The actors of the first theaters of the world

Hanuman Standing

Hanuman Close up

Rama Standing

Rama Close up

Lakshmana Standing

The movie theaters project the images from a small film on a big screen where the colorful image is displayed on the screen. This all started from the ancient man's imagination of projecting the image on the screen with a perforated opaque object and a source of light from the behind.

Its is really interesting to find that the very first form of cinema is still presented in the form of shadow puppets in many parts of the world as a traditional art form. 

In India particularly, there are many forms of Shadow Puppets plays. The one which is practiced particularly in Kerala is known as Tholpavakoothu. Thol - means leather, Pava - means puppet and Koothu - means play.

At present Tholpavakoothu is performed as an offering to the Goddess Kali (Bhagavathi) in the temples in and around Palakkad district especially Valluvanad. There are more than 50 koothu madams (Permanent Theaters ) which are the venues where this artform is performed in coincidence with the yearly festival of the temples.

The story presented is Ramayana - the Tamil version Kamba Ramayana. The original verses have been converted into a conversational form and is called as Adalpattu. Not much is known about the origin of this classic traditional piece of  performing art. But the language used in this art points its origin towards somewhere in the Tamil Nadu. When we investigate into the origins of this artform in Kerala, it seems logical to take the leads to the history of the Kavalappara kingdom. The ruler of this land had links with Tamil Nadu and is believed to have brought some of the scholars and warriors from Tamil Nadu.