A puppet master with a chip in the brain

When tradition meets modernity, the result can sometimes be amazing. A puppet with robotic movements may not sound very charming but in a melding of traditional art and cutting edge technology, a shadow leather puppet in Kerala’s famous temple art Tholpavakkoothu is being animated by a robot.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2021

Tholpavakoothu is a form of shadow puppetry that is practiced in Kerala, India.

It is performed using leather puppets as a ritual dedicated to Bhadrakali and is performed in Devi temples in specially built theatres called koothumadams.

This art form is especially popular in the Palakkad, Thrissur and Malappuram districts of Kerala.

It is believed to have originated in the ninth century AD and uses Kamba Ramayana as its basic text.

The puppets used in Tholpavakoothu used to be made out of deerskin but are now typically made from goatskin.

The puppets are painted in vegetable dyes, as these dyes last long.