Bringing Iron Rod Puppets to Life - Kim Giak Low Choon Teochew Puppet Opera

In Penang, the Kim Giak Low Choon Teochew Puppet Troupe (金玉楼春潮州木偶剧团) needs no introduction here in their hometown as they are one of the groups that are actively promoting and keeping the tradition of Teochew iron-rod puppet opera alive. Whilst they have performed in numerous shows organised by various government agencies and NGOs in the promotion of local intangible cultural heritage, I still enjoy their performances more when it is performed in a more traditional setting viz. in temple celebrations.

Such shows that usually performed in conjunction with a deity's birthday are called 酬神戏 (chóu shén xì) in Chinese and literally means Rewarding the Gods performance. There is this feel of the 'realness' in the show when they perform on the temple opera stage, with all the temple stuff around and not in a 'sanitised' set up. Plus if you block the intended audience of the show (the gods or spirits) when watching or shooting them, they would not be asking you to move aside, right?

I managed to catch Kim Giak Low Choon Teochew Puppet Troupe recently in such a setting during the Goddess of Mercy birthday celebration at Yuan Ying Gong (Hor Kai Kong) temple in Pulau Tikus, Penang. As always, their performances is joy to watch and shoot. The lack of audience during the performance there also meant that it was easy to maneuver around the front of the stage to capture the puppets and puppeteers in action.

Kashmir - of Kangri pots, Pheran cloaks, and the men and women who use them

The use of fire-pots in Indian administered Kashmir is common during the colder months of the year. These wicker basket hand-held braziers are called Kangri (or Kangir/Kanger). Both men and women carry them around, tucked under their long wollen cloaks called Pheran/Phiran.

The Kangri or wicker basket brazier
/ fire-pot.

Wherever the men go, if you see one wearing a wollen pheran, you can bet he has his trustworthy kangri near him or hidden underneath his cloak. Come cold winds and chilly rain or snowfall, the kangri keeps them warm in their walkabouts town or when they are waiting for customers or friends to arrive.

Women carry them too, and that gives an impression, albeit false, that women there are pregnant all the time. In fact the bulge in the belly is the kangri being held underneath their pheran

There are shops where the locals can go and buy hot charcoals for their pots. The man that owns the shop (see pic below) and his wife and family works hard to keep the wood stoked so that he can provide customers with hot charcoal embers when theirs run out.

A Kashmiri men in pheran with his
kangri by the rodside near him
(by the green post).

They are NOT pregnant - they are just keeping their pots
in there. These women in pheran seemed to carry their pots
a little higher that the men do.

No, she is not handicapped and
definitely not pregnant! She is merely
holding the kangri with her right hand.

The water bong and a kangri - all that a
man would need in Kashmir.

The fire-pot man in Pahalgam -
see this post about him: Faces
of Kashmir - The Fire-Pot Man

The women of the family are responsible for the hard work
of bringing in the firewood for the charcoals.

Smoke... the veil between the realms

Reaching from other side...
(130mm, f/6.3, 1/100s, ISO1250)

Smoke... the veil between the realms' is a black and white essay that revolves around the use of smoke, incense and kemenyan (gum benjamin) during spirit medium consultations and trances. The smoke here appears to the photographer as the thin veil between the realm of the living and the other side, with objects being passed over smoke to bring out the magical, mystical properties of the spirit world. Hence the smoke represents the gateway that the medium breaches through and back, connecting both worlds.

Incense and smoke is a common denominator in many religious practices. Whether it is agarwood, frankincense, gum benjamin or a concoction of psychoactive herbs,  they have been employed as a means of offering, purification or a way to reach the other world

Menurun.... (Going into trance) (35mm, f/6.3, 1/50s, ISO1000)

Memotong... Tongue cutting for blood to write talisman.
(65mm, f/6.3, 1/50s, ISO1250)

Besides smoke, various acts and objects are always associated with trances, especially with local deity trances. Issuance of talismans, whether they are paper talismans written with ink or blood, or objects like limes, consultation on personal matters, 4-digit lottery numbers and even traditional healing remedies, all which requires the use of smoke to sanctify or empower it.

Menanya(kan soalan)... Consultation with the medium.
(18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO640)