Giant puppets take to Puducherry streets to protect local art forms

12-foot-tall gigantic puppets will be seen on the streets of Puducherry this week as part of an event to raise awareness on the protection of local art forms. An art group comprising of both French nationals and locals will perform with the puppets across Puducherry.

Puducherry: In a unique cultural extravaganza, giant puppets are taking to the streets of Puducherry this week, and are set to entertain both children and adults alike.

Les Grandes Personnes, an art group of around 30 people - both from France and local students are involved in the project, which aims to revive the endangered art form of puppetry.

What makes this show unique is the size of the puppets. Unlike the usual 90-centimetre puppets, the group has designed 12-foot-tall gigantic puppets, made out of wooden blocks - paper and iron rods. Unlike the conventional art form, where one person usually controls all the puppets, here, one person will control one puppet each.

Drama students from various colleges have been attending rehearsals to master the art of controlling the puppets, which weigh a whopping 25 kilos each.

Ilamparuti, a drama student involved with the project, said that the main aim of the event is to sensitise people towards protecting local Indian art forms. "It will be an eye-opening event for us in order to protect our art form. It is much evident how passionately they (French) protect their art forms. We have failed to protect a lot of our art forms like 'Tholpavai Koothu'," he said.

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The event, scheduled to be held from March 20 to 28, will take place across prominent locations of Puducherry. Both French and local Puducherry artists will be performing at the event, which is set to draw in a huge dose of excitement in the Union Territory.

Stiwak, Director of the Drama Club of France, said that the purpose of the event is to educate the community. "The main purpose of this show is to fetch good things for the society through these big puppets," he said.

"Our tradition of puppetry, comprising of various forms like cane, shadow, mask, and glove toys - which has gone through many changes since the tenth century, is sure to take another dimension through this giant puppet show," said Dr Premnath, who is also associated with the project.

In order to attract children, the giant puppet show has also included famous local characters like 'Kanchana Ghost' and 'Motu Patlu' along with various other western characters.

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