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Puppets
 Puppets is an ancient and popular form of folk entertainment. No village fair, no religious festival and no social gathering in Rajasthan can be complete without Puppets. With their sparkling eyes and brightly colored dresses, the
kathputlis , gives unforgettable experience.
Unfortunately, puppet theatre in India is under serious threat from television and cinema, and it may soon be curtains for this animated style of amusement. You may not find too many puppeteers these days, but what you will find is that these well-crafted marionettes are up for sale and look quite sensational in urban homes.
The puppets in Rajasthan are one of the
fashionable sources of hobby in the state. The art of puppetry is
skillful by a society of agricultural laborers of Rajasthan. Known as
the Bhats, these people have been linked with Rajasthani string
puppetry to take forward their customary occupation. Though they
belong, initially, to the Nagaur area in the Marwar area,
they travel all during the countryside to show their skills. Also known
by the name of the "Kathputliwalas", they frequently perform the
puppet shows throughout the late evenings. Puppetry is a very old,
popular form of folk entertainment. The string puppet in Rajasthan is
called Kathputlis or marionettes. No village fair, no spiritual
festival and no social gathering would be complete without them. The
traditional puppeteers were from the traveling communities of the
Bhats.
In the puppet (Kathputliwalas) shows of Rajasthan there are a
number of wooden dummy dolls that are wearing clothes up in
bright and color attires. These puppets are close with strings that the
puppeteer uses to move them around. A small stage is set up with the
help of a cot that is laid by length. The puppeteer tacks his puppets
over a cable joined to the upper legs of the cots. The cots are covered
with sheets in order to hide the puppeteer from the view of the public.
He moves the jointed limbs of the puppets with the help of strings close
to each of them. Loud beats on the dholak make known the starting
of the puppet show. During the show, there is hooting and whistling by
the puppeteers. Each of the puppet shows of Rajasthan has a topic
different from the other.
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