12/30/98: More shopping. More “guides” trying to route us to the stores where they would get commissions… We managed to get some shopping done anyway… One rickshaw driver tried to chat me up, so I tried to put him off by pretended I spoke German. It backfired though, because it turned out he knew German far better than I do…
12/30/23: The night before this, we went to see an Indonesian ballet company perform the story of The Ramayana. The outdoor theater was far out in a rural area with several mandir (towers) of the Hindu Prambanan Temple looming in the background… It was a beautiful presentation of a fascinating story that dates to 200 B.C., and which is important to Hindus all over the world…
“The Ramayana is an all-popular epic in South and Southeast Asia. It is the story of King Rama who must save his kidnapped wife, Sita. Along the way, it teaches Hindu life lessons. The Ramayana is told and retold orally, through literature (and comic books!), plays, movies and is reference in many other forms of popular culture today.” (Quote from the website of Asia Society.)
NOTE: The photo above (from getyourguide.com) shows the Hindo Prembanan Temple towering in the background of the outdoor theater with a performance of The Ramayana, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
