Ancestral Deliverance and Puppet Performance: Mulian Rescues his Mother and Bima Goes to Heaven

Asian ancestral deliverance narratives are epitomized, in the Chinese puppet show stories of Mulian rescuing his mother and the Balinese puppet show tale of Bima saving his parents. The Mulian story with links to the Hungry Ghost Festival and Bima’s story with ties to cremation ceremonies in Bali are comparable, showing that puppetry across different Asian religious and national divides has link to rituals honoring the dead.