Kathputli

Understand

Where Kathputli comes from

Kathputli is Rajasthan's signature string-puppet theatre — some scholars believe it originated more than a thousand years ago with the Bhat community of Nagaur and the surrounding regions, where the hereditary puppeteers took patronage from the Rajput kings and nobles. Over the last five centuries Kathputli became a system of patronage — the Bhat families were supported by kings and noble households in return for performances that recounted the patrons' ancestors and the great Rajput tales. Today the form is preserved by organisations such as Bharatiya Lok Kala Mandal in Udaipur (founded by Devilal Samar in 1952) and Rupayan Sansthan in Jodhpur. A whole working artists' quarter called Kathputli Colony exists in Delhi, where the puppeteers and other Rajasthani performers have settled. Kathputli is one of the most popular Rajasthani performing arts alongside Ghoomar.

How it's practiced

Kathputli puppets are small wooden marionettes in carved classical Rajasthani dress, controlled by a single string passing from the top of the puppet down through a bamboo reed held by the lead puppeteer. The lead puppeteer stands behind the brightly-painted stage and provides all the voices — the shrill distinctive Rajasthani storytelling voice — while a co-percussionist plays the dholak. The plays are drawn from the Rajasthani folk repertoire — Amar Singh Rathore, Dhola-Maru, Pabuji ki Phad, and the romances of the Rajput courts. The performance is staged in village fairs and at cultural programmes, with the audience seated on either side of the small wooden stage.