Shadow Puppet Theater

Experience the beautiful Khmer art form of shadow puppetry declared a masterpiece of intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2005.

Shadow puppet theatre is always performed at night. Performers use torchlight or electric light to cast shadows of their leather puppets' engraved designs. The performers build a small theatre at about head height, with a covered roof and walls. In the front, they tie a white cotton sheet like a screen, and put a banana stem behind it to hold those puppets not in use in between scenes. Before a performance begins, the players conduct a ceremony known as Hom Rong. The performers offer candles, incense, flowers and food to the spirits of the people who used to the people who used to perform shadow puppet theatre in ancient times, and ask them for good luck in that evening's show. The Hom Rong ceremony is also a good opportunity for the performers to collect their thoughts and focus themselves before the shadow puppet show starts.