A member of the Shweyadanar marionette troupe performs at Shwesaryan Pagoda Festival in Thaton, Mon State, earlier this month.

MY attention had been riveted so intensely by the marionette performance that I was startled when I felt water dripping on my head. I wiped the moisture from my hair and looked around for the source.

The explanation came from the boy whose job it was to pull the rope that raised and lowered the curtain in front of the stage.

“It’s just the wet mist,” he told me. “That’s why everyone is wearing hats and scarves.”

It was true. I was virtually the only one in the audience whose head was uncovered. I knew the temperature would drop during the marionette performance – it was now 2:30am – but I had not anticipated the thick, wet mist.

I was on the festival ground of Shwesaryan Pagoda in Thaton – one of the most famous religious monuments in Mon State – to attend the pagoda’s annual Tabaung full moon festival from March 3 to 11.

Among the attractions at the festival were the ongoing performances by the Yangon-based Shweyadanar marionette troupe and Sein Win Aung traditional orchestra.

The performance I was watching told the story of Min Gyi, Min Lay and Ma Shwe U, three of the 37 nats (spirits) revered by many people throughout Myanmar. The lively show captured the attention of young and old alike in the audience, which numbered more than 800 people.

“The marionette show is important for our festival because we believe that it delights the guardian spirits of the pagoda and provides for the safety of the town,” said U Yankin, an official from the pagoda’s board of trustees.

Many pilgrims who attend the festival believe that the pagoda is protected by nats, Min Gyi and Min Lay in particular. Many pilgrims at the festival make offerings to these powerful spirits, in exchange for asking them to ensure their welfare, fortune and health.

U Yankin said that in the past 25 years, there have been a few times that marionette shows telling the stories of the nats have not been performed at the festival. On those years, anti-government insurgents have targeted the town with bombs.

“We will never forget those moments. Whether or not it was a coincidence, we learned our lesson and we won’t let it happen again,” said U Yankin.

Daw Nyein Khin, a resident of a village near Thaton, agreed that many locals believe that the nats lose their temper when their story is not told at the festival.

“We feel safer and more secure when the marionette show is offered,” she said.

One feature of the puppet show is an offering to the nats by the marionettes themselves. The puppet masters call for offerings known as kadaw-pwe, usually consisting of trays with three bunches of bananas and a green coconut with a long stem in the middle. Some people offer small-sized fruit suitable for collection by the marionettes.

U Sein Tun Kyi, the owner of the Shweyadanar marionette troupe, said they perform shows for people of many different beliefs.

“We are open to performing for whatever reason clients ask because it gives us the chance to share our love of traditional puppetry,” he said.

One member of the audience at the Shwesaryan Pagoda Festival was Pro Per Arne Berglie, from the Department of Comparative Religion at Stockholm University in Sweden.

He said he appreciated the art of Myanmar puppetry because it is unique in the world and gives foreigners insight into the beliefs of local people.

“Thailand has its own traditional culture and customs but they have intermixed with western culture and they are now changing. But Myanmar traditions still seem relatively free from influence by western culture,” he said.