WAYANG: CHARACTERS, STORIES, PUPPETEERS

WAYANG

painted wayang puppets

“Wayang” is the Indonesia word for puppet and in Indonesia is used to describe theater both with and without puppets but is most often used as shorthand for wayang kulit (Javanese shadow puppet theater). The various art forms associated with it has been around for at least 1,000 years. The Javanese are so found of wayang they have been described as being brainwashed by it. Some of the puppets are revered as sacred objects and are kept as court heirlooms called pusaka.

In 2003, Wayang puppet theater was designated by UNESCO as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Wayang kulit features a wide array of characters, animals, and natural elements, functioning as both visual objects and instruments of performance. Through intricate imagery and a mystical theatrical atmosphere, these shadow plays transport audiences into imagined worlds, whether drawn from epic histories or divine realms. Performances typically last through the night, with puppets animated behind a stretched white screen illuminated by an oil lamp. Viewers seated on the opposite side see only the shadows, giving rise to the term “shadow play.” [Source: “Culture and Customs of Indonesia” by Jill Forshee, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Wayang is renowned for its elaborate puppets and complex musical styles and originated in Java According to UNESCO While these carefully handcrafted puppets vary in size, shape and style, two principal types prevail: the three-dimensional wooden puppet (wayang klitik or golèk) and the flat leather shadow puppet (wayang kulit) projected in front of a screen lit from behind. Wayang is central to “alus” (refined) appreciation of art and wayang kulit is regarded as more refined and intellectual that wayang golek. Both types are characterized by costumes, facial features and articulated body parts.

There are regional variations of wayang. Balinese puppets tend to be more naturalistic in form, whereas Javanese shadow puppets often feature stylized, elongated shapes that distort human and animal figures. In some cases, the unusual forms of Javanese puppets—especially their profile-like heads—have been linked to Islamic restrictions on representing living beings, which encouraged abstraction. In contrast, Hindu-influenced Bali allowed greater freedom in representation, resulting in more lifelike designs. Despite these differences, both traditions maintain strong narrative and symbolic functions within their respective cultures. [Source: “Culture and Customs of Indonesia” by Jill Forshee, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Wayang Performances

wayang kulit performance

Wayang shows are major social occasions. They have traditionally been featured at weddings, circumcision parties and festivals. Vendors are usually on hand, selling roasted peanuts, clove cigarettes and drinks. Wayang performances often go on all night and it is not uncommon for the audience—and even performers and musicians—to doze off and wake during the drama. The plots are complicated but audience knows most of the stories and characters well enough so if they fall asleep they can pick up the action when they wake up.

The master puppeteer (dalang) manipulates the swivelling arms by means of slender sticks attached to the puppets. Singers and musicians play complex melodies on bronze instruments and gamelan drums. In the past, puppeteers were regarded as cultivated literary experts who transmitted moral and aesthetic values through their art. The words and actions of comic characters representing the “ordinary person” have provided a vehicle for criticizing sensitive social and political issues, and it is believed that this special role may have contributed to wayang’s survival over the centuries.

Edward Herbst wrote in the International Encyclopedia of Dance: Music which ordinarily accompanies the ‘wayang’ shadow puppet theater, this is a quartet of ten-keyed metallophones. The instruments are actually in pairs, with polos and sangsih parts playing interlocking elaboration, and with two higher-octave genders doubling the parts of their lower-octave counterparts. Each musician plays two mallets, with left and right hands often playing contrapuntal rhythmic patterns. Angkat-Angkatan is a genre of pieces which accompany arrivals and departures of dramatic characters of the shadow play, as well as some battle scenes. [Source: Edward Herbst, International Encyclopedia of Dance, 1998]

Beyond entertainment, wayang carries strong moral and spiritual dimensions, illustrating distinctions between right and wrong behavior. Narratives often center on conflicts between good and evil, reinforcing ethical lessons for audiences. Some traditions also attribute protective power to wayang performances, with certain stories believed to ward off harmful spirits, reflecting enduring animist beliefs within Indonesian culture. [Source: “Culture and Customs of Indonesia” by Jill Forshee, Greenwood Press, 2006]

History of Wayang

dalang (puppet master) depicting a fight in a wayang kulit performance

According to UNESCO For ten centuries wayang flourished at the royal courts of Java and Bali as well as in rural areas. The art form is believed to have been introduced from India around the 11th century and reached the form seen today around the end of the 18th century. Shadow puppets are also popular in Bali, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Turkey, India and China. Wayang has spread to other islands (Lombok, Madura, Sumatra and Borneo) where various local performance styles and musical accompaniments have developed. [Source: UNESCO]

Wayang performances are widely believed to have originated in Java, where local traditions blended with Indian epics and legends. A stone inscription from central Java dated to 907 A.D. records a “wayang performance held in honor of the gods,” indicating the form’s early ritual significance. [Source: “Culture and Customs of Indonesia” by Jill Forshee, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Many stylistic elements of wayang puppets, including their colors and decorative motifs, reflect the influence of pasisir, or coastal trading culture in northern Java. This region was shaped by extensive contact with Chinese traders, resulting in distinctive artistic syntheses that later spread into the courts of central Java. Over time, wayang narratives became associated with purwa stories—ancient tales involving divine events and cosmic destinies governed by spiritual law. These traditions were originally centered in Java and Bali, later extending to areas where Javanese communities settled, including parts of southern Sumatra, Kalimantan, and even Suriname through Dutch colonial migration.

The popularity of wayang is declining somewhat as young people become more interested in films, pop music and television. In the cities and town condensed two-hour wayangs are often the norm and puppeteers are having difficulty fining young people and new students interested in learning the art form. One student told AP, “Wayang is out of fashion, it’s boring and I don’t understand the the old Javanese language. It makes me sleepy.” Another said, “I think we should preserve our traditional culture, buy wayang for the young generation is not interesting. It’s less attractive compared with modern culture.”

Wayang Stories

Most wayang plays are based on Javanese of local versions of the “Ramayana” and the “Mahabharata”, Hindu epics about the fights involving gods and men that culminate in a great battle that is never resolved. The climatic battle of the shadow puppet play has traditionally come at dawn. Other plays are based on old Javanese legends and folk stories. Many are infused with Islamic and Suf themes.

wayang golek dalang with his wooden puppets between 1880 and 1910

The great Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer told the Washington Post, "The wayang stories are essentially mythical battles involving gods and kings, good and evil, engaged in constant intrigue and conflict, while the common people stand aside in powerless awe." In most cases in wayang the heros prevail in the end because they have the virtue and self-discipline to direct all their supernatural energy to defeat the enemy. The stories are often very complex and beyond the grasp of people who are not familiar with the Hindu epics. The plays usually feature battles between opposites Light and Darkness, Chaos and Order. Some say the struggle is less between good and evil than between what Javanese call “alus” and “kasar”feelings, detached effortless self-control and base animal passions."

In many cases the Hindu epic are so diverse they can be used to address any theme. Skilled dalang (puppeteers) pick stories that are relevant to modern issues and use characters that symbolize modern historical figures. Many stories and characters also have mystical purposes: such as ensuring a good harvest or protecting a village from misfortune.

See Wayang Kulit Stories

Wayang Characters

The characters in wayang kulit shadow plays are usually gods and goddesses or characters with their origins in the Hindu epics or Javanese folklore. The characters include demons, holy men, evil spirits, Hindu gods, kings, warriors, saints, buffoons and clowns, monsters, monster ghosts, giants and fantastic animals. Characters from the Mahabharata include the great warrior Bima, the fickle nobleman Arjuna, the Hindu god Krishna, and the dwarf clown Semar. Characters from the Ramayana include Rama, Sita, Rawan and Kumbakama

Other well known characters included the five Pendawa kings. Judistira, the oldest, has white blood instead of red blood; his hot blooded brother Bima "stabs people with his long fingernail" and “sleeps standing up with his fists doubled;" Ardjuna is "calm, very cold" and "the nicest-looking man in the whole world, with many, many wives." The other two pednawa kings are the twins, Nakula and Sadewa. [Source: "The Villagers" by Richard Critchfield, Anchor Books]

Wayang puppets and their accessories are organized into categories such as nobles, servants, villains, animals, heroes, and symbolic elements like sacred trees and mountains. Their visual design reflects the aesthetic principles of halus (refined) and kasar (coarse), which correspond to moral and social qualities. A single character may appear in multiple puppet forms to express different emotional states or narrative situations, yet remains recognizable through consistent features such as hairstyle, posture, and facial structure, as well as the dalang’s vocal interpretation. Refined characters are depicted with elongated bodies, narrow, slanted eyes, long noses, and nearly closed mouths, while less refined figures display broader, rougher features. Head position also conveys meaning: a bowed head suggests patience and self-control, while an upright or raised head indicates aggression or impulsiveness, traits viewed negatively in Javanese culture. [Source: “Culture and Customs of Indonesia” by Jill Forshee, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Wayang characters embody enduring ideals of human character. Figures such as Arjuna from the Mahabharata and Rama from the Ramayana represent the highest virtues of male heroism, while female figures like Sita and Rara Ireng exemplify idealized feminine qualities. These characters continue to resonate in modern Indonesia, appearing in contemporary media and popular culture. Over time, the wayang repertoire has expanded, incorporating new stories and variations shaped by regional tastes, particularly in centers like Yogyakarta and Surakarta. As with other Indonesian arts, wayang has evolved continually, adapting to changing historical and cultural contexts while preserving its core traditions.

Semar — the Wayang Clown

A distinctive feature of wayang is the presence of clown characters, who provide comic relief and restore emotional balance during performances. After intense or tragic scenes, clowns enter to lighten the mood, reflecting the broader Indonesian emphasis on equilibrium. The Javanese term for clown, badut, is derived from badot, meaning “healer,” suggesting their role in alleviating emotional tension. The most prominent of these figures is Semar, a central clown-servant who also possesses divine origins. [Source: “Culture and Customs of Indonesia” by Jill Forshee, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Perhaps the most popular character is Semar, a ugly clown-servant with a beer belly, a big butt and single lock of hair. Semar usually appears at first to be a fool but he uses his buffoonery to disarm his rivals and emerges at the end of the play as the smartest character and the one who gets the last laugh. Strangely enough Semar is the Javanese equivalent of Jesus. Semar’s sons Gareng, Petruk and Bagong are also comic figures They are regarded as mouthpieces of truth and wisdom. Clown figures often smoke clove cigarettes, have enormous rear ends and let out big farts.

According to the Javanese creation myth at the beginning of time the entire world was covered by forest except for Semar's rice paddy. During the shadow plays this "god in all too human form" is often depicted throwing feces at his enemies and chasing away naughty children with his smelly farts. Anthropologist Clifford Geetz described Semar as "the lowliest of the low" and "at the same time, the father of us all." [Source: "The Villagers" by Richard Critchfield, Anchor Books]

Role Semar Plays in Wayang Dramas

Though physically exaggerated—fat, awkward, and comically crude—Semar is revered for his wisdom, loyalty, and moral integrity. His humorous behavior, including exaggerated bodily functions that provoke laughter, contrasts with the refined heroes he serves. Through this contrast, Semar balances the moral and aesthetic order of the performance, embodying both the comic and the sacred within the world of wayang. [Source: “Culture and Customs of Indonesia” by Jill Forshee, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Semar is the head of the servant clowns or punakawan of the ethically good party. Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy Helsinki wrote: “ He is old, fat, short-legged, and flat-nosed. He is far from noble or handsome, but his eyes are those of a wise and kind person. With his soft breasts and round bottom, he is regarded as a hermaphrodite, the “father and mother” of his servant sons, the long-nosed Petruk, the limping Gareng, and the shy Bagong. The servant clowns assist the noblest heroes, and they are permitted to utter the most daring jokes. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki **]

The mood of a performance usually becomes intensified when they appear on the screen. Semar is basically seen as a god in the guise of a clown, who helps the hero achieve his goal with kindness and humour. The origin of the punakawan has led to much speculation. It is maintained that they are old indigenous deities, which have been adapted to later Indianised mythology. This suggestion is supported by, for example, the stylisation of the Semar character, which differs drastically from the other puppets. On the other hand, clowns play a central part in numerous forms of theatre in Asia. This is also the case in Indian drama, where the sudraka, a noble-born but lazy Brahman, acts as the king’s adviser.” **

One scholar wrote:“Semar, for all his great potency, not only must play servant to high-status ﬁgures, but he must put up with the constant insults, teasing, and tricks to which his sons subject him … to their own father they are rude and hostile in a manner both scandalous and, to spectators, vastly entertaining … [they] treat Semar with a kind of jocular scorn out of kilter with all the notions of respect for one’s elders Javanese normally espouse.In this way, some wayang characters defy certain cultural ideals to better distinguish them. Semar also presents ambiguity in his highly atypical manner of being good. Again, Indonesians strive to achieve a balance of forces between opposites such as good and evil (or elegant and crude), which emerges in their artistic creations and characters, whether carved, painted, sung, danced, or performed. [Source: “Culture and Customs of Indonesia” by Jill Forshee, Greenwood Press, 2006]

Wayang Puppeteers

The driving force behind wayang is the “dalang” (puppeteer), who animates all the puppets by himself . A dalang manipulates multiple puppets simultaneously while delivering dialogue and narration in a wide range of voices, shifting rapidly between characters such as witches, refined women, and heroic warriors. During a performance, the puppets are arranged in a row, their rods inserted into a soft banana trunk, from which the dalang selects them as needed.

The dalang performs all the speaking rolls from memory with "strange, squeaky voice" and improvises the dialogue as he goes along. He sits in a cross legged position and rarely gets up during the entire show. Iron clappers and wooden blocks are used for sounds effects and the gamelan music gets more intense as the performance goes on, perhaps to keep everyone awake. Lots of puns are made with the Sudanese words for "kiss," "sit," and "water" which mean "drink," "go home" and "feces" in Javanese. Some members of the audience like to watch performance from behind the screen so they can see the dalang at work, [Source: "The Villagers" by Richard Critchfield, Anchor Books]

Dalang are believed to infuse their puppets with deep mystical spirituality. At the same time they can infuse their shows with acerbic political and social commentary. The art form helped spread anti-colonial messages during Dutch rule and many dalang were blacklisted or forced to tow the government line in the Suharto years.

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy Helsinki wrote: ““The dalang have traditionally had a priest-like role, and the profession has passed on from father to son. Today, dalang are also trained in special schools, but they are still highly respected members of their communities, the best dalang being famous throughout the island. The dalang thus carries on the ancient oral tradition passing on the main body of classical literature, but at the same time he must be able to improvise and add even the most topical items to the whole. He must also be skilled in recitation, singing, the vocal characterisations of the roles, and the elevated and vulgar levels of the language, along with manipulating the puppets in front of the screen.” ** [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki **]

Life of Wayang Puppeteers

Dalang are one-man theaters, reenacting ancient epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabarata, without pause from dusk to dawn, manipulating scores of shadow puppet characters and speaking in many voices and dialects. Some puppeteers travel from village to village and town to town. performing with small mobile stages mounted on carts.

Miettinen wrote: The performance of the dalang is the focus of the whole, often 10-hour-long performance, which traditionally begins at 9 p.m. and ends at sunrise. The dalang is also responsible for the rituals performed in connection with the play, and he must know by heart the main lakon, which are in a way revived with the addition of much improvisation. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki **]

Many “dalang” earn little for their work and are forced to travel from village to village as itinerant entertainers to make a living. A dalang typically charged around $100 for a six-hour show in the early 2000s that included dance, theater and gamelan music. They are often hired to do the shows at weddings or boy's circumcisions. Well known dalang can often make reasonably good money doing television and radio shows.

Dalang are held in high esteem. They are regarded as moralists and pundits as well as craftsmen and humorists. They are sought after as friends by politicians and headmen. Describing a 60-year-old itinerant dalang, who had plied his trade for 36 years Jamie James wrote in the New York Times, "A jaunty, compact man scarcely five feet tall, he has the sunny countenance and self-confident air of an artist at the top of his profession." The puppeteer told the New York Times, "It is in my nature to be a dalang. In the beginning I had no teacher, no texts, no puppets. I borrowed a set of puppets and when the owner took them back, I learned how to carve my own...Two of my great grandfathers were dalangs but the intervening generations were not."

Dalang often become so attached to their puppets they talk to them like friends. In a single show a dalang may perform for ten hours without a break, and speak 125 voices in four different languages such archaic Pali of medieval India, Javanese and Balinese. Some of the great dalangs, it is said, glowed in the dark and were able to perform shadow plays without a light. [Source: "Ring of Fire" by Lawrence and Lorne Blair, Bantam Books, New York]

Wayang Golek

“Wayang golek” (wayang klitik) is like wayang kulit except the puppets are carved in relief and used without a screen. The three-dimensional puppets are carved from wood and elaborately painted and costumed. They have movable heads and arms and are manipulated with rods by a puppeteer below the stage. Many of the stories are the same Hindu ones used in Wayang Gulik but some are also inspired by Islamic stories.

“Wayang golek” is particularly popular in West Java and is associated with the Sundanese ethnic group. It is regarded as more populist and artheri than wayang kulit. It has traditionally been performed in Sundanese, the language of southwest Java. The puppets are often elaborately crafted. Some of the newer ones can stick out their tongue. Philip Kennicott wrote in the Washington Post, “They are extraordinary works of art even when inanimate; in the hands of a dalang their rudimentary motions take on exceptional subtlety. They strut and mope, bean each other on the head a lot, and enact complex stories while all the time swaying, just a little bit, rather like people on the edge of a dance floor.”

Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Theatre Academy Helsinki wrote: “Wayang golek is a still popular form of rod puppetry, which, according to tradition, was invented by a Javanese Muslim ruler in the late sixteenth century. Its main repertoire is derived from the Menak cycle, dealing with the Muslim hero Amir Hamzah. Local variants of wayang golek have evolved in various parts of Java. The tradition is strongest in West Java, where it has been used in performing the stock repertoire of wayang purwa, that is, the Ramayana, the Mababbarata, as well as local tales, and the East Javanese Adventures of Prince Panji. [Source: Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen, Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki **]

“Wayang golek uses a set of 60–70 puppets, which do not always portray specific characters, but stock types, the puppets thus being interchangeable. The heads and arms are carved three-dimensionally in wood, and the lower part of the body is covered by a batik sarong, beneath which the dalang operates the rod that makes the puppet’s head turn. He uses his other hand to manipulate the rods for the arms and hands. There is no screen, the dalang, the orchestra, and the singers all being visible to the audience.”**

Wayang Cepak

“Wayang Cepak” is a style of wayang golek practiced in West Java. It is a dying form practiced mostly around Cirebon. It has been around for at least 700 years, making it one of the oldest continuously performed forms of theater in the world, and is known for its distinctive style of carving.

Describing a Wayang Cepak show presided over by a dalang named Warsad Darya, Jamie James wrote in the New York Times, "The stage, a pair of stout banana trees, was flanked by a brilliant array of 130 puppets, all carved and painted by Warsad. They were costumed in lustrous silk and satin, and adorned with glittering spangles, bugles and beads. A fluorescent tube, mounted on a beam overhead and shaded by a pink curtain, cast a soft light. From the beam dangled offerings to the ancient pre-Muslim gods of Java: pineapples, pumpkins, passion fruit, bottles of soda and beer, cigarettes." [Source: Jamie James, New York Times, March 26, 2000]

"After a clangorous overture, a 15-year-old girl came out in front of the stage and impersonated several characters from the wayang, wearing masks and scarves and moving with grace or heavy-limbed power, as the character demanded....Then Warsad, seated in the floor behind the stage began to work his magic: no other word suffices. The puppets floated across he stage, their heads and arms manipulated from below by slender rods. An aristocratic lady rushed into view, tossing her head fretfully and flailing her arms as the dalang crooned her cry of distress...A handsome prince entered, strutting purposely, his virile confident voice offering her solace. One by one the characters were introduced and planted in their places, carrying on complex conversations, punctuated by songs, which propel an enormously complicated plot." [Ibid]

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 5: East/Southeast Asia:” edited by Paul Hockings, 1993; “Culture and Customs of Indonesia” by Jill Forshee, Greenwood Press, 2006; National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Encyclopedia.com, Library of Congress, Indonesia Tourism website (indonesia.travel), Indonesia government websites, Live Science, The Conversation, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Google AI, Wikipedia, The Guardian and various websites, books and other publications.

Last updated April 2026