Malaysian Puppeteers Staging Hindu Epic Ramayana Performances In USA

By TENGKU NOOR SHAMSIAH TENGKU ABDULLAH SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- Hindu Sanskrit epic Ramayana performances through shadow puppetry of Malaysia will be held in various parts of the United States in the next few weeks. In “Wayang Kulit: The Shadow Play of Kelantan”, an ancient form of puppet theater, the shadows of intricately carved leather puppets will be projected onto a screen, showcasing the plays based on Ramayana. These will be performed by a team of puppeteers and musicians from the Malaysian state of Kelantan. Performances will be held in Houston (Feb 22-28), Atlanta and other parts of Georgia (March 1-7), Gainesville, Florida (March 8-14); and already ended in Crockett (Texas) on Feb 21. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada Monday, commended organisers, supporters and performers of this shadow puppetry show for highlighting Hindu heritage. Zed, who is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged major universities of the world, including Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, Cambridge, Princeton, UC Berkeley, Yale, Columbia, Toronto, Tokyo, Melbourne, etc and renowned performing arts organisations of the world, to frequently organise Hinduism focused exhibitions-plays-films-other media, thus sharing rich philosophy-concepts-symbols-traditions of this oldest religion with the rest of the world. If they needed any assistance, he or other Hindu scholars would gladly help, Zed added. Produced by Arts Midwest in association with University of Florida, Georgia State University, Houston’s Society for the Performing Arts and Piney Woods Fine Arts Association of Crockett (Texas); “Wayang Kulit: The Shadow Play of Kelantan” received support from Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art and Remo—drumheads manufacturer. Ramayana, telling the story of Lord Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, contains about 25,000 shlokas. -- BERNAMA