K K Ramachandra Pulavar

K. K. Ramachandra Pulavar is a master of tholpavakoothu, the shadow puppet theatre of Kerala, and director of the Krishnan Kutty Pulavar Memorial Tholpavakoothu and Puppet Centre. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of art, from Kerala ^[1].

The eleventh generation

Pulavar was born on 25 May 1960 to the shadow puppeteer Krishnan Kutty Pulavar, a Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, and Gommathyammal ^[2]. He began learning the art from his father at the age of six, and is the eleventh generation of his family to carry it on ^[2]. The form is performed in the Bhagavathy temples of Kerala from January to May each year ^[2].

After his pre-degree from the University of Calicut in 1978, he taught in Maharashtra under the textiles ministry’s handicrafts office and then worked in the postal department in Kerala ^[2]. When his father died he left that job to devote himself to tholpavakoothu, and in 2004 started an organisation to promote puppetry in Kerala ^[2].

New stories

To bring the art to wider audiences he has created new shows, among them stories of Mahatma Gandhi and of Jesus, along with campaigns on elections, ragging, food safety, deforestation, cleanliness and Covid-19 ^[2]. He has worked out a way of teaching shadow puppetry that makes it easier for young learners, has thousands of students around the world, and has designed workshops for students with disabilities ^[2].

On the world stage

He has performed in about 42 countries ^[2]. He has been an empanelled artist of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations since 1980 and a graded singer and performer on All India Radio since 1986 ^[2]. His honours include the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 2015, the Kerala Folklore Akademi Award in 2011 and the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi’s Kalasree award in 2013 ^[2].