Wayang kulit is a traditional form of puppet-shadow play originally found in the cultures of Java, Bali,

and Lombok in Indonesia.[1] In a wayang kulit performance, the puppet figures are rear-projected on a
taut linen screen with a coconut-oil (or electric) light. The dalang (shadow artist) manipulates carved
leather figures between the lamp and the screen to bring the shadows to life. It's mainly about good vs
evil.

Wayang puppet theatre

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

Wayang Pandawa.jpg

Wayang puppet theatre

CountryIndonesia

Reference 063

Region Asia and the Pacific

Inscription history

Inscription 2008

Wayang kulit is one of the many different forms of wayang theatre found in Indonesia; the others
include wayang beber, wayang klitik, wayang golek, wayang topeng, and wayang wong. Wayang kulit is
among the best known, offering a unique combination of ritual, lesson and entertainment. Today, it is
spread out, in various forms and guises, across Asia - from Turkey and China to Thailand and Malaysia.
On November 7, 2003, UNESCO designated wayang kulit from Indonesia as one of the Masterpieces of
the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.[2]

Contents

1 Etymology

2 History

3 Wayang puppet figures

4 Performance

5 See also
6 References

7 External links

Etymology

The term wayang is the Javanese word for "shadow"[3] or "imagination". Its equivalent in standard
Indonesian is bayang.

In modern daily Javanese and Indonesian vocabulary, wayang can refer to the puppet itself or the whole
puppet theatre performance. Kulit means "skin" or "leather", the material from which the figures are
carved.

History

Hinduism arrived in Indonesia from India before the Islamic and Christian era. Sanskrit became the
literary and court language of Java and later of Bali. Wayang kulit was later assimilated into local culture
with changes to the appearance of the characters to resemble cultural norms.

When Islam began spreading in Indonesia, the display of God or gods in human form was prohibited,
and thus this style of shadow play was suppressed. King Raden Patah of Demak, Java, wanted to see the
wayang in its traditional form, but failed to obtain permission from Muslim religious leaders.

Religious leaders attempted to skirt the Muslim prohibition by converting the wayang golek into wayang
purwa made from leather and displayed only the shadow instead of the puppets themselves.[4]

Wayang puppet figures

The puppet figures of a Javanese wayang kulit

The wayang comes in sizes from 25 cm to 75 cm. The important characters are usually represented by
several puppets each. The wayang is usually made out of water buffalo hide and goat hide and mounted
on bamboo sticks. However, the best wayang is typically made from young female buffalo parchment,
cured for up to ten years. The carving and punching of the rawhide, which is most responsible for the
character's image and the shadows that are cast, are guided by this sketch. A mallet is used to tap
special tools, called tatah, to punch the holes through the rawhide. Making the wayang sticks from horn
is a complicated process of sawing, heating, hand-molding, and sanding until the desired effect is
achieved. When the materials are ready, the artist attaches the handle by precisely molding the ends of
the horn around the individual wayang figure and securing it with thread. A large character may take
months to produce.

There are important differences between the three islands where wayang kulit is played (due to local
religious canon): [5] [6]

In Java (where Islam is predominant), the puppets (named ringgit) are elongated, the play lasts all night
and the lamp (named blencong) is, nowadays, almost always electric. A full gamelan with (pe)sinden is
typically used.[7]

In Bali (where Hinduism is predominant), the puppets look more real, the play lasts a few hours and, if at
night, the lamp uses coconut oil. Music is mainly by the four gender wayang, with drums only if the story
is from the Ramayana. There are no sinden. The dalang does the singing. Balinese dalangs are often also
priests (amangku dalang). As such, they may also perform during daylight, for religious purposes
(exorcism), without lamp and without screen (wayang sakral, or "lemah")[8]

In Lombok (where Islam is predominant and Bali's influence is strong), vernacular wayang kulit is known
as wayang sasak, with puppets similar to Javanese ringgits, a small orchestra with no sinden, but flutes,
metallophones and drums. The repertoire is unique to the island and is based on the Muslim Menak
Cycle (the adventures of Amir Hamzah).

In the gallery below, the Mahabharata character shown in all pictures except the last is Kresna.

Central Javanese ringgit

Carving the leather in a Jogyakarta factory

All stages of the making of a ringgit

Balinese ringgit

In the specialized village of Sukawati, Bali

Performance

Wayang kulit group Indra Swara in Mexico

The stage of a wayang performance includes several components. A stretched linen canvas (kelir) acts as
a canvas, dividing the dalang (puppeteer) and the spectator. A coconut-oil lamp (Javanese blencong or
Balinese damar) – which in modern times is usually replaced with electric light – casts shadows onto the
screen. A banana trunk (Javanese gedebog, Balinese gedebong) lies on the ground between the screen
and the dalang, where the figures are stuck to hold them in place. To the right of the dalang sits the
puppet chest, which the dalang uses as a drum during the performance, hitting it with a wooden mallet.
In a Javanese wayang kulit performance, the dalang may use a cymbal-like percussion instrument at his
feet to cue the musicians. The musicians sit behind the dalang in a gamelan orchestra setting. The
gamelan orchestra is an integral part of the Javanese wayang kulit performance. The performance is
accompanied by female singers (pesinden) and male singers (wirasuara).
The setting of the banana trunk on the ground and canvas in the air symbolizes the earth and the sky;
the whole composition symbolizes the entire cosmos. When the dalang animates the puppet figures and
moves them across the screen, divine forces are understood to be acting in his hands with which he
directs the happening. The lamp is a symbol of the sun as well as the eye of the dalang.[9]

A traditional wayang kulit performance begins after dark. The first of the three phases, in which the
characters are introduced and the conflict is launched, lasts until midnight. The battles and intrigues of
the second phase last about three hours. The third phase of reconciliation and friendship is finished at
dawn.[10]

Wayang shadow plays are usually tales from the two major Hindu epics, the Ramayana and
Mahabharata. The puppet master contextualizes stories from the plays, making them relevant to current
community, national or global issues. Gamelan players respond to the direction of the dalang.