A Rapunzel with hair to spare?
I could be wrong, but she is most likely a Burmese Draupadi – that virtuous, wronged wife of the Pandavas (the five heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata) – who vows never to tie up her long tresses until she can anoint them with the blood of her molester, who incidentally, is her husbands’ step brother.
I recently watched the gory details of how one of her five husbands (no. 2) avenges her dishonour and helps her fulfil her vow, in a serialised version on TV. How that scene (or the shocking one leading up to it) got cleared for family viewing, when the mere suggestion of a kiss gets our film censor board in a tizzy, is beyond me!
This ubiquitous shopping stop on our shore excursion from the Irrawaddy Explorer, was one I actually had to be dragged away from. It was more a warehouse overflowing with artefacts than a showroom, and utterly fascinating. No I didn’t buy a single puppet, although I shamelessly helped myself to the complimentary juice and coconut cakes while the others did.
Below are more characters from the epics, a couple – or two – of lovely wooden Buddhas, some Apsaras, a few demons and a pretty little craftsgirl (?) hard at work. Oh, and don’t miss the Ganesha!
Happy travels folks. And a fabulous weekend!
Catch up with you all soon….
I love them all And about the puppet, she reminds me to the similar sculpture I saw during my visit to Thailand recently. A woman holding her long hair… The same figure I saw when I visited a Burmese Buddhist temple in Penang, Malaysia.
I travel vicariously at every opportunity and am thoroughly enjoying your posts!