sapgrain
Art. Culture. Memory.
Art. Culture. Memory.
"Art, for me, is not an escape — it is a way of connecting"
THOLPAVAKOOTHU · 14th generation practitioner · KOONATHARA, SHORANUR, KERALA
“Art is a responsibilityas much as it is a passion.”
14 Generations of Ancestors
Koonathara, Shoranur — oral tradition preserved across centuries. No written records. Only hands, memory, and flame.
Krishnankutty Pulavar
Rescued Tholpavakoothu from near-extinction at a moment when it was on the verge of being lost entirely. Rebuilt the practice from near-nothing.
Padma Shri K.K. Ramachandra Pulavar
Padma Shri awardee, India's fourth-highest civilian honour. Brought Tholpavakoothu to the national and international stage. Transformed a local temple tradition into a recognised art form.
Rajeev Pulavur
Performer, teacher, puppet-maker, and keeper of the Koonathara koothumadam. 20+ years of practice. Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee.
Women Now Learning the Art
For the first time in the tradition's history, women are now learning Tholpavakoothu — making puppets, studying performance. The lineage continues.
Rajeev Pulavar
Generation XIV
Koonathara, Palakkad, Kerala
The Kerala Chalachitra Academy logo — the puppet silhouette seen before important Malayalam films — was directly inspired by the puppets of the Pulavur family. Director G. Aravindan visited the koothumadam and found Lankalakshmi there. He took the form. The academy kept it. Every time that logo appears on screen, the lineage is watching.
Fresh goatskin is soaked and treated with a water and wood ash paste. This alkaline treatment removes hair, softens the hide, and begins the slow process of achieving translucency. The skin must be worked while still pliable.
The treated skin is stretched taut on a wooden frame and left to dry in direct sunlight. Tension and heat together thin the skin to the correct translucency — the quality that allows oil lamp light to pass through and create a luminous shadow.
Characters are drawn freehand directly onto dried leather. No templates. No tracings. Rajeev draws all 71 characters of the Kamba Ramayana from memory — each figure with its correct proportion, ornamentation, and gesture. A full performance requires 160+ puppets.
Iron chisels of varying widths punch the leather along drawn outlines. The signature Nakshatrakothu (star carving) technique involves hundreds of tiny perforations arranged as jewellery, crowns, and ornament — creating a glowing effect when the lamp shines through.
Colours extracted from tree barks, lamp soot, turmeric, and natural minerals are applied to the puppet surface. Each pigment is chosen for its translucency under oil lamp light — synthetic dyes block the light, natural dyes transmit it. The colour the audience sees is colour transformed by flame.
Completed puppets are fitted with thin bamboo control rods at each jointed limb. A Yuddha (combat) puppet may carry seven rods. Puppets are tested under lamp light before entering the repertoire. When dusk arrives and the chirath are lit, the screen goes up.
—
The Bible Story — Jesus Christ
Processed goatskin, natural dyes, bamboo
Chandalabhikshuki
Processed goatskin, natural dyes, bamboo
Gandhikkoothu — The Story of Gandhi
Processed goatskin, natural dyes, bamboo
Catch a full performance cycle at Krishnan Temple, Koonathara. Most cycles run 7-21 nights between January and April.
Rajeev accepts limited commissions for collectors, museums, and gift requests. Each puppet takes 12-18 days. All commissioned pieces are signed and dated on the back.
Rajeev takes one apprentice per cycle (besides his son Sarath). Workshop runs 14 days at the koothumadam — accommodation, meals, instruction included.
Write directly
Rajeev Pulavur, c/o Krishnan Koothumadam, Koonathara P.O., Palakkad — 678 707, Kerala.
he answers letters. usually within a week.
The quiet of the night, the sound of the wind, temple surroundings, and the atmosphere of festivals—these moments shape the way I tell stories
— Rajeev Pulavar
“Rajeev Pulavur is open to teaching, collaboration, commissions, and visits to the koothumadam in Koonathara, Shoranur. He works with individual students, researchers, cultural organisations, and international visitors. Reach through Sapgrain.”
enquireCatalogue No.
SG-2026-001
Location
Koonathara, Shoranur, Palakkad, Kerala — 679 101
Date of Visit
April 2026
Documented By
Sapgrain Field Documentation
Sapgrain came to Koonathara to record, not to rescue — to make this tradition exist somewhere beyond the hands that hold it.
14·04·26 · 21:30
First night of the Ramayana cycle. Rajeev opens with the traditional invocation to Bhadrakali.
14·04·26 · 06:15
Rajeev speaks about his great-grandfather Krishnan and the lost generations.
16·04·26 · 18:42
Lamps being lit. Crickets. A child somewhere off-screen, reciting verses.
18·04·26 · 14:00
Recorded at Velayudhan's house. Stories of the 1924 floods and the puppet box that was saved.