Blackburn, Stuart, Inside the Drama-House. Rama Stories and Shadow Puppets in South India, Berkeley • Los Angeles • Oxford (University of California Press) 1996, 310 p.

"Imagine that (a medieval) Shakespeare was thought to exist only in libraries, until a performance tradition with local commentary was discovered somewhere in Wales; than add that the players for an absent audience; and you have the Kerala shadow puppet play."
With this image Stuart Blackburn starts his detailed and captivating account of the shadow puppet theatre tradition of Kerala, an ode to Talpava Koothu and the pupeteers.
Blackburn demonstrates how the performers adapt the narrative and add their own commentary to re-create the story from a folk perspective. At a time when the Rama story is used to mobilize political movements in India, the puppeteers' elaborate recitation and commentary presents this controversial tale from another ethical perspective, one that advocates moral reciprocity and balance.

G. Venu, Tolpava Koothu. Shadow puppets of Kerala, New Delhi (Sangeet Natak Akademi) 1990, 67 p.

Venu's small book provides a basic introduction to Tolpava Koothu, mainly refering to late Guru Krishnankutty Pulavar and his puppetiers. Venu G. sets out its cultural background, associated rituals, as well as specifics of stage, illumination, music, puppets and their manipulation. The book contains a day-wise synopsis of the story as presented in 21 parts, select scenes from Tolpava Koothu, lists of puppets and temples where the art is practiced.

Borrowed Fire the shadow puppets of Kerala
A Documentary about Krishnankutty Pulavar
by Anurag Wadehra & Salil Singh, 1998, 48 minutes

Tolpavakoothu - Bala Kandam
A Documentary.
by Department of Tourism. Government of Kerala 2005, 55:45 minutes

Transcript  pdf-brochure