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per formance guide

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GUIDE
TO
WAYANG
KULIT
 Totally
Things You Epic!
Should Know Most wayang kulit stories are
taken from the Ramayana and
Mahabharata, Indian epics
about Hindu gods and men.
1 Wayang kulit is a form of shadow puppetry commonly
practised on the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali.

2 In Javanese, wayang means ‘puppet’, and kulit means

‘skin’.

3 Scholars believe that wayang kulit came from India

more than 800 years ago.

4 A traditional wayang kulit performance can last up to

nine hours!

5 The Javanese and Balinese believe that shadows

created by wayang kulit puppets are the souls of
their ancestors brought back to life, and that these
shadows can offer protection from evil influences
when a performance is taking place.

The Man
Behind the
Shadows
• In wayang kulit, a puppet
master is known as a dalang.

• A dalang has a tough job.

Not only does he have to
narrate, but he also manipulates
the puppets, gives voices to the
characters, and makes sound
effects.

• Traditionally, you have to be

born into a family of dalangs to
be one as knowledge is passed
down from father to child.

Singapore’s Last Dalang

Singapore’s last known dalang was a man called
Wak Taslim Harjosanajo. He passed away in 1985.

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 Puppet Intricate designs carved with

Parts
the help of very sharp tools.

Except for the

rod, the rest
The only of the puppet
movable is made from
parts of the buffalo leather.
puppet are
the arms.

Movable
joints Movable
joints

Rods that are used

to move the puppets
are made from
buffalo horns.

What do the You can tell more about a character by looking at the

Colours Mean?
puppet’s face. Most of the time, the ‘good guys’ have faces
which are painted black, gold or white, while the ‘bad guys’
tend to have red faces, like those often seen on a demon*.

• Full of dignity • Calm • Purity • Physically strong • Cowardly

• Calm • Mature • Serenity • Full of anger
• Most likely, a royal • Physically strong • Knowledgeable
descendant

Brightly Painted and

Why would puppets be intricately
designed if you can only see shadows

Decorated Puppets
on a screen? That’s because audience
members can sit on either side of
the screen where they can see the
shadows or the puppets themselves.

2 *Source: www.indomagic.com/articles/art-material-culture/wayang/characteristic-features
 The Good,
In wayang kulit, some characters can be divided into halus (gentle and

the Bad
good) characters and others into kasar (coarse and evil) characters.

Puppets that are placed on the dalang’s right side usually posses

and Wayang
halus personalities, whereas those that are placed to his left have
kasar personalities. Sometimes, you can guess if a character is halus

Kulit
or kasar by looking at the details on the puppet.

Here are a few facial features you might want to pay attention to*.

Kasar (Evil) Facial Features Halus (Good)

Bulging EYES Narrow or almond-shaped
Bulbous nose NOSE Long pointed nose
Bared fangs TEETH Teeth not visible
Head angled upwards HEAD Head angled downwards

Look at the details on the puppets and guess whether

the characters are closer to the good or dark side. Why?

1) Dasamuka 2) Dewi
a. Good or bad? b. Why? Sumbadra
a. Good or bad? b. Why?

3) Arjuna 4) Kumbhakarna
a. Good or bad? b. Why? a. Good or bad? b. Why?

Answers: Kasar: 1 & 4 Halus: 2 & 3

Not all characters can be divided neatly into good or evil characters. Some ‘good’
characters can have negative traits, while some ‘bad’ characters can have positive
traits. How do you think these puppets would look?

3 *Source: www.objectlessons.org/ceremony-and-celebration-puppets-and-masks/wayang-kulit-shadow-puppets-indonesia/s81/a925
 Other Puppets

The Advisor The Mountain

Semar is a special character in wayang kulit epics. The gunungan (mountain) or kayon (tree) will
He represents the universe and is an advisor to the always be present in a traditional wayang kulit
warriors in the Mahabharata and Ramayana. His performance. It is used to mark the beginning and
round body symbolises the round earth. The smile the end of a performance, the change from one
on his face symbolises joy but his swollen and puffy scene to another, the entrance of a major character
eyes symbolise sadness. He also represents both and as a mere prop.
men and women as well as the young and old.

Animals & Mythical Creatures

Not all character puppets take a human form. Some puppets come in the form of animals or mythical creatures.

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 Your Turn Now that you know a little more about wayang kulit puppets,
design your own original character.
No part of this material may be reproduced in any other form without permission from The Esplanade Co Ltd.

Information correct at time of print.

Interested to learn Image credit: All images

more about the arts?

taken from Tropenmuseum,
part of the National Museum
of World Cultures
Check out www.esplanade.com/learn for more resources!