Having just had the interesting experience of being in trance, our next plan was to go with my friend’s family for a Wayang Kulit performance at the local Banjar. This is a traditional puppet show. Two-dimensional leather puppets form shadows on a white surface with an oil lamp behind. The person who does this can handle up to 100 puppets in a performance, all with different voices.
Usually stories from the Hindu epics, the Ramayana or Mahabharata, are told. All the puppets are sacred and are carved from leather and this skill is handed down in families. Performances are accompanied by a gamelan orchestra.
Families dressed in their finest were sitting on the flimsy plastic chairs, laughing and fascinated by the performance. Luckily I sat next to a young girl happy to practice her English who explained the stories being told.
I felt quite spaced out by this magical, surreal performance, especially the music. The suling, Balinese flute was incredible.
Just then it started pelting rain. Giant drops of rain plonked on the ground, I could see them clearly. Everything was so crystal clear and sensory. It was oh so beautiful, and I will always remember that moment.
The young girl next to me encouraged me to go with her. So, we left the audience and the performance, and went around the back to watch the puppeteer and orchestra.
That also was a moment I will never forget. Huddled around an oil lamp a man, surrounded by all these incredible pieces of art, darting though the air, seemingly communicating with each other, balanced by rhythmic knocking and weird voices and the frenetic gamelan going crazy and very loud.
Oh, one of the many times I wished I had captured this expe
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