Wayang Kulit Purwo ( The Leather Puppets Shadow Play )

Observe a child playing in the rays of lamp. He puts his hand together to cat on the ground the shadows of a snake, a dog, etc. In fact this shadow play dates very far back in time, because its existence has already been emerging sinc people has been aware of the shadows of objects casting by light. From something that is in nature a play, the wayang shadowplay changed function into one of a religious nature during the period between 1500 B.C. until 400 A.D.

Some expert are of the opinion that the word “wayang” originates from the word “baying” (shadow). The hand performance means, were later changed with thin leather objects, conveying myths and folkslores. It has been evidenced that this kind of “wayang” had already been known since old time in Nusatenggara, as well as in all outlying regions of this Archipelago. And with the coming of the Hindus to Indonesia, came also the Hindu legends such as the classical epics of Mahabarata, Arjuna Wiwaha and Ramayan.

Among the various kinds of “wayang” existing in Indonesia, the “Wayang Kulit Purwo” is the famous and most widely popular. This kind of “wayang” had already emerged in about 875/903 A.D. and was already popular at the time of the reign of King Airlangga (1019-2043), as mentioned in the “Kakawin Arjuna Wiwaha” the work of Mpu Kanwa. This kind of wayang had already been favorit for more than a thousand years and known as the Netherlands, Germany, England, France, Japan, etc.

Although the source of stories is Hindu in the Mahabarata and Ramayana epics, the “Wayang Purwo” does not originate from India because the basic terms which indicate the technical aspects of the performance do not stem from the Sancrit. The term “purwo” means “first” or “ancient”, but it may also derives from the word “parwa”, which means “chapters or performance”, or “parwa”. Based on these two meanings, it can be formulated that the “wayang purwo” is a kind of wayang, which has already been existing since old times, and performing kinds of stories divided into chapters.