Wayang puppets

A spotter's guide

By Tim Byard-Jones

 

Contents

Wayand puppets - a spotter's guide (1)

Making the puppets (2)

The main character types (3)

Stylisation (4)

The elements of puppet design (5)

Colours (6)

A final word (7)

Seleh Notes Volume 4 Number 4

© Tim Byard-Jones

Biography of
Tim Byard-Jones

 

Bima - the second of the Pandawa brothers.

 

One of the most striking elements of any wayang kulit performance is the beauty of the puppets themselves, not only those actually used, but also the dozens more (sometimes hundreds) arrayed to either side of the screen (simpingan).

Carved in incredible detail and painted with gold, black, red, white and other colours, they provide the main visual aesthetic experience of the performance.

I have frequently been asked: ‘Why are there so many puppets?’ ‘How do you tell them apart?’ and ‘Why do they look the way they do?’ In this short article I would like to attempt to answer some of these questions, and perhaps enhance peoples’ pleasure in looking at the puppets themselves or at a wayang performance.

As I am familiar with the Yogyakarta style of puppetry this article will refer primarily to Yogyanese ‘classical’ practice.

Most of it holds good for Surakarta style too, with a few differences in detail, while ‘rustic’ styles, to be found in rural areas or in other parts of Java, may be much less elaborate, but will generally follow similar principles.

A few useful names

Traditional wayang stories are derived from one or other of the great Indian epics which were probably introduced to Java about 1,500 years ago.

The Mahabharata - is the story of the Pandawa brothers and their fight to regain their kingdom from the evil usurpers the Kurawa.

The Ramayana - is the story of Rama’s search for his wife Sinta who has been abducted by the demon Dasamuka.

Some of the most important puppets mentioned in this article are:

The Mahabharata
Arjuna: the third of the Pandawa brothers and probably Java’s favourite hero.

Bima: the second of the Pandawa brothers.

The Ramayana
Hanoman: half monkey/half god, who helps Rama find and rescue Sinta.

Kumbakarna: younger brother of Dasamuka who is killed by Hanoman.

Sugriwa: Hanoman’s uncle and king of the monkeys.

Cakil: a demon, who appears in both stories, whose main role in life is to leave it at the hands of the evening’s hero!

Cakil

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