Greek children and adults have been entertained MD 2008 Do you know what by Greek Shadow Puppet Theatres called The is happening in this Greece Karaghiozi for more than 1000 years. picture? Turkey e The main character is Karaghiozie Didi youd guess it’s a id China l himself. The stories hel performs are all Spuppet theatre? about his struggleS to find a place in Thailand What type of the world. le puppets are they? le Indonesia p He lives in a poor shackp and is always India m disguising himselfm as other people to try a to get money.a Of course he’s always Shadow Puppets from around the World S found out!S Here he is as a sea captain.

This time Karaghiozi is a doctor…… In Turkey the Shadow Theatre is known as KaragozKaragoz. Karagoz is a puppet They worked together to build a mosque for the character who Sultan who was a very important man. and a painter. has been around for e e hundreds of years. e Karagoz and Hacivat loved e id id id to talk and their non stop id l l Karagoz and the l chattering kept all the l S S character Hacivat , are S other workers distracted. S the main characters of le le le Sultan Orhan was notl e There is the theatre. p p p pleased because thep delay always a m m Hacivat was a mstone was costing himm money so, rich palace a a mason anda Karagoz in anger, hea ordered them in the S S was a blacksmith.S to be killed.S background.

According to legend, one of Since then more shadow puppet Later the Sultan was Asian Dragon Puppet overcome with sorrow the Sultan’s servants put up characters have been added to the show. and regret and promised a screen in the corner of In China , the master of to do all he could to e the palace and made the e Karagoz e the waters is known as the e make amends to their d figures of Karagoz and d d dragon king. d li li Hacivat li Zenne li families. Hacivat so that they could The dragon king was a S be remembered forever. S S popular character in S le le le puppet shows in Beijing,le p p Celebip China. He lives in pa palace m m m an old woman at the bottomm of the sea a a a with his servants,a the The figures are made of S S S lobstersS and shrimps. Beberuhi leather and are 30cm high.

Small or huge, In a shadow play, performers stand behind a screen Garuda magnificent dragons of cloth or paper and use bamboo rods to move are said to live in puppets, props and scenery. In shadow puppet shows in Thailand , the rivers, seas and lakes e e e e d A lamp shines from d d bird-man Garuda battles his arch denemy, in China. li li li the snake Naga. li S behind the painted S S S Every spring they rise puppets and casts e their coloured e The dragon kinge and his e up from the waters l l courtiers appearedl in l and curl and twist p shadows on the p p p screen. many shadow puppet through the sky,m breathing clouds and sending m showsm in Beijing, China. m rain to makea the farmers’ fields green. a a a S The shadowsS are all that the audience sees. S S When rain is expected, the dragons sing. They were made from donkey hide. In Hindu stories, the fight between Garuda and Garuda and Naga became enemies and their Garuda is known in Thailand as the King of the The puppets are made from cowhide that is Naga began when both Garuda’s mother and rivalry continued until Garuda’s mother lost a bet Birds and ruler of the sky. He has strong teeth, stretched very thin before the design is carved Naga’s mother married the same husband. and became the servant and prisoner of Naga’s red eyes, a big beak and a long neck. out of the leather. e e The husband then gave each wife one wish.e mother. e His wings help him to fly as fast id id id id as the wind. l l Naga’s mother asked for a l Garuda was able to free his l S S thousand children. Garuda’s S mother by stealing the nectar S le The puppet is then fastenedle mother asked for justl twoe of eternal life from thel eHindu p to a stick and is readyp for the children who wouldp be one gods. But he sworep vengeance m puppet masterm to act out hundred timesm better than for his mother’sm treatment and a stories wherea Garuda battles any childrena born to Naga’s has been fightinga Naga ever S the snakeS Naga. mother.S since. S Naga Garuda

Shadow puppets This is a Wayang Shadow puppets come from many different can be seen all over Kulit shadow puppet. countries. Indonesia . It is 100 years old e but theree are many The Wayang Kulit shadow puppetse are e Wayang Kulit shadow d d 60cm tall and are made fromd buffalo hide. d li puppetsli that are li li S Smuch, much older S S e e than that. Wayang means shadowe and e pl pl Kulit means leather.p l Wayang Klitik puppetspl are painted, They come from Indonesia and perform flat, carved wooden figures and they m These puppets are made of m m also come fromm a a at night. Manya performances last all a water buffalo hide and are night long! Indonesia . S beautifully decorated. S S S

Southern India has its own shadow puppets. The puppeteer performs either sitting or standing A favourite story from the Ramayana Throughout the performances there is singing and They are leather shadow puppets and are brightly behind the screen. The plays celebrate the heroes stories is the story about Rama’s instruments such the drums, cymbals, harmoniums coloured. They are quite big and can be eup to one of the Indian people. e marriage to Sita and the time they e and dance bells are played. e and a half metres tall. Plays about the spend together in the forest before Sita id id was captured and taken away by theid A tambura is alsoi dplayed. This The shows l Ramayana story go on l l l ten headed monster Ravana. one is 100 years old and is are performed S over 21 nights and the S S decorated S with pictures from audience comes and in the temple le le The story tells of how lSitae was the lRamayana.e grounds and p goes while the playp p p continues. rescued by Rama with the help of often last all m m the monkey Kingm Hanuman and m night. a During the aRamayana play more than 130 puppets how they liveda happily ever after. a S are usedS to tell the whole story. S S Hanuman puppet

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