Hindu Sanskrit epic Ramayana performances through shadow puppetry of Malaysia will be held in various parts of USA 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 reportedly performed by a team of puppeteers and musicians from Kelantan region of Malaysia.
Performances will be held in Houston (February 22-28), Atlanta and other parts of Georgia (March 1-7), Gainesville (Florida) (March 8-14); and already ended in Crockett (Texas) on February 21.
Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, commended organizers, supporters and performers of this shadow puppetry show for highlighting Hindu heritage.
Rajan Zed, who is 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 organizations of the world, to frequently organize 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, reports suggest. David J. Fraher and Peter Capell are President and Board Chair respectively of Arts Midwest, an arts organization headquartered in Minneapolis which “nurtures cultural leadership”.
Ramayana, telling the story of Lord Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, contains about 25,000 shlokas. Ultimate goal of Hinduism, third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents, is moksh (liberation). There are about three million Hindus in USA.