for the Thai language
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Shadow plays (ตะลุง   ) were an important entertainment tradition in Thailand before the era of motion pictures. The puppets are made out of water
buffalo leather which is dried and then pounded until it is translucent. Thus the word for shadow puppets in Thai (หนัง ) means "hide," (as in animal hide) and this word
is now also used to refer to motion pictures. Shadow puppet performances can still be seen in certain parts of southern Thailand, such as
Nakhon Sri Thammarat, and in Bangkok during some festivals.The puppets usually enact episodes from the Ramayana, an ancient epic poem in which hero (and Vishnu incarnation) Rama's beautiful lover Sita is kidnapped by a giant (or ten-headed) demon king, Rawana or Tosakanth, and taken to the island of Lanka. Rama enlists the help of Hanuman, the monkey king, to attempt a rescue. The performance is accompanied by music from a small ensemble of traditional Thai instruments. |