Wayang Wong ( Sendratari Ramayana -- kind of Ramayana Ballet )

It was said that the beginning of the story of the creation of the  “wayang wong”, was at the time of  the struggle of Raden Mas Said, namely the one that was known as Mangunegoro I. In between his struggles to fight the tyrants, it was told, that the created scenes/acts in the form of dances, telling the stories of the Ramayana to entertain/cheer up his soldiers.

This event  occurred about 1800 A.D. These Ramayana stories have up to the present develoved into the “Sendra Tari Ramayana” (kind of Ramayana Ballet), telling the story of the heroism of “Rama” (King of Ayodya). Whereas in the palace of Yogyakarta, to be exact during the reign of Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono VII, there was a standardizations of the “Mintaraga”, namely a standardizations of the “wayang wong” in Yogyakarta style (palace) at that time, among others concerning the Ontowecono, gending-gending (music), patokan-patokan (guidelines) to be implemented in the wayang wong performance. However, what we observe in stories of the “wayang wong” in the Yogyakarta Palace, concerning the stories of the Mahabarata, and up to now there is still evolution in the wayang wong.