figur, docka, skulptur

1916.9.31

Name and identification of character
The puppet represents a king, raja (Sin.).

Context
This kind of puppet is generally referred to as nul rukadaya (Sin.), meaning string puppet. These are not used in Kolam, but some Kolam artistes are equally proficient in puppeteering. A village by the name of Bogahawatte is the famous puppet centre in southern Sri Lanka. This character appears in any of the puppet plays based on stories connected with the Sinhalese kings. The different attributes of the kings are portrayed by fixing different sets of dresses, pertaining to each king.

Material
Wood, Vel-kaduru (Sin.), (Nux vomica).

Iconography
The puppet is solid and registers the characteristics of a king in miniature. The puppet figure is not complete without the rest of the limbs such as the hands and legs and the dress. The head is to be fastened to a wooden pole, a part of which is visible.

Comments on the Umlauff Catalogue
This figure is identified as Rugotte in the Umlauff Catalogue, which is a misspelling of the Sinhalese word rukadaya (Sin.), meaning a puppet figure.

2000 03 03
Dr. M. H. Goonatilleka