Shadow puppet of the demon king Ravana riding a chariot into battle, from the Thai version of the epic of Rama

Several sorts of puppet performances using large or small shadow puppets or three-dimensional rod puppets were popular forms of entertainment in Siam. In the large shadow-puppet theater in which puppets such as those shown here were used, the stories were all drawn from the epic of Rama, known in Thai as the Rammakian.
In performance each large leather puppet, which has no moving parts, is held and manipulated by a puppeteer while a male narrator tells the story accompanied by a Siamese classical orchestra.
Here Ravana, the villain of the Rama epic, charges into battle on a chariot being drawn by a mythical lion. He is accompanied by a lieutenant. Since Ravana is king of Lanka, his chariot is ornamented with royal regalia such as the ceremonial fans at the rear similar to ceremonial standards in the collection (see 2006.27.113.1-.4 and 2006.27.113.1-.2).
Ravana's ten heads are suggested here by the multiple heads piled in two tiers above his main head. Apparently three heads are understood to be in back of the main head, and the second tier has another four heads. There is one at the top, making a total of nine. According to the scholars Niyada Laosuthon and Waldemar Sailer, "it is possible that the tenth one is not given since ten is not an auspicious number. Or, some say that the tenth head is represented by the person wearing the mask, but that may well be a good joke."