Once upon a time, the sage-wizard Turawat went to visit heaven. While he was walking in the garden there, an angel gave him a garland. He was very happy. When he saw the senior god, Pra Inn, on the back of an elephant, he gave him the garland. Pra Inn hanked him and placed the garland on the head of the elephant. The fragrance of the garland was so strong, however, theat the elephant went into musk. It took the garland off its head and threw it on the ground and crushed it under its feet. Turawat was offended : he thought the elephant did this on the command of Pra Inn. In anger, he casts a spell on all deities to reduce their powers.

The puppet performance of the myth starts with the invasion of heaven by the demons. The weakened deities fight, but they alwats lose. The scene changes and shows Pra Narai, a senior god, sleeping on the coiled Lord of the Great Serpent, Praya Naga. He is awakened and told of the catastrophe. Pra Narai says he cannot undo the spell, but suggestes another solution : the deities must drink Amarit, the elixir of life.

This elixir is difficult to obtain. The deities and the demons must stop fighting and cooperate to get it. The deities and the demons agree on a truce. The demons think that they, too, will be able to drink the elixir. The news of the truce and the guest for Amarit spreads. The arch-demon, Rahoo, hears about it. He sneaks over to the site where the elixir is being produced and waits for the opportunity to snatch it.

Amarit, the elixir of life, is made by churning the Ocean of Milk using Mount Mantara turned upside down as a paddle. Imaginem a high and very steep mountain, cut at its basem trun upside down and used as a paddle to chum an ocean of milk !! To spin this huge paddle, the body of a Naga, a great serpent caught by the demons, is wrapped around the mountain-paddle and pulled to and fro to spin it !! This is represented on stage.

During the churning, the Naga is in agony. It spits venom and fire. The demons are afraid. In order to prevent the process from being interrupted, the senior god, Isuan, swallows the venom and fire. He scorches his throat, but the churning continues.

The weight of the mountain, with its inverted apex pressing down heavily on the ocean floor, cracks the ocean bed and the milk leaks out. To seal the leak, the senior god Narai transforms himself into a giant turtle and crawls into the Ocean of Milk and places himself under the inverted apex of the mountain. The leak is successfully sealed and the process of churning continues.

The churning first yields Surapee, the magic cow and symble of plentitude. Second to emerge from the Ocean of Milk is Warunee, the magic alcoholic beverage and origin of all alcoholic drinks. The third is Parichart, a tree from heaven the scent of whose flowers is adored by the angels. Then come Apsaras, the dancing angels. The fourth is the Moon itself. The fifth is Venom, which nobody wants except the Nagas and other snakes. The sixth is a Lotus in whose center is Laksami, future bride of the senior god, Narai. The seventh is the heavenly doctor Tanwantalee, medical doctor of the deities. He holds in his hand above his head a grail containing Amarit, the elixir of life.

The demonds immediately make a grab for the elixir. The deities try to stop them. Narai sees the problem and transforms himself into a beautiful girl to distract the demons. The demons are distracted. While their attention is focused on the girl, the deities quickly drink the elixir. When the demons see this, they realize they have been tricked. They attack the deities, but now the deities are powerful and immortal. The demons lose the fight.

During all this time, the arch-demons, Rahoo, has been standing by waiting for the opportune moment to snatch the elixir. He finds this time when the deities and demons fight. He snatches the elixir and drinks it. The Moon sees this and reports it to Narai. Narai confronts Rahoo, throws his crystal chakra at the arch-demon, cutting him in half. However, because of the elixir, Rahoo does not die. he swears vengeance on the Moon.

And so. for eternity, Rahoo floats around in the sky. Whenever he sees the Moon (or, indeed, the Sun), he tries to eat it. This produces the lunar eclipse (and the solar eclipes).

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