Samba in Abergavenny

This is Samba, allegedly a son of Krishna (who had 16,108 wives, so probably quite a number of children), as told in the Mahabharata, the great Hindu epic. Samba was instrumental in the destruction of the world.

I bought this Javanese shadow puppet (wayang kulit) from some Javanese puppeteers brought to Abergavenny by a friend a couple of years ago, who gave some performances. The Dalang, who manipulates the puppets, didn't want to take all of them back to Java, so was happy to sell me one. Since when, Samba has behaved himself impeccably! He is made of leather, punched and painted.

The singers who accompanied the performance were extraordinary - one singing floor-quaking sub-bass notes that any Russian Orthodox choir would be jealous of!