Murwakala – rytualny wayang

Abstract

As colonial scholars at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries surmised, the traditional Java shadow theatre, i.e. wayang kulit, probably originated from animistic rituals of prehistoric Java. According to the myth recounting its beginnings, god Wisnu, who had descended on earth as dhalang Kandhabuwana, was the first puppeteer. The story of wayang’s beginnings told in the Murwakala lakon is also a story about the birth and life of Kali, the god of time and destruction. The lakon is performed during the ruwatan ritual which is supposed to cleanse either individual people or entire communities and restore universal harmony. The real world and the world of illusion coexist in the show, and the dhalang, through the presence of the mythical dhalang Kandhabuwana on the screen, is accumulating his power, which will enable him to perform the ceremonial cleansing of the audience.

Keywords

• java shadow theatre
• puppet theatre
• wayang
• indonesian theatre