Dancer wears golden deer costume in Ramayana performance at Yogyakarta
About this photograph
- Creator
- Margery H. Freeman
- Date created
- Unknown
- Location
- Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- License
- This photograph copyright ©2006. Terms of use
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- Search LEARN NC for art, costumes, dance, deer, demons, Indonesia, performance, Ramayana, and Yogyakarta.
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A Javanese dancer wears a golden deer costume in a Ramayana performance at Yogyakarta in July 1986. The dancer’s eyes are visible through an oval window opening cut into the neck of the deer costume. The dancer’s arms and legs form the four legs of the deer.
The deer head of the costume is sculpted, probably of wood, while the body of the costume is sewn of golden velvet cloth. The dancer wears small bells sewn onto wrist and ankle bands, plus a red print neck scarf that matches the fabric worn by other dancers in the performance.
In the Ramayana, the demon king Ravana orders one of his demon subjects to turn himself into a golden deer to lure Rama and Laksman away from Sita so that she can be kidnapped.
