Leather scroll

Sreeramulu makes leather puppets as props and protagonists for traditional shadow theatre. The performances are held at night on a stage with lanterns held behind a cloth screen forming a backdrop. Music and song accompany the story-telling and action as the puppets are moved about on long sticks. Puppet shows serve as popular entertainment in the rural areas of Andhra Pradesh.

Leather artists go to a weekly wholesale market for sheepskin. They spend a remarkable amount of energy in scrubbing every last hair off the skin till the parchment becomes translucent. It is then stretched out for the painting process. Tiny holes are cut in a pattern so that the light from the lantern held behind the screen shines through, creating a magical effect.

This scroll-like wall piece made with the same technique shows the four important episodes in Sita’s life, as written in the Ramayana. In the beginning is the celestial wedding of Sita to Rama, amidst pomp and celebrations. In the second scene Sita is shown tentatively engaging with a 'rakshasa' disguised as the golden deer, sent to lure her out of her protected environment by Ravana.

The third illustration has Sita sitting in the lush inner garden at Ravana’s palace in Lanka. First her devotee Hanuman assumes a small form and hides in the tree. Then he comes down and tells Sita that Rama is on his way to save her from Ravana. She gives him her ring to give to Rama as a sign of their meeting. In the last scene, Sita steps into the flames emerging from the bowels of Mother Earth to prove her faithfulness and chastity to Rama and the citizens of Ayodhya. The gods in their chariots are watching and Indra takes her out and chides the onlookers.

The Telugu script on this piece is written in a simple style to accompany the painting. It identifies the characters in the scene and provides a brief commentary on the action taking place. Painting traditions in textile and leather in Andhra Pradesh have used script from time to time in the past, more as a brief commentary or border decoration than as an important part of the main artistic presentation.