History

The first wayang performance was recorded on an inscription dated 930 CE, which remarked that "si Galigi mawayang," or "Sir Galigi played wayang". Except that, there was no proof that wayang occurred before Hinduism, which was brought in by Indian traders in the first century CE approximately, came to Southeast Asia. It’s seems that certain features of traditional puppet theatre have been conserved since then. Wayang Kulit might be traced back to the indigenous storytelling traditions because storytelling performance had a profound influence on the evolution of the traditional puppet theater.

 

Hinduism arrived in Indonesia from prior to the Christian era, and was adopted as the local belief system gradually. Then, Sanskrit became the literary and court language of Java and later of Bali. Wayang was transformed into stories mostly from Mahabharata or Ramayana by the Hindus in order to spread their religion. Subsequently, Hinduism and traditional Indonesian culture praised the mixture of religion and wayang play as harmony.

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When Islam began spreading in Indonesia, they prohibited the performance of God or gods in human form such as shadow play. Based on the record, KingRaden Patah of Demak, Java, wanted to see the wayang in its traditional form, but failed to obtain permission from the Muslim religious leaders. However, the religious leaders altered the wayang golek into wayang purwa, which made from leather, and performed only the shadow instead of the figures itself. It’s the critical event that create the wayang kulit.

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Nowadays, it’s a widely belief that Wayang Kulit is both the most ancient and most prevalent form of puppet theatre in the world. Numerous people will stay up all night long to watch the famous dalang. Some of the most famous dalang in recent history are Ki Nartosabdho, Ki Anom Suroto, Ki Asep Sunarya, Ki Sugino, and Ki Manteb Sudarsono.