Wayang Kulit (Leather Puppet Shadow Play) Dec 2006

The Shadow Puppet theatre (Wayang Kulit) Indonesia derives from a unique Javanese Hindu-Buddhist tradition. The epic stories of the gods are depicted using hand-crafted leather puppets whose shadows fall from behind on a backlit white screen.

As the audience watches out front, stories from the Hindu Epic texts unfold. The puppets are sacred objects and their manipulator, the dalang, trains for years to manipulate up to 12 puppets at any time. He creates more than 100 characters during a five hour performance.

The dalang therefore occupies a unique position in Javanese society. He is an artist, a ventriloquist, a performer and also a priest, since he can consecrate religious objests.

To complicate matters, the puppet show traditionally uses an ancient dialect known as 'kawi', which means the dalang must speak kawi, Bahasa Indonesia and Yogyakarta's local dialect. He also conducts the gamelan orchestra which accompanies the puppets' antics.

His only assistance is the musical accompaniment of one or more female singers.

This is a wonderfully atmospheric, even magical, event that requires great skill and always delights visitors and locals alike.

Source: istc.org