There are others too.......
Ways of storytelling rooted deep in India, that never reached a wider audience.
Grandmother's bedtime tale.
Even a shadow, shaped by hand, on a wall at night.
A storybook, read
page by page.
A cartoon, playing on a screen.
Every culture has its own way of telling a story.
One among them is Tholpavakoothu.
Malappuram
Thrissur
Palakkad
Origin
Tholpavakoothu is a traditional shadow puppet theatre from Kerala, performed primarily in Bhadrakali temples across Palakkad, Malappuram and Thrissur.
Tholpavakoothu
Tholpavakoothu is Keralaโs traditional shadow puppetry, a centuries-old craft where puppetry, music and storytelling come together to narrate the Ramayana, passed from one generation of puppeteers to the next.
Leather
Puppet
Play
The Story
The performance brings the Kamba Ramayana to life through shadow and storytelling. It follows Rama's journey, from his birth to his coronation as the King of Ayodhya.
The Puppet
From leather to shadow, every puppet is built to move, speak and tell a story through light.
LEATHER
Traditionally, deer skin is cleaned, dehaired and dried before the character is drawn onto its surface.
DRAW
The figure is then carefully drawn onto the leather, with details for the costume, ornaments and facial features.
CARVE
Using chisels, the figure is cut out, while fine holes and perforations create intricate details.
COLOR
Natural vegetable and mineral colors are used to tint and paint the leather, giving the puppet its unique visual identity.
ASSEMBLE
Movable arms and joints are attached to the figure, while a bamboo stick supports the puppet vertically. Thinner sticks allow the puppeteer to control its limbs and gestures.
The Stage
The performance takes place inside a Koothumadam, where a long white cloth screen separates the audience from the puppeteers. Behind the screen, puppets and lamps work together to create the shadows.
The Performance
Behind the Ayapudava, a white cloth screen stretched across the Koothumadam, 21 coconut shell oil lamps illuminate the leather puppets. Their silhouettes appear on the screen as the Pulavan brings the characters to life through movement, narration and traditional music.
The Experience
Design process
"After understanding the craft, we moved to understanding what stood in its way."
Online study
Audience
Declining audience even during temple festivals.
Competing with television, cinema, and other entertainment for limited leisure time.
Performances spanning 7โ21 nights, hard to fit into contemporary life.
Practitioners having to move into schools, malls, and festivals to be seen at all.
People
Younger family members choosing more stable careers over years of required training.
Knowledge concentrated among very few one community dropped from nearly ten practicing families to four.
Economy
Low, inconsistent payment, especially outside the performance season.
Decline of royal and temple patronage, with temple income alone no longer enough.
Craft
Difficulty adapting format or theme without breaking strict traditional performance rules.
Specialist puppet-making communities moving away as the art's popularity declined.
Wildlife regulations pushing puppet material from traditional animal skins to buffalo and goat hide.
Direct conversations
Sourced from news articles, museum records, and published writing
Insights below come from direct conversations with two viewers and one practising artisan
Research insights
A shorter format is already proven to work by the artisans themselves
The light and shadow relationship is the emotional core
Stage shows already coexist with temple tradition, without conflict.
Most people don't know when in the year it is performed
Artisans are already willing to adapt to technology, but none of it has translated into money
People stay engaged even without the plot being new
Design Brief
How might we help a 2,000-year-old storytelling tradition reach new audiences and sustain the artisans who keep it alive without flattening what makes it Tholpavakoothu?
Why it matters?
Performed mainly in three districts of Kerala, tied to a festival calendar most outsiders never see.
Audience numbers declining even during temple festivals, despite being the tradition's home turf.
One community has dropped from nearly ten practising families to four (The New Indian Express, 2026).
An artisan family's income collapsed from โน150,000โ200,000 a month to near zero the moment performances stopped.
The Gap
04 โ No sustainable source of income
Audience interest rarely translates into direct income for artisans.
03 โ Watching does not become engagement
Existing formats make people viewers, but rarely active participants.
02 โ A performance built for continuity
Long-form performances leave little room to pause, explore, or interact.
01 โ An art form hidden from wider audiences
Rooted in a few Kerala districts and temple festivals, making it hard for outsiders to discover.
How might we bring the magic of Tholpavakoothu into everyday homes, making it easier to experience, engage with, and support, without losing its essence?
Problem statement
Concept note
Thirai brings Tholpavakoothu into everyday life through a lamp that doubles as a screen for shadow puppetry. In its everyday mode, Thirai works as a warm ambient lamp. When connected to the companion app, users can play Tholpavakoothu performances directly on its translucent canvas screen, turning the lamp into a miniature stage of light and shadow.
Each performance is recorded with real Tholpavakoothu artisans, and the app introduces the artist behind the story. In doing so, Thirai connects the audience to the performance, the story to its tradition, and the tradition to the people who keep it alive.
Why a lamp?
Born from light and shadow
Tholpavakoothu has always been created by light passing behind a screen.
A story when you want it
Thirai transforms everyday lighting into an opportunity for storytelling.
The traditional lamp, reimagined
Inspired by the oil lamp behind the Koothumadam screen, redesigned for contemporary homes.
An everyday object
An lamp naturally belongs in the home and is already built around light.
Why we named it Thirai
Thirai (เฎคเฎฟเฎฐเฏ) means โscreenโ in Tamil: the very screen where light, shadow, and story come alive in Tholpavakoothu. We chose the name because Thirai doesnโt just recreate the screen; it reimagines the magic behind it.
Thirai
เฎคเฎฟเฎฐเฏ
เดคเดฟเดฐเต
Introducing Thirai, a lamp inspired by Tholpavakoothu, bringing its light, shadow, and storytelling into everyday life.
Who is it for?
Target audience
01- Culturally Curious Adults
Interested in craft, heritage, and artisan stories.
02-Older Storytelling Lovers
Seeking experiences beyond screens.
03-Parents & Families
Looking for other means of bedtime storytelling.
04-Children
Drawn to puppetry and simple storytelling.
05-Gift Buyers
Something that directly supports artisans.
06-Everyday Lamp Buyers
Can use Thirai simply as a lamp, with storytelling.
How it works?
Turn on, choose, watch, and support
Choose
Pick an episode
Connect
Pair to lamp
Turn on
Ambient light
Support
Donate or commission
Finish
Episode ends
Watch
Shadows play
Recorder
Uploads the footage
Weekly
New episode
Donate
A gift
Commission
Paid request
Creates revenue
All sources combine
Artisans
Receive a share
Thirai lives in the room like any other lamp, and quietly becomes a daily relationship with a craft most people have never seen, one that pays the artisan who made it, every time it's switched on.
Subscription
Monthly Plans
Play
Stream or save
The idea began with a simple question: how can the traditional relationship between light, screen and shadow become an everyday lamp for the home?
Product evolution
The Koothumadam
Inspired by the Koothumadam, the traditional stage became the starting point for Thiraiโs form.
Prototype
We built the base and frame in MDF, then introduced Mundu, the traditional white cloth screen, to test the form, scale, and light diffusion of the product.
Final form - switched on
The final form brings together the lamp, canvas screen, sound and shadow play into one everyday object. Thirai begins as a simple, warm ambient lamp.
Form exploration
We translated the stage into a simple screen and base structure, exploring how the proportions could work as a home object.
Testing the Projection
A phone was placed behind the screen to test how light, shadow and puppets could come together within the form.
Exploded view
The layered canvas and display create the shadow screen, while the wooden base houses the speakers, controls and electronics that power the experience.
As an everyday lamp
With no story playing, it works naturally as a lamp in the home.
Story mode when the app is connected
When a performance begins, light, shadow and sound transform the lamp into Tholpavakoothu.
Translucent Linen Canvas
5cm
6cm
Volume knob
Wooden base
12cm
24cm
Recharge port
ON/OFF switch
Translucent Linen Canvas
Tactile control buttons
Speakers
Metal frame
LCD Display panel
2cm
On your lamp
Favourites
Commissions
Artisans support
Episode details
Meet artisan
Donate
Commission
Request sent
Episode detail
Episode detail
Sign in
Pair your lamp
Connect to wi-fi
Start Trial
Home
Library
Lamp
You
Information Architecture
Lamp settings
Profile settings
Manage plan
Help and support
Discover feed
Thirai is an everyday lamp, while the app connects it to the living tradition behind it. It brings performances to the lamp, introduces the artisans, and creates a direct way to support them. The app acts as a bridge between the physical and digital experience.
Designing the experience
Low-fidelity wireframes
High-fidelity wireframes
Sign In & Connect Your Thirai
Users can explore Thirai without signing in. Creating an account allows them to save performances, manage their lamp, and access their personal library.
Home & Discover
The home screen brings together new releases and curated performances. Users can browse stories and stream a chosen performance directly to the lamp.
Library
A personal space for performances saved on the lamp, favourites, and commissioned stories, keeping everything connected to the user's Thirai.
Meet the Artisan
Every performance leads back to the person behind it. Users can discover the artisan's story, region, and other performances.
Support the Artisan
From the artisan's page, users can either donate directly or commission a performance, turning appreciation into tangible support.
Lamp & Profile Settings
Users can manage their account, subscription, and donation history, keeping the ongoing relationship with Thirai and its artisan network in one place.
How it sustains the artisans
Thirai creates multiple pathways for artisan income
The Lamp
Cost- Approx. โน9,000
An accessible one-time purchase that brings Tholpavakoothu into the home as an everyday lamp.
A share of every lamp sale โ Artisan Fund
The subscription
Cost- Approx. โน199 / month
The subscription keeps the tradition alive through new performances and stories added regularly.
Users receive:
New Tholpavakoothu performances
Curated stories and series
Artisan profiles and stories
Access to the growing performance library
Commissions
Paid personalised performances
Donations
Direct support
Over time, each performance creates a cycle of discovery, connection and support, helping the tradition remain part of everyday life while sustaining the people who carry it forward.
Ethics, Privacy & Inclusion
Artisan ownership
Performances remain credited to the artisans and their guilds; their stories and recordings are used with consent, with a defined share of revenue returning to them.
Cultural integrity
Thirai adapts the format for everyday use without removing the core relationship between light, shadow, puppetry and storytelling.
Privacy & consent
User data is kept minimal; payments, commissions and personal information are handled securely, with users choosing what they share.
Accessibility
Adjustable brightness and volume, simple controls, clear visual information and an easy-to-use interface make Thirai approachable across ages and abilities.
Inclusive storytelling
Performances can include translations and contextual information, allowing people unfamiliar with Malayalam, Tamil or Tholpavakoothu to engage with the tradition.
Fair representation
The artisan is presented as a creator and cultural practitioner, not simply as a source of content.
Why Thirai is a Piece of Relationship Design
AUDIENCE
From watching to participating.
Thirai gives people a way to discover, experience and support a tradition they may never encounter in person.
TRADITION
From occasional performance to everyday experience. Tholpavakoothu moves beyond the festival or stage and becomes something people can encounter at home.
ARTISAN
Every performance connects the audience back to the artisan through their story, work, donations and commissions.
THIRAI
The object creates the connection.
The lamp brings together light, shadow, sound and technology to create a bridge between the audience and the living tradition.
DISCOVER
EXPERIENCE
SUPPORT
RETURN
Future scope
Interactive Storytelling
Future versions could allow users to explore characters, puppets, and moments from the story, making the experience more engaging than simply watching a performance.
Wall Projection
The experience can move beyond the lamp, allowing performances to be projected onto larger walls and surfaces.
Different Sizes
Thirai can evolve into different sizes to suit different spaces and uses.
For Craft video: Kerala tourism | About the Research: https://tholpavakoothu.in/about-us/about-tholpavakoothu/ | For images: https://www.keralatourism.org/artforms/tholppavakkoothu-shadow puppetry/9/ |
Insights from: Atul Dinesh
Credits
Thirai
Keep the stories of Tholpavakoothu glowing in homes and hearts.
Thirai is a smart lamp inspired by Keralaโs Tholpavakoothu tradition.
Reflections
Mapping Thirai as a system helped me connect the lamp, app, performances, subscriptions, and artisan support into one experience.
I learned that service design must consider both sides: how audiences discover and experience performances, and how artisans share their work and receive support.
Designing the physical lamp and digital app together showed me how connected touchpoints can carry an experience from discovery to viewing and participation.
If I developed Thirai further, Iโd prototype and test the full service flow with audiences and artisans, especially content delivery, lampโapp connectivity, and how donations or commissions reach the artisans.
Ecosystem Mapping
Font and Color palette
KazimirText-Regular
H1
36px
DM Sans-Semibold
H2
24px
DM Sans-Regular
B1
16px
DM Sans-Regular
B2
14px
DM Sans-Regular
B3
12px
#DFA543
#CE8218
#181105
#D8D7D2
#6C6A63
#000000
By
WINNER
Relationship Design Challenge
Product Design
Service Design
System Design
UI/UX Design
A 2,000-year-old tradition is fading into darkness, its stories unheard, its master artisans left without an audience.
Contributors :
Keerthana S & Aashish Dev Raju
Duration :
2 weeks
My Role :
Research & Insights, Craft Documentation, User Interviews, Design Strategy, Problem Framing, Systems Thinking, ProductโService System Design, Product Design, UI/UX Design, Interaction Design, Prototyping, Visual Communication