Wayang is an Indonesian performing art that is growing rapidly and has been recognized worldwide for its uniqueness. Just like Batik, UNESCO on November 7, 2003 has also crowned wayang as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity or a priceless world heritage in the art of native Indonesian speech.
The art of wayang performance itself is liked by all levels of society. Not only in Java, now wayang is also familiar and is often presented at sacred events around the world.
As for those of you who want to know what the history and origin of wayang is and its development to date, check out our explanation below.
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The Origin of Puppet Judging from existing history, the origin of wayang is considered to have existed since 1500 years BC. Puppets were born from the scholars of the ancestors of the Javanese tribe in the past. At that time, puppets were thought to only be made of tied grass, so the shape was still very simple. Puppets are played in ancestral spirit worship rituals and in Javanese traditional ceremonies.
In the later period, the use of other materials such as game skin or bark became known in the manufacture of wayang. The oldest shadow puppets ever found are thought to date from the 2nd century AD.
The development of wayang continues. The stories that are played are also growing. The inclusion of Hinduism in Indonesia has also added to the repertoire of stories played in wayang performances. The story of Mahabrata and Ramayana are 2 examples of stories that became favorites in the Hindu-Buddhist era at that time. These two epics are considered more interesting and have a unique story continuity so that in the X to XV centuries AD, these two stories are precisely the main stories in every wayang show.
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The Javanese people's preference for wayang performing arts at that time also influenced the process of spreading Islam in Java. Sunan Kalijaga for example, when he preaches, he will hold a puppet show and play it to invite many people to come. In the show, he inserted moral messages and Islamic da'wah slowly so that the majority of people who embraced Hinduism and Buddhism were interested in knowing more about Islam.
From its development, wayang performances also began to be accompanied by all equipment for traditional gamelan musical instruments and sinden. These two complements were presented by Sunan Kalijaga to add to the lively puppet show so that it was more interesting to watch. Shadow puppet play.
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Wayang is now increasingly known. Several types of puppets have also been developed for the repertoire of the puppet world. Some examples of these puppets are wayang golek, wayang orang, shadow puppets, wooden puppets, people puppets, grass puppets, and Motekar puppets.
Nowadays, young people's interest in the art of wayang kulit can be judged to be very low, considering the many technology-based games that they can play. Even so, there are still many parents who actively teach their children to appreciate one of these traditional Indonesian art works, and that is what is needed to advance wayang kulit at this time.
So that's the origin and brief history of wayang kulit.
Lead image from unsplash
