shadow puppet

Shadow puppet of carved and painted leather of Twalen (Pandawas' assistant). He is characterised by his portly frame and always, as here, wears a loin cloth of poleng, black and white checked fabric.The puppet has an articulated jaw. He, and the other panasar, or servants, translates the Kawi spoken by the heroes and heroines into colloquial Balinese, at the same time adding humourous episodes and comments unrelated to the main story.In the Mahabharata story he is a servant on the side of the Pandawa; in the Ramayana on the side of Rama. Twalen is the most important of the four panasar, the symbol of knowledge, openheartedness and wisdom.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
2008.330
Date
20th century
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 614 mm x 445 mm x 17 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
wood; leather
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
LOCATION
In storage
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Collection Information

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