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About The Community
" REVIVING THE DYING ART"
NIMMALAKUNTA is a remote village in Dharmavaram Mandal . It is famous for its Art of Leather. Puppetry craft is an ancient form of folk arts in this village that has shown extraordinary efforts in this art. This art was famous by the name Tholu Bommalata which is the traditional cultural art of the region.
The residents are descendants of the chutrakara community who migrated from Maharashtra as wandering bards doing the leather puppetry shows.
They collect goat hide from the butchers and then begin to work on it. It is treated, straightened, and dried out to use as the canvas for all the artistic work that follows. Goat leather is used because it is easily pliable and the material can last a few generations. However most artists today have taken to synthetic leather as it is available easily and doesn’t require extensive processing.
In India especially in Andhra Pradesh, Nimmalakunta is famous for this craft. Hundreds of years ago, leather puppeteers from Maharashtra migrated to Andhra Pradesh and chose to settle in Nimmalakunta. It is said ChatrapatiShivaji encouraged the artisans to migrate and spread the art and culture throughout India. Those who migrated to Karnataka settled in Hassan and Mandya districts and the ones who migrated to Andhra Pradesh settled in Nimmalakunta.
Even today, this shadow puppetry theatre of Andhra Pradesh thrives in the village Nimmalakunta in the Anantapur district and is called Tholubommalata. Tholubommalata of Andhra Pradesh has the richest tradition amongst all. The artisans procure goatskin and process it well till it is translucent and once it is dry they sketch outline and color both sides and then make tiny perforations. The artisans who make these leather puppets/Tholubommalu are from Chitrakarula community.
Stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata are considered interesting subjects in puppet art. In addition to these epics, local stories with current topics and day-to-day incidents of life have become part of this theatre. However, following the advent of Cinema, Television, and many other entertainment means, the fame, charm, and popularity of this art started showing a steady decline. Even the youngsters in the community showed interest only in making puppets but not in maneuvering the puppets. The growing civilization slowly started showing its adverse effect on the art.
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NIMMALAKUNTA VILLAGE, POTHULANAGEPALLI POST, DHARMAVAEAN MDI ANANTPUR DIST. (A.P) INDIA