The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : At Ashvita, puppets reign supreme

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 10, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

At Ashvita, puppets reign supreme

Staff Reporter

All eyes on avatars of Vishnu The walls around the kolu are a tapestry of photographed and real puppets, all pregnant with stories and emotions

CHENNAI: A centipede, tiger and elephant perch amiably beside each other in the puppet kolu at Ashvita. Little finger puppets line the foremost step. Animal puppets and glove puppets of human and divine figures follow. The many avatars of Vishnu are the crowning glory of the display.

"Narasimha's teeth are made of toothpicks," points out Bhanumathi, who has earned a doctorate on her project on the status of puppeteers in South India. Each puppet on display has been a labour of love for her.

The walls around the kolu are a tapestry of photographed and real puppets, all pregnant with stories and emotions. "The charts with pictures of different kinds of puppetry are mostly from my research," Bhanumathi says. Dreamily outlined shadow puppets and string puppets suspended from slender cords are also on display.

Bhanumathi is currently busy with a workshop to train mothers and children to make puppets together. "More children should come and see the puppets. I'm getting too many adults right now," she says with a smile.

The puppet kolu is on at the Ashvita Art Gallery, off Dr. Radhakrishnan Road, till October 12. Bhanumathi can be contacted at 24350937 or 9444486497.

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