The leather puppet, which was traditionally crafted from deer skin, is made from goat hide now. After a two week long process of cleaning, the skin becomes translucent and ready for the artwork. As with most crafts, in the painting of leather too, chemical colours are replacing natural ones. Different characters have their designated colours, for example, blue for Rama and Krishna, green Anjaneya, yellow for rishis and so on. The puppet theatre is evolving with time, with epics getting interwoven with popular myths and tales. Performances that would go on for 6 nights for Ramayana and 18 nights for Mahabharata are now reduced to just an hour’s show. Bright electrical lighting has replaced mild earthen lamps but the magical glow of the characters and their phantasmagorical narratives still transport the audience to the surreal world of divine sagas. But apart from the translucency and vivid colours, what gives these puppets their brilliance, is the perforated designs drawn on the characters to depict jewellery. Once surrounded by colour and viewed against the light, they look like glowing jewels. Today, the puppeteers have diversified into different products using the same craft; as puppet shows are not a mainstream medium of entertainment anymore. The transparency and durability of the material makes it perfect for lampshades and screens, enlivening any dull, grey room.