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Stories of Shadows and Strings — Puppetry – Class 6 Arts Chapter 19 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 6ArtsChapter 19NCERT book: Kriti - Arts Class 6

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 19 of the NCERT Class 6 Arts book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

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Chapter 19: Stories of Shadows and Strings — Puppetry (Theatre)

Introduction

All of us have played with dolls, cars and toys, making up stories and adventures for them. That is exactly what puppetry is!

Puppetry is the art of using inanimate figures to create a performance. Puppeteers move these figures by hand, strings or rods to tell stories, entertain or convey messages to an audience.

This chapter has two scenes: hand puppetry and stick and shadow puppetry, plus voice modulation.

Key Ideas

Scene 5: Hand Puppetry — finger, socks and glove

  • Start with the simplest puppet — your hand: draw faces on it and make them talk, or draw your hand on paper to create characters.
  • Finger puppets: make a small paper cup with scissors and glue, wear it on your finger and draw faces, hands and legs. You can also use your fingers as a puppet's legs.
  • Sock and glove puppets: wear any sock on your hand, fix it firmly with an elastic or rubber band, and add eyes and other features with cardboard or other materials.
  • There is no fixed rule about what a puppet must look like — use your imagination.

    • Hand puppets in India

  • Sakhi Kundei and Sakhi Nach — Odisha: made of papier mâché, wood or cloth with bright, cheerful faces; stories full of humour and joy; popular at festivals.
  • Pavakathakali / Pavakoothu — Kerala: inspired by the dance form Kathakali; made of wood and decorated with intricate costumes and jewellery; stories from the Ramayana and Mahabharata.
  • Putul Nach — Bengal: made of clay; stories about Krishna and Radha and current events; puppets clap to rhythm and can garland each other.

    • Puppetry trivia: Puppets have told stories in India for more than three thousand years. A story by Rishi Vyasa in the Bhagavata Purana mentions wooden puppets controlled with strings; farmers relaxed by performing and watching puppet shows.

    Scene 6: Stick and Shadow Puppetry

    These need teamwork. The class forms teams of five to six; each team chooses a story and writes a simple script with three to four characters.

    Stick puppets:

  • Draw, colour and cut out your characters.
  • Find sticks at least six inches long — twigs, ice-cream sticks or stiff cardboard strips.
  • Glue each picture to one end of a stick.
  • Make a puppet show frame from a cardboard rectangle; optionally decorate it and add a background (forest, street).

    • Shadow puppets:

  • Add a white cloth to the cardboard frame and use a single, pointed source of light such as a torch.
  • Keep the light from spreading and place it on a stable surface — the sharpness of the shadow depends on it.
  • The outline of the character matters most, because colours and facial features don't show in a shadow.

    • Stick and shadow puppets in India

    Shadow puppetry in India has existed for more than 2000 years; stories of Rama and Krishna are the most popular.

  • Tholu Bommalata — Andhra Pradesh and Telangana: intricate leather puppets, carefully cut and painted, that "dance" very well; Hanuman stories are very entertaining.
  • Togalu Bombeyata — Karnataka: made of leather and coloured; eyes show profile and front view together; the puppeteer sings and makes sound effects.
  • Ravan Chhaya — Odisha: beautifully designed black-and-white puppets retelling the Ramayana; the Ravana puppet is usually 1 ft bigger than the others.

    • Voice modulation

    Puppets don't talk — you do! Voice modulation means giving your puppet a voice that matches its character and feelings: cheerful and high-pitched when happy, low and mysterious for a spooky tale. When you play two characters, both must sound different from each other and from your normal voice. An old man cannot have a high-pitched squeaky voice!

    More trivia: Kings like Krishnadevaraya and Vikramaditya loved puppetry and had special theatres for it. Puppetry can also raise awareness about values like gender sensitivity and safe and unsafe touch.

    Activities

  • Create two characters (people, animals or imaginary — even a tiger and a ghost), list their traits, name them, give each a way of talking, and write a conversation with a situation and a conflict (remember the three parts of a script).
  • Present a finger, sock or glove puppet show to your class or family — you are now a puppeteer!
  • In teams, build stick puppets and a frame, then turn it into a shadow show with a white cloth and torch.
  • Practise lines such as "Have you had your lunch?" or "I want to play in the park!" in different character voices.

    • Key Terms

  • Puppetry — performing with inanimate figures (कठपुतली कला)
  • Puppeteer — person who operates puppets (कठपुतली कलाकार)
  • Finger puppet — small puppet worn on a finger
  • Sock / glove puppet — puppet worn on the hand
  • Stick (rod) puppet — puppet fixed on a stick (छड़ कठपुतली)
  • Shadow puppet — puppet seen as a shadow on a screen (छाया कठपुतली)
  • Papier mâché — paper-and-glue modelling material
  • Voice modulation — changing voice to suit a character (स्वर परिवर्तन)
  • Outline — the edge shape of a figure (रूपरेखा)
  • Inanimate — without life (निर्जीव)

    • Traditions Mentioned

    Sakhi Kundei (Odisha), Pavakathakali (Kerala), Putul Nach (Bengal), Tholu Bommalata (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Togalu Bombeyata (Karnataka), Ravan Chhaya (Odisha).

    Connect to Your Life

    Use old socks, ice-cream sticks and a torch at home to make a shadow show for your family.

    Common Mistakes

  • Using a wide light for shadow puppets — the shadow becomes blurry.
  • Making detailed faces on shadow puppets — only the outline shows.
  • Using the same voice for two characters.
  • Mixing up states: Tholu Bommalata is Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, Togalu Bombeyata is Karnataka, Ravan Chhaya is Odisha.

    • Let's Reflect

  • Why is the outline the most important part of a shadow puppet?
  • Which puppet tradition uses black-and-white puppets and a bigger Ravana?

    • 💡 Key Learning Points

    • ✓Puppetry is performing with inanimate figures moved by hand, strings or rods
    • ✓Hand puppets include finger, sock and glove puppets; India's hand puppetry includes Sakhi Kundei (Odisha), Pavakathakali (Kerala) and Putul Nach (Bengal)
    • ✓Stick puppets need sticks at least six inches long; shadow puppets need a white cloth and a single pointed light, and the outline matters most
    • ✓Shadow puppetry in India is over 2000 years old: Tholu Bommalata, Togalu Bombeyata and Ravan Chhaya
    • ✓Voice modulation gives each puppet a voice that fits its character and emotion

    👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

    • →Begin with hand-face puppets so every student can perform immediately
    • →Collect old socks, ice-cream sticks, cardboard and a torch before the lesson
    • →Divide the class into teams of five to six for stick and shadow shows, each with a 3–4 character script
    • →Darken the room and let students compare a torch with a wide light to see shadow sharpness
    • →Show images of Tholu Bommalata and Ravan Chhaya puppets and discuss their detail
    • →Practise voice modulation using the book's sample lines, with students guessing the character
    • →Link back to Chapter 17: every puppet script needs a beginning, a conflict and an end

    📋 Assessment Questions

    1. Can the student make at least one hand puppet and one stick puppet?
    2. Can the student explain what makes a shadow sharp?
    3. Can the student match puppet traditions to their states?
    4. Does the student use different voices for different characters?
    5. Does the puppet show's script have a clear conflict and resolution?

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    Keep learning

    All chapters in Kriti - Arts Class 6

    1. 1. Objects and Still Life
    2. 2. Changing the Typical Picture
    3. 3. Portraying People
    4. 4. Paper Crafts
    5. 5. Seals to Prints
    6. 6. Music and Your Emotions
    7. 7. Musical Instruments
    8. 8. Taal or Talam and Raga or Ragam in Indian Music
    9. 9. Melodies of Diversity
    10. 10. Songwriting
    11. 11. Music and Society
    12. 12. My Body in Motion
    13. 13. Breaking Barriers with Dance
    14. 14. Harmony in Motion
    15. 15. Dances of Our Land
    16. 16. Emotions Unveiled!
    17. 17. Let's Design
    18. 18. In the Company of Theatre
    19. 19. Stories of Shadows and Strings — Puppetry
    20. 20. The Grand Finale
    21. 21. Integration of All Art Forms
    22. 22. Assessment