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राजस्थान का प्रसिद्ध खेल कठपुतलीखेल Ram Travel india court and human audiences – such as the behrupiya, the double-bodied or head-with-two-faces kathputli that changes from male to female, and the jadugar (magician) that juggles his own head. Another notable character and entertainer of the kathputli ka khel is the sapera, the snake charmer. After effectively entrancing the snake with his shehnai (flute), the snake charmer is bitten and killed by the snake, but is then restored to life when the snake sucks out the venom. And there is the charming dancing girl, Anarkali, another popular entertainer. The principal puppeteer, the head of the family, uses a bamboo voice modifier (boli) to create a puppet language, the whistle-talk (which is unintelligible to the audience) with which he answers the questions of the narrator, who sits outside the stage (see Swazzle). On the other hand, it is one of the women in the family who narrates and sings the text in a language derived from Hindustani (a blend of Hindi and Urdu), a language that the audiences can understand. The principal puppeteer, accompanied by a dholak (a two-skinned drum) and by ghungroo (small bells), evokes the life and exploits of Amar Singh Rathore in the Mughal court, a life that ended with his treacherous death at the hands of a jealous courtier. Today, the vitality of the kathputli ka khel does not seem to be waning. Many groups of puppeteers crisscross Rajasthan as well as other northern Indian states, particularly since the 1960s “Green Revolution” when an irrigation policy allowed farmers several harvests per year, giving landowning villagers the occasion to give thanks to the gods by celebrating feasts to which they invited troubadours and puppeteers. Often accompanied by Bhopa-Bhopi storytellers from the Bhil group who base their own stories, music, and dances on gigantic comic strip-like painted scrolls (phad or path), the kathputliwallahs‘ most intense period of activity is during the dry season. Since 1980, several kathputli troupes travel the world over, invited by institutions and festivals. Today, there are troupes and traditional families performing kathputli ka khel, some of whom are master puppeteers recognized locally and sometimes nationally for their contribution to the art of puppetry. #ramराम #viralvideo
