The Origins of Wayang Golek Purwa
The word Wayang literally means shadow. Wayang usually has two meanings in Indonesian. It indicates both the Puppet Play and also the Puppets themselves. When most people hear the word Wayang they think of Shadow Puppets or Wayang Kulit.
As a matter of fact, there are many different types of Wayang in Java. A few these are: Wayang Kulit or Shadow Puppet Play, Wayang Wong or Wayang Orang which uses actors instead of the Puppets, Wayang Kelitik which uses flat wooden Puppets and Wayang Beber a type which uses Scrolls to narrate the stories. Wayang Golek refers to the three dimensional wooden rod Puppets and is most prevalent in Sunda or West-Java. Of the thirty million Sundanese who inhabit the western part of Java, most of the population lives in desa, or villages. It is here in the desa that Wayang is most popular.
Research indicates Wayang Golek dates from about the sixteenth century with its origins in the north coast area of Java around Cirebon, Brebes and Tegal. Wayang Golek Purwa, using the old Purwa stories of the Ramayana and Mahabharata cycles originally from India, dates to the beginning of the nineteenth century. The prototype Wayang Golek Puppets was based on Wayang Kulit Puppets. Until the end of the nineteenth century both Wayang Golek and Wayang Kulit were popular in Sunda and existed side by side. Then, progressively in the nineteenth century, Wayang Golek grew in popularity and eventually eclipsed Wayang Kulit. Wayang Kulit never had the degree popularity in Sunda that it had in Central Java and soon Wayang Golek became the dominant form of Wayang. One reason may have been the absence of courts to sponsor and foster the Wayang Kulit as was, and is still the case to some degree in Yogyakarta and Solo today.
It has also been recorded that sponsors and audiences wanted to watch Wayang performances during the day, and for this reason Wayang Golek developed. This may seem odd as almost all performances, except shortened ones by apprentice Dalang for children take place at night. Regardless of its exact origins, Wayang Golek Purwa is the most popular type of Wayang Golek today, and its Puppets are the subjects of this introduction.
The original Wayang Golek Puppets were copies from Wayang Kulit Puppets and carving styles developed quickly. Soon several regional centers developed their distinctive styles. The Wayang Museum in Jakarta has identified the three main centers as Bogor, Bandung and Kerawang, though minor centers also exist. Some of these are Ciburu, Padalarang, Sumedang, Sukabumi, Cipanas and Ciampera, all in the central region of West-Java. The resemblance of Wayang Golek and Wayang Kulit Puppets continues to be remarkable with many Puppets, but there are also many differences. The most obvious difference besides three dimensionality of the Puppets is when we view a set of Puppets. A Wayang Golek set is relatively small when compared to a Wayang Kulit set, and typically consists of 50-80 different Puppets. Sets as large as 120 Puppets exist and upward of 170 different Puppets have been identified. Even though many Puppets have been identified, they are not frequently seen in sets. A Wayang Kulit set on the other hand may contain as many as 300 Puppets. Three very broad categories of Wayang Golek Puppets can be identified when thinking in the context of sets, these are: Puppets that are common to every set, Puppets that vary from set to set and Puppets that are pinjaman or borrowed Puppets that depict multiple characters. These borrowed Puppets may be used for dozens of characters depending on the Lakon or play performed. This borrowing process partly explains why there are fewer Wayang Golek Puppets in a set. Another reason may be their bulk and weight and the difficulty in transporting the Kotak or Puppet-chest to the location of the performance (An old set in my possession of 57 Puppets weighs more than 200 lbs.)
