Badawanganala

Badawanganala in the form of a turtle. He is more often depicted in humanoid form with webbed feet and a flattened tortoise shell on his back—this example was more difficult to identify as the shell, body, and legs are painted white and unadorned with stamping, and because the turtle-with-human-head form is rather unusual. It is in animal or grotesque form that supernatural figures in wayang are most powerful, as convention dictates that when interacting with mortals they must appear ugly or insignificant. In the Mahabharata epic Badawanganala is the ruler of the land of Ekapratala and father of the twin daughters Dewi Srengganawati and Dewi Srengginiwati; Srengganawati became the second wife of the youngest Pandawa, Nakula, and brought as dowry a measure of the water of life called Tirtamanik. She is also the mother of Sri Tanjung (not to be confused with the popular folk heroine Sri Tanjung who gave Banyuwangi its name). Her sister Srengginiwati is the wife of Nakula's twin Sadewa.

Image: 24.5cm (41cm with handle) x 23cm; water buffalo hide, horn, pigment