
The Koothumadam
