Buleleng Northern Lights

Wayang Kulit Purwa
(Indonesian Shadow Puppet Theater)

Indonesia is known for having some of the most highly developed dramas in the world, while wayang kulit purwa –Shadow-puppet Theater – is perhaps both the most famous and the oldest dramatic form. It is still the highest visible form, but nowadays most of it is aimed at tourists. The name itself explains what it is. Wayang means that it uses a puppet master, and gong chim orchestra (gamelan): kulit means leather puppet, and purwa means original, signaling that the stories performed are based on Hindu epics, of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Put it all together and you have a basic idea of what it is about.

Shadow puppet theater as well as the other main traditional drama forms of masked dance and female dance drama, emerged in the 7th century after Hindu Buddhism became the religion of the ruling class. By the ninth century, performers were members of both courts and temples, and the plays were usually performed at rituals or festivals. These same plays — or the similar ones – are still being performed today in much the same way.
The shadow plays in Bali are generally thought to be more like those of the past, while those of Java are more modern, primarily because Java became a Muslim state in the thirteenth century and so diverged from it’s strict Hindu heritage. Therefore, there are some variations, chiefly depending on regions. For instance, Balinese shadow plays are strictly Hindu epics, while those in Java feature the main characters of the Hindu epics in new stories, but not in the legendary epic tales.
Generally, the Balinese style is considered the older form: it is more primitive and less refined than the Javanese. However, the basics are the same. The puppets are usually one or two feet high, their shadows cast into a screen by backlighting (often just an oil lamp held between the dalang or puppeteer and the screen). About fifty puppets can be used to tell the story, accompanied by musicians, even consorted (a modern touch added in Java) by female singers.
Typically, the beginning of the play is the dawn of the world, while the puppet master chants, the puppet calls the “tree of life” dances the creation of the world. Thereafter, the puppets act out a complicated heroic tale – usually the story of a knight (Arjuna more often than not) faced with a world thrust into cosmic imbalance, fighting ogres to right things (there are usually three battles per play). The hero’s servant’s act as comic relief as well as providing satirical views on current events such as done Dalang Mangku living in Banjar Jawa, Singaraja.
By the beginning of WW II by the Japanese attacking the US-dominated Pearl Harbor in the Pacific, the dalang inserted the warring events on screen in a comical way with many girls screaming around to seek safety during the US and its allies performing night air attacks on Singaraja. On the occasion, the Japanese military went around the city by motorbike proclaiming the enemy’s attack and asked people to seek safety by dismissing lights and going into underground caves. Additionally, the Japanese military authority ordered people to camouflage their houses, offices and other buildings by coloring its outer view with dark paints.
These happenings all take quite some time – shadow puppet performances often last four or more hours. It is a highly popular form of entertainment, as in the past, to mark rituals such as wedding and coming of age among grown-up youth. Dalangs are highly respected among people. In Bali, it is largely a profession inherited from elders, with over three hundred dalangs. Those who are deemed highly spiritual also can bless holy water and many of them are capable of rejecting witch’s magical powers. In Java, it is similarly revered, with the more famous dalangs becoming the equivalent of rock stars, selling cassettes of their finest work in record stores.
Not only do the traditional shadow puppet theater forms remain in Indonesia, there have been also newer ones depicting modern rulers and Javanese kings. In fact, there is even a distinct type of shadow puppet of wayang suluh, which focuses on very modern events. Developed in 1947, it focuses on modern history, telling tales about Sukarno (the founder of the Republic of Indonesia) and other prominent people. But when the chips are down, most people still prefer their wayang performed in traditional style – wayang kulit purwa.
(BTN/Surawan)