Wayang Golek

Many People assume that the art of puppet comes from India. Yet according to R. Gunawan Djajakusumah in his book Introduction to Marionette Puppet Purwa in West Java, it is not true. According to him, the puppet is a genuine culture of Indonesia [especially in Java].

Word Puppet [wayang] comes from Wad an Hyang, which means ancestor, but there is also an opinion that is from the word "bayangan". As for the opinion that the puppet comes from India country, may see the origin story is taken from the Ramayana and Mahabharata [derived from Hindu scripture]. Then the stories were made and in engineering tailored to the culture in Java.

In West Java, puppet art called 'Wayang Golek' That is, running the puppet art using wooden doll face and body is almost like the human figure puppet picture. There are four kinds of figures on the 'wayang golek' namely: Rahwana Figure, Arjuna Figure, Garuda Mungkur Figure, Bineka Sari Figure.

Parts of the art of puppet [wayang golek] show consists of :

Dalang, is a puppet plays based on the story [there are hundreds of the puppet].
Nayaga, is a group or people who play gamelan, kendang, goong, rebab, and juru kawih.

All these elements into a unity that can not be separated, Synergize with each other in accordance with the stories. The Following are examples of puppet show :