What is Puppetry?

 Give an example of any form of puppetry. Ans: Puppetry is one of the most ancient forms of entertainment in the world and closely associated with folk theatre. This art form combines all the elements of performing arts as well as visual art such as painting, sculpture, music, dance, drama etc. India has a rich and ancient tradition of puppetry, the history of Indian puppetry goes back to 5th century B.C. Puppetry is not a only entertainment but also act as powerful medium for communication, deals with various stories from great epic Ramayana and Mahabharata, Purana, legends of great king and queen or local heroes or even contemporary issues. The puppeteer (person handling puppets) holds each puppet, often seats behind the curtain and moves the puppets by manipulating his finger. Indian puppets can be broadly classified into four categories: (1) Shadow puppet (2) Rod puppet (3) Glove puppet (4) String puppet. Shadow puppets: made of cut out of leather, flat in figures. Shadow puppets are pressed against the screen with a strong source of light behind it, the manipulation between the light and the screen make colorful shadows for the audience who seats in front of the screen. This puppets are popular in Orissa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu