Preserving our Past for the Benifit of the Future.

One of the victims of our modern age of fast food and Internet is the old traditional forms of entertainment which took perhaps decades if not centuries to develop and had kept the public back then entertained and not to mention educated at the same time. it is indeed a great loss for mankind when these forms of creative communications join the archives of the dead and defunct. So I try to every now and then include these in my blog so that those still into these archaic cultural heritage will help to preserve them regardless of from where or when they originate.

For generations before radio and television made it to the East there were many forms of entertainment already on going to keep the masses entertained. Wayang Kulit of the shadow puppets was one of the most popular form of stage production that involved a puppeteer and the simple for of casting an image on to a screen. In this case the Puppeteer was called the ' Tok Dalang' in Malay and he was the central figure in the whole performance of the Wayang kulit. The above picture is of the"Pohon Berangin' or the rain tree although the direct translation would be the wind tree, but I doubt that there is such a tree. This is a symbolic tree like the tree of life  or it may represent the cosmos.

The Wayang is accompanied by music performed with traditional instruments something like those of the 'Gamelan' instrument and the performers were located behind the screen along with the puppeteer.

Wayang Kulit is a very unique form of theatre employing the principle of light and shadow. The puppets are crafted from buffalo hide and mounted on bamboo sticks. When held up behind a piece of white cloth, with an electric bulb or an oil lamp as the light source, shadows are cast on the screen.

The mean looking guy on the left is usually that of Ravana the demon king of Lanka who in the course of the sotry had kidnapped ram's wife Sita and took her to his Kingdom in Lanka (modern day Sri Lanka.) The white fierce looking character is of the White Hanuman or the Monkey King that had vowed to aid Rama in freeing his wife from Ravana.

These two characters above are the comedians or jesters in the repertoire of stories being told through the Wayang, they add the sense of humor when things gets overly serious.

Wayang Kulit plays are invariably based on romantic tales, especially adaptations of the classic Indian epics, "The Mahabarata" and "The Ramayana". Some of the plays are also based on local happenings (current issues) or other local secular stories. It is up to the conductor or "Tok Dalang" to decide his direction

The pair of main characters are usually Rama and Sita whose l;ife story is the basis of the whole saga performed in the Wayang. 

The Tok Dalang is the genius behind the entire performance. It is he who sits behind the screen and narrates the story. With a traditional orchestra in the background to provide a resonant melody and its conventional rhythm, the Tok Dalang modulates his voice to create suspense thus heightening the drama. Invariably, the play climaxes with the triumph of good over evil.