Tholu bommalata
Tholu bommalata is the shadow puppet theatre tradition of the state of Andhra Pradesh in India with roots dating back to 3rd century BCE.[1][2][3] Its performers are part of a group of wandering entertainers and peddlers who pass through villages during the course of a year and offer to sing ballads, tell fortunes, sell amulets, perform acrobatics, charm snakes, weave fishnets, tattoo local people and mend pots. Tholu bommalata has a history of consistent royal patronage.[4] It is the ancestor of Wayang, the Indonesian puppet theatre play which has been a staple of Indonesian tourism and designated by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.[a]
This ancient custom, which for centuries before radio, film, and television provided knowledge of Hindu epics and local folk tales, not to mention news, spread to the most remote corners of the Indian subcontinent.[1] The puppeteers comprise some of the various entertainers who perform all night and usually reenact various stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata.[11]
Etymology[edit]
Tholu bommalata literally means "the dance of leather puppets" (tholu – "leather", bomma – "puppet/doll" and aata – "play/dance").[11][12] It is also translated as "the play of leather dolls" or "the dance of leather dolls".[13][6]
Tolu Bommalattam, also known as "Bommalattam" or "Tolpava Koothu," is a traditional shadow puppetry art form that has its roots in Tamil Nadu, India. It is a highly stylized and intricate form of storytelling using leather puppets. The term "Tolu" means leather, and "Bommalattam" means puppetry in Tamil.
History[edit]
Andhra history records that shadow puppetry was in vogue during the Satavahana period (2nd century BCE–2nd century CE).[2][3] Art critics opine that the puppetry spread from Andhra to Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma.[3] Wayang, the Indonesian puppet theatre play which has been a staple of Indonesian tourism and designated by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, has its origins in Tholu bommalata.[a] Some of the shadow plays are improvised based on Ranganatha Ramayanamu (c. 1300 CE).[12]
Current state of affairs[edit]
The shadow play has been only one set of techniques for dramatizing the vastly rich Hindu epics. It has now been superseded by motion pictures and television, which have reinvigorated the epics for the electronic age. But the shadow play was a brilliant innovation, one whose visual artifacts hold clues to the history of South Asian art and drama and deserve to be preserved for the delight of generations to come.[15]