Indian shadow puppet depicting the Ravana, the ten-headed, twenty-handed demon king who served as the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic the Ramayana. The figure is made of a very thin, translucent animal hide (most likely water buffalo) which has been dyed and painted to represent a ten-headed man with vivid red skin (this figure, like most puppets of Ravana, only has two arms, this is done in order to keep the puppeteering manageable). The puppet's outfit is a simple black dress or robe with pink, red, and white trim, a decorative scarf with pink, white, and black patterns, and simple red and black boots. There is a single stick running through the middle of the figure which is attached by small loops of thread; this was used to hold and angle the character during shows, the figure is also given limited movement through articulation at the shoulders, elbows, and knees (an uncommon pattern for Indian shadow puppets, there is no common tradition that uses articulated knees that does not also include articulated wrists) also done using thread. Character is about a foot tall, this is notable because most Indian puppets are much larger than this, with 2-4 feet tall being standard.
There are several distinct styles of shadow puppetry in India, each with distinct traditions and aesthetics that reflect the regional culture they originate from. From these traditions, there can also be less common variations or even a blending where two or more traditions overlap, this can make it very difficult to distinguish with 100% certainty where a puppet originates from without a detailed provenance. As such, it is uncertain which regional tradition or variant this puppet came from as there are some aspects of its design that do not match any of the primary varieties. The unusual height and uncommon pattern of articulation effectively eliminate all standard styles from common traditions, although based on the artistic design and materials it is most likely closely related to either of the Togalu gombeyaata or Tolu bommalatam traditions, it is most likely one of three possibilities: 1)made by someone in a culturally blended area that was not involved with any traditional troupes 2) it was made by someone who is just learning or who doesn't have access to as many materials, or 3) it may be a variant used for a specific scene in a show as this is a fairly common practice. While there is a chance this was made to sell to tourists or give to children, this is unlikely as it is made using a deeply traditional and often expensive technique while most of those made for tourists and children are made with other, cheaper materials such as paper or even plastics.