Wayang is an Indonesian word for theater. Bayang, the Javanese word for shadow or imagination, also connotes "spirit." When the term is used to refer to puppet theater, the puppet itself is sometimes referred to as wayang. There are many forms of wayang, including dances performed with masks and dramas performed with wooden, jointed puppets, but the most famous is wayang kulit, "shadow puppet theater." Only the silhouette shadows of the puppets are seen, projected onto a cotton screen. Performances of shadow puppet theater are accompanied by gamelan in Java, and by "gender wayang" in Bali. Although wayang may have existed before the arrival of Hindusim in Indonesia, many of the stories in wayang dramas are taken from the Mahabharata or the Ramayana, and portray the ongoing battle between good and evil. Later, wayang was also adapted to promulgate Muslim teachings and beliefs. Wayang plays can last as long as eight hours and are frequently performed during sacred temple ceremonies, at private functions such as weddings, and for the public in the villages.
Wayang today is both the most ancient and most popular form of puppet theater in the world. UNESCO designated wayang kulit as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on November 7, 2003.

Contents [hide] 1 History of Wayang 2 Wayang kulit 3 Wayang topeng or wayang gedog or wayang wong 4 Wayang Golek, or rod puppets 5 Wayang Karucil or Wayang Klitik 6 Wayang beber 7 Wayang Sadat and Wayang Wahyu 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links 11 Credits

History of Wayang

Wayang shadow-puppet (Bali, early twentieth century)

Wayang is a general term denoting traditional theater in Indonesia. There is no evidence that wayang existed before Hinduism came to southeast Asia, sometime in the first century C.E. However, there may have been indigenous storytelling traditions that had a profound impact on the development of the traditional puppet theater. The first record of a wayang performance is from an inscription dated 930 C.E., which says, "si Galigi mawayang," or "Sir Galigi played wayang." From that time until today, it seems that certain features of traditional puppet theater have remained. Galigi was an itinerant performer who was requested to perform for a special royal occasion. At that event it is known he performed a story about the hero Bima from the Mahabharata.