Tholu Bommalata
Leather dolls or Tholu Bommalatas are traditionally travelling stories. Chitrakaars painted puppets on polished goat hyde & travelled villages with a mobile orchestra. Most of the stories were from the epic Ramayana.
The beautiful shadow puppets filter light through them that make them luminous. Artists also craft tiny holes in the leather to further allow the light to filter through.
Like many story telling arts, Tholu Bhommalata was also popular before the advent of television & internet. Today, artists make decorative puppets, lamps, jewellery or other home decorative items to keep the art alive.