Shadow Puppets in Java

Tweet

The Indian epic poem, Ramayana, is often performed with shadow puppets. It's quite fascinating to watch from the audience -- the puppet master also narrates the story and keeps time with his fingers as they strike the wooden stage. The entire play is done with the puppets' shadows projected through a white cloth screen -- as seen above.

What's even more fascinating is to step behind the screen -- and watch the puppet master in action with his colorful puppets.

      The play is performed with a full orchestra of Gamelan musicians.

This man, who describes himself as a puppet maker, shows off one of the colorful characters from the Ramayana.