Shadow puppet representing Karna
Item
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Title
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Shadow puppet representing Karna
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Creator
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Unidentified artist
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Subject
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Shadow puppet
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Culture
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Javanese
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Medium
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Buffalo leather; buffalo horn; pigments
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Description
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Karna is in many ways equal to Arjuna. He has one of the most tragic and complicated backstories as he was the son of Dewi Kunti, who is also the mother of the Pandawa. In the Great War of the Bharata, Karna has to die in the hands of Arjuna because the Gods have willed it so. Karna was abandoned by Dewi Kunti and was raised by a charioteer before he entered the service of the Kurawa and is bestowed with honor by the King of Kurawa. Even though later he found out that he was the older brother of Yudhistira, his sense of honor of being a satrya, a caste of noble warrior, tells him that a betrayal against the king is more disgraceful than fighting against his own family.
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Provenance
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Gift of Claire Holt and Benedict R.O'G. Anderson
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Rights
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Collection of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. Coll. no. 81.033.024
