The Panji tales are a cycle of Javanese stories, centred around the legendary prince of the same name (actually a title) from East Java, Indonesia. Along with the Ramayana and Mahabharata, the tales are the basis of various poems, sculpture and painting, dance-drama performances and genres of wayang (shadow puppetry), especially the one known in East and Central Java as wayang gedhog (the meaning here is unclear, as "gedhog" means "a thumping sound"). Panji tales have been the inspiration of Indonesian traditional dances, most notably the topeng (mask) dances of Cirebon, Central Java and Malang, as well as gambuh dance-drama in Bali. Especially in the environs of Kediri, part of the probable homeland of the tales of Panji, local stories grew and were connected with the obscure legendary figure of Totok Kerot. Panji tales have spread from East Java (Indonesia) to be a fertile source for literature and drama throughout Indochina Peninsula (a region that includes modern-day Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, South Vietnam).
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Panji tales in the context of Wayang beber
Wayang beber (Javanese: ꦮꦪꦁꦧꦺꦧꦺꦂ, romanized: wayang bèbèr (in the ngoko register)) is an Indonesian wayang performance art whose presentation is manifested on stretched sheets of paper or cloth, with pictures in the stylized wayang accompanied by a narration by a dalang. Wayang beber performances emerged and developed in Java in pre-Islamic times but continued into the Islamic kingdoms (such as the Sultanate of Mataram). The stories shown are taken from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. After Islam became the main religion in Java, more Panji tales were performed. Wayang beber bears a strong resemblance to narrative in the form of pictorial ballads common at annual fairs in medieval and early modern Europe. They too suffered the same fate—nearly becoming extinct, although there are still groups of artists who support wayang beber in places like Surakarta (Solo) in Central Java.
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