Shadow puppet representing Karna

Maker Unidentified artist

MediumBuffalo leather, buffalo horn, and pigments

CultureIndonesia, Java

ClassificationsPuppets

Credit LineGift of Professor Benedict R. O'G. Anderson

Terms

Puppets
Shadow puppets
Indonesian

Object number81.033.024

Label CopyIn the epic Mahabharata, Karna, the older half brother of the Pandawas, was born to Kunti after her tryst with Surya, the god of the sun. Kunti gave up her firstborn and he was raised by an unassuming family of charioteers. Eventually he came to mete the Korawa brothers, who were kind to him and included him as part of their own family, whereas the Pandawas, his true family, were rude and shunned him, not knowing they were related. The poignancy of these connections becomes clear toward the end of the Mahabharata, when Karna has to choose whether to fight on the side of his biological brothers, or his adopted ones. Ultimately, he is killed by Arjuna during the Kurukshetra War between the Korawas and Pandawas.

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