Lockdown leaves puppet theatre’s future hanging on a thread

Sri Murugan Sangeetha Bommalatta Sabha is the last surviving troupe in Kumbakonam,

T.S. Murugan calls his clan a ‘kalai kudumbam’ (artistic family). As the third-generation exponent of the ancient folk art of Bommalattam puppetry based out of Kumbakonam, Mr. Murugan has grown up in a family steeped in the tradition for several decades.

“My grandfather, father, mother, younger brothers, my wife, and even my sons, have been performing Bommalattam, even though things have been precarious during the pandemic.”