Bali's Shadow Puppets

One night in Ubud we had the opportunity to see a performance of Wayang Kulit, the famous shadow puppets of Bali. A single puppet master works his magic behind the screen, using a kerosene lamp to create the shadows of his leather puppets. Two assistants hand him the puppets as he needs them, but otherwise it's a one-man show: the puppet master does all the puppetry and all of the characters' voices -- often in multiple Indonesian languages depending on the character!

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All of the main characters are on display as the puppet master gets ready. Good characters will act on the left; evil characters on the right. The fan-like puppet in the middle serves as the chorus of the performance.
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The shadow of the puppetmaster can be seen to the right.
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One of the main characters of the performance.
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The puppet master shows off a puppet.
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Closeup of shadow puppet.
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One of his assistants demonstrates another puppet.
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From this photo you can get a nice view of the puppets displayed along the inside of the shadow screen, along with the kerosene lamp that illuminates it.


Ubud | The Ubud Monkey Forest | The Dances of Bali | The Kecak Dance | The Alam Jiwa Hotel | Cooking at Casa Luna | The Elephant Cave of Goa Gajah | Yeh Pulu | Gunung Kawi | Mengwi | Tanah Lot and Ulu Watu | Shadow Puppets | Candidasa and the Watergarden Hotel | Pura Goa Lawah | Pura Besakih | Visit to a Cremation | Tirta Gangga's Rice Paddies | Amed and the Santai Hotel | Lake Bratan | Dance Practice in Nyuhkuning | Pura Semuan Tiga's Odalan Festival
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