The voice of the puppets

Meet Mr. Muthuchandran…

The 6th generation shadow puppeteer - The man with many voices and the man who has mastered the art of shadow puppetry... I happened to meet him at my friend’s terrace. He was busy performing the centuries old art called as "Thol Paavaikoothu" – which means “Leather Puppet Show”.

Hailing from Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district - the southernmost tip of the Indian Subcontinent, 41-year-old Muthuchandran manages to keep the art alive even in the age of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube & Instagram.

A casual chat with Muthuchandran, gives us an insight into his world…He says, "Thol Paavai Koothu is nothing but a one man show…yes you will have your colleagues around to support you with musical equipments & helping you, but ultimately you will be the one who will have to run the show."

Thol Pavai Koothu is believed to have been originated around 1025 AD in Southern India as a theatre form to convey Hindu myths. With so many years of experience Muthuchandran, is now an authority on Ramayana & Mahabharata. He learnt this art from his father…There is no script for this art form...whatever he has learnt is only what he heard while observing his father’s performance since childhood.

Some of these leather cut-outs are more than 100 years old

He can speak in more than 20 voices and has been lending his voice to all the characters in Ramayana and Mahabarata. It’s a traditional art that reaches the general masses no matter if they are educated or uneducated - Even now "Thol Paavai Koothu' is considered as a powerful medium to communicate in rural areas because its a crowd puller. Sometimes the government uses them to launch its awareness campaigns on AIDS, Malaria, Dengue & Polio in rural areas.

But now the traditional art form is fading away. It doesn't fetch him the money he wants to maintain his livelihood. At this digital age the government is not doing enough to support this art form. Though he teaches 'Thol Paavai Koothu' at schools upon requests, he doesn't want his kids to take up this as a profession because of lack of support and Muthuchandran says if this situation continues the art is soon going to become part of history.