Birthday Celebration for Puppets
Saturday, October 20th, 2007 by Sidarta WijayaToday, 10/20/07, Balinese-Hindu followers celebrate the birthday of the puppet, the sacred Tumpek Wayang day. The Tumpek Wayang takes its name from the name of week of its occasion. It is in the 27th week of Balinese Pawukon cycle which is named wayang (“wayang” means “puppet”); it is celebrated every 210 days.
This holiday is the most important holyday for owners of leather puppets and puppeteers. On this sacred day, a set of special offering is presented to Sanghyang Iswara, Lord of Puppeteers. They give special homage to their leather puppets (wayang). The puppets are taken from their box (keropak), placed in position just as if an actual performance were being given and blessed by the owner. A dalang (puppeteer) will remove all his puppets from storage and set them all up to receive the offerings.





