Monkey soldier~Ninlakun~Shadow puppet from Thailand

The puppet in the picture is Ninlakun,who was Pikaneth, god of Arts, incarnated to become one of the greatest soldier of King Rama in Ramayana. He's a monkey with earthy brown color skin who is very brave and he has a sacred sword as a weapon. Aek, the artist, is a shadow puppet maker and a puppeteer from Thailand who has created hundreds of Nang Yai shadow puppet and always invited to demonstate puppet making and playing including Greece and Sweden. This year Aek and his group just recieved Unima award as the outstanding performers in the field of puppetry from Interdock festival in Lund,Sweden. For this puppet, Aek spend 2 whole days to finish it.His work space is in the peaceful Buddhist temple 300 km. from Bangkok. This puppet made from cow leather with the ancient method that Aek has learnt from his puppet master. Since we believe that cow sacrifice its life for our art,it's the tradition that the puppeteers have wowed not to eat beef for all their lives.  This is a piece of art and now he's the only in his town who is creating Nang Yai.  This Nang Yai is a very highly respected kind of puppet. We need to Wai (pay respect) to the puppet every time before we hold it up and after we put it down. It's very suitable for home decoration or a perfect gift for very special occasion. It is truly hard to find even in Thailand. 

Hand made by Thai well-known Nang Yai puppeteer
Perfect for wall decoration!