Shadow puppet of Bima

This is a shadow puppet of the character Bima from the epic story, the Mahabharata. The epic tells of the extended struggle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas for the throne of the kingdom of Hastinapura. Bima is the second of the five Pandava brothers. The Mahabharata is one of three major sources of narratives for shadow theatre performances produced on the island of Java, Indonesia.

Javanese shadow theatre is called wayang kulit, which loosely translates as ‘skin theatre’, referring to the buffalo hide from which the puppets are made. Wayang kulit performances are usually ceremonial in purpose, sponsored by families, communities, or institutions. The performances are thought to bring honour to the sponsors and help maintain prosperity. Their ritual purpose is to make the gods visible, and the puppets are thought to be the vehicles for this process. Performances usually last through the night and are watched from both sides of screen; people come and go, rarely sitting for the entire, all-night performance. Food stalls are set up outside the performance area, making the event a festive and entertaining one.

The puppets are manipulated behind a screen lit by a lamp by the dalang (puppeteer) who performs all the parts and also conducts the accompanying gamelan orchestra. The puppets needed for the performance are arranged by size, which ranges from 25 centimetres to almost a metre, on each side of the screen. Complete sets of puppets can contain as many as 500 examples, but usually about 60 are used in a single performance. In the sets, some of the characters are represented by several examples displaying them in various guises or in different moods. Here, the character Bima is shown with a black face that indicates his humility, inner calmness, and control over the passions. His medium-sized, well-proportioned body further indicates his self-control.