# Wayang
**Wayang** is an Indonesian umbrella term for theatrical forms in which a narrator-puppeteer called the dalang presents stories using puppets, painted scrolls, masks, or human dancers, including the Javanese and Balinese shadow theater performed with flat leather figures behind a lit screen. The word literally means "shadow," and the narrative art of wayang is known as seni pedalangan.[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/) • [2](https://ensiklopedia.kemdikbud.go.id/sastra/artikel/Cerita_Wayang) UNESCO proclaimed wayang a [Masterpiece](https://www.edgepedia.org/masterpiece) of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003 and inscribed it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.[3](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/wayang-puppet-theatre-00063)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Wayang literally means "shadow"; shadows are cast on a white screen called a kelir, and the narratives are called lakon[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/) |
| Naming convention | The first term names the genre, the second the medium: kulit (leather), golek (rod puppets), klitik (flat wood), beber (scrolls), topeng (masks), wong (human dancers)[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/) • [5](https://education.asianart.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/12/WarriorKingsDivineJesters.pdf) |
| Number of forms | No fewer than one hundred kinds of wayang have grown and developed in Indonesia; the UNIMA encyclopedia says potentially there are hundreds[6](https://repositori.kemenbud.go.id/id/eprint/2333/) • [4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/) |
| Oldest record | The Wukajana Inscription of 907 CE records "mawayang buatt Hyang," a performance for ancestral spirits telling the story of Bima Kumara[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/) |
| Performance scale | Central Javanese wayang kulit uses a screen 4 meters x 1.5 meters, a large gamelan with two tuning systems, and three pathet (musical modes) over the evening[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/) |
| Puppet inventory | A kotak (puppet box) holds hundreds of carved puppets 20–50 cm tall; up to sixty may appear in a single show[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/) |
| Duration | Performances traditionally ran from 9 p.m. until dawn; today most are shorter except the ruwatan exorcism ritual[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/) |
| Heritage status | Proclaimed a UNESCO Masterpiece in 2003; inscribed on the Representative List in 2008[3](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/wayang-puppet-theatre-00063) |
## Etymology and meaning
The word wayang means "shadow," referring to performances in which the shadows of figures are cast onto a white screen called a kelir.[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/) The stories themselves are called lakon, and the narrative art of wayang is known as seni pedalangan; its spoken aspect consists of narration delivered by the dalang.[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/) • [2](https://ensiklopedia.kemdikbud.go.id/sastra/artikel/Cerita_Wayang)
The compound names follow a consistent logic. The first word is wayang; the second names the medium or puppet type: beber for scroll paintings, golek for three-dimensional rod puppets, kulit for animal skins, klitik for flat wooden puppets, topeng for masks, and wong for human beings.[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/) • [5](https://education.asianart.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/12/WarriorKingsDivineJesters.pdf) A third term may designate the story cycle, such as purwa for the Ramayana and [Mahabharata](https://www.edgepedia.org/mahabharata), menak for Islamic stories, or the Panji and Damar Wulan cycles.[5](https://education.asianart.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/12/WarriorKingsDivineJesters.pdf) Thus wayang kulit purwa jawa means a semi-improvised performance by a dalang, using leather figures, telling the Indian epics, in [Javanese language](https://www.edgepedia.org/javanese-language) and style.[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/)
## History
The earliest secure record is epigraphic. The Wukajana Inscription, dated 907 CE, uses the expression "mawayang buatt Hyang" for a wayang performance held for the Hyang, or ancestral spirits, featuring the story of Bima Kumara.[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/) Early performances were associated with rituals and ancestor worship. An eleventh-century description of wayang with movable human-shaped leather puppets appears in the [Kakawin Arjunawiwaha](https://www.edgepedia.org/kakawin-arjunawiwaha).[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/)
Contact with Hindu-Buddhist culture enriched the repertoire with the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, and local stories such as Panji and Damarwulan were added.[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/) An origin legend recorded by the Indonesian culture ministry's Directorate holds that a king (sang Prabu) drew figures imitating the statues (arca) of the gods, beginning with the arca of [Batara Guru](https://www.edgepedia.org/batara-guru), which inspired the creation of Wayang Purwa; in early performances, accompanied only by songs of the Sekar Ageng and [Kidung](https://www.edgepedia.org/kidung) tembang categories, it was the shadows on the kelir that the king's family and court watched.[7](https://kebudayaan.kemdikbud.go.id/ditwdb/wayang-indonesia/)
During the Islamic period, wayang served as a medium for religious propagation (dakwah), with adaptations to its stories, forms, and modes of presentation.[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/) Scholarship also treats wayang puppet theater as a case for analyzing the emergence of a colonial canon of Indonesian culture, in which wayang came to stand for an "authentic" indigenous past and became a symbol of Java.[8](https://www.takey.com/Thesis_178.pdf) UNESCO records that for ten centuries wayang flourished at the royal courts of Java and Bali as well as in rural areas, and spread to Lombok, Madura, Sumatra, and Borneo with local performance styles.[3](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/wayang-puppet-theatre-00063)
## Forms and regional traditions
Indonesian authorities count no fewer than one hundred kinds of wayang rooted in nearly all regions of the country; the UNIMA encyclopedia puts the potential number in the hundreds.[6](https://repositori.kemenbud.go.id/id/eprint/2333/) • [4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/) Forms can be grouped by narrative or by material.
**By narrative.** Wayang Purwa takes its material from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana; Wayang Gedhog stages the [Panji tales](https://www.edgepedia.org/panji-tales); Wayang Krucil enacts the story of Damarwulan and Menak Jingga; Wayang Menak derives from the Serat Menak; Wayang Wahyu portrays stories from the Bible; Wayang Suluh and Wayang Revolusi draw their themes from the independence struggle; and Wayang Kancil recounts tales about animals.[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/)
**By material.** Wayang Kulit puppets are crafted out of the hides of cattle, buffalo, or goats; Wayang Beber features painted pictures on cloth that performers unroll as they present the story; Wayang Golek consists of wooden puppets carved in three dimensions; Wayang Kertas is made of paper; Wayang Klitik employs flat puppets of wood; and Wayang Suket is made of grass.[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/) Wayang beber, in which long painted scrolls are explicated by a human performer, is considered the predecessor of Indonesian puppetry and is rarely performed today.[5](https://education.asianart.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/12/WarriorKingsDivineJesters.pdf)
Regional styles differ in name and emphasis. Shadow puppets cut from water buffalo hide are used in wayang kulit, which enjoys its greatest popularity in Bali, under the name wayang kulit parwa, and in [Central Java](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-java), where performers know it as wayang kulit purwa.[5](https://education.asianart.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/12/WarriorKingsDivineJesters.pdf) [Wayang golek](https://www.edgepedia.org/wayang-golek), the three-dimensional wooden rod puppet theater, is most popular along the north coast of Java and in Sunda, the highland area of [West Java](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-java).[5](https://education.asianart.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/12/WarriorKingsDivineJesters.pdf) Wayang wong, human dance drama based on wayang puppet theater, was popular in both courts and villages until the 1960s.[5](https://education.asianart.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/12/WarriorKingsDivineJesters.pdf)
## Performance practice
A wayang kulit performance physically divides its audience. A screen separates the audience from the dhalang, who animates the figures using his voice and different movements; the audience on one side sees only silhouettes, while the puppets themselves are painted and decorated, and the performance is paired with gamelan music.[9](https://moa.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Wayang-kulit-1-compressed.pdf) The dalang manipulates the swivelling arms by means of slender sticks attached to the puppets, accompanied by singers and musicians playing complex melodies on bronze instruments and gamelan drums.[3](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/wayang-puppet-theatre-00063)
Central Javanese wayang kulit purwa, developed under the courts of [Surakarta](https://www.edgepedia.org/surakarta-city) and [Yogyakarta](https://www.edgepedia.org/yogyakarta), is presented on a screen 4 meters x 1.5 meters with a large gamelan orchestra that includes two different tuning systems; songs are played in three different pathet, musical and affective modes, in the course of the evening.[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/) Performances traditionally ran from 9 p.m. until dawn, outdoors in a permanent pendapa pavilion or one built for the occasion by the host who hires the performance. Today performances are shorter, except for the ritual exorcism of the demon Kala, the ruwatan, and electricity has replaced the oil lamp (blencong).[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/)
During the show, puppet characters are placed on opposing sides of the dalang, protagonists to his right and antagonists to his left, held in rows in banana logs.[5](https://education.asianart.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/12/WarriorKingsDivineJesters.pdf) Most performances are hired by families for weddings or circumcisions, with stories usually based on the Mahabharata but focusing on coming-of-age episodes rather than the climactic battle.[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/) Beyond entertainment, the dhalang connects the community with its cultural history and with the spirit world; performances honor ancestors and appease spirits, and the early part of a performance is seen as summoning ancestral forces.[9](https://moa.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Wayang-kulit-1-compressed.pdf)
## Puppet making
For wayang kulit, the preferred material is buffalo skin because it is thin, flexible, and easy to work with. The hide is stretched on a bamboo frame to dry; the body, head, and eyes are cut out, then painted in the most commonly used colors of black, red, ocher, white, and blue, with the gold parts colored last; arms and sticks of bamboo or buffalo horn are attached.[9](https://moa.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Wayang-kulit-1-compressed.pdf)
Wayang golek puppets are carved from light softwood, with the head as the most important part, painted in bright colors, and often bearing a garuda mungkur bird face carved on the back of the headdress. Dalang formerly made their own puppets, but many now order them from specialist carvers.[5](https://education.asianart.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/12/WarriorKingsDivineJesters.pdf) A kotak, the puppet box, includes hundreds of intricately carved puppets painted or covered in gold leaf; figures range from 20 to 50 centimeters in height, fifty or more may appear in a single performance, and up to sixty in a single show.[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/)
## By the numbers
- At least one hundred kinds of wayang have grown and developed in Indonesia, with the UNIMA encyclopedia allowing for potentially hundreds.[6](https://repositori.kemenbud.go.id/id/eprint/2333/) • [4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/)
- The Central Javanese screen measures 4 meters by 1.5 meters.[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/)
- Puppets stand 20–50 cm tall; a kotak holds hundreds, and up to sixty figures may appear in one show.[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/)
- Wayang has flourished for ten centuries at the royal courts of Java and Bali and in rural areas.[3](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/wayang-puppet-theatre-00063)
- Traditional performances ran from 9 p.m. until dawn.[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/)
## Heritage status and preservation
UNESCO proclaimed wayang a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003 and inscribed the Wayang Puppet Theatre on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008 (3.COM).[3](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/wayang-puppet-theatre-00063) • [1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/) Two pan-Indonesian dalang organizations, PEPADI (Persatuan Padalangan Indonesia, the Indonesian Union of Dalang, founded in 1971) and SENAWANGI (Sekretariat Nasional Pewayangan Indonesia, the National Secretariat of Wayang, founded in 1975), sponsor festivals and helped lead to the 2003 UNESCO proclamation.[4](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/)
Preservation faces contemporary pressures. In response to competition from video, television, and karaoke, artists increasingly emphasize the comic scenes over the narrative and substitute popular songs for traditional music, with the result that some distinctive features have disappeared.[3](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/wayang-puppet-theatre-00063) The tradition nonetheless continues to evolve and adapt, conveying philosophical values, moral education, social messages, and social criticism alongside entertainment.[1](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/)
## References
1. [Wayang: Merentang Masa, Merawat Makna, Museum Nasional Indonesia](https://www.museumnasional.or.id/5521/)
2. [Cerita Wayang, Ensiklopedia Sastra Kemdikbud](https://ensiklopedia.kemdikbud.go.id/sastra/artikel/Cerita_Wayang)
3. [Wayang puppet theatre, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/wayang-puppet-theatre-00063)
4. [Wayang, World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts (UNIMA)](https://wepa.unima.org/en/wayang/)
5. [Warrior Kings and Divine Jesters: Indonesian Puppet Theater, Asian Art Museum](https://education.asianart.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/12/WarriorKingsDivineJesters.pdf)
6. [Almanak Wayang Indonesia, Repositori Kementerian Kebudayaan RI](https://repositori.kemenbud.go.id/id/eprint/2333/)
7. [Wayang Indonesia, Direktorat Warisan dan Diplomasi Budaya, Kemdikbud](https://kebudayaan.kemdikbud.go.id/ditwdb/wayang-indonesia/)
8. [Heritage formation and wayang performance practice in colonial and postcolonial Indonesia](https://www.takey.com/Thesis_178.pdf)
9. [Wayang Kulit, UBC Museum of Anthropology](https://moa.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Wayang-kulit-1-compressed.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Theater forms, genres, and history › Genres, movements, and special forms › Puppet, mask, and toy theater › Asian puppet and figure traditions*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license