Puppet (Wayang Kulit)

Traditional Entertaiment

Wayang Kulit

Wayang Kulit (Wayang Kulit) is the traditional art of Wayang Indonesia is primarily developed in Java. Puppet comes from the word 'Ma Hyang' which means to the spiritual spirit, god, or God Almighty. There are also puppet is a term that defines the Java language which means 'shadow', this is because the audience can also watch the puppets from behind the screen or just imagined it. Shadow play puppeteer played by a narrator who is also a puppet characters dialogue, accompanied by gamelan music played by a group of nayaga and song sung by the singer. Mastermind behind the shadow puppet play screen, the screen is made ​​of white cloth, while the lights flashed behind electric or oil lamps (Blencong), so that the spectators who were on the other side of the screen can see the shadow puppet who falls into the screen. In order to understand the story of wayang (theater), the audience must have knowledge of puppet characters whose image appears on the screen.

In general, the puppet took the story from the Mahabharata and Ramayana manuscript, but not be limited only by the grip (standard), the mastermind ki can also play the play carangan (composition). Some of the stories taken from the Bannerman story.

Puppet show has been recognized by UNESCO on November 7, 2003, as a work of astonishing cultural narratives and stories in the beautiful and precious heritage (Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity). Puppet show is more popular in central and eastern Java, while the puppet show is more often played in West Java.