Wayang in the context of "Wayang kulit"

Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an important centre for classical Javanese fine arts and culture such as ballet, batik textiles, drama, literature, music, poetry, silversmithing, visual arts, and wayang puppetry. Renowned as a centre of Indonesian education, Yogyakarta is home to a large student population and dozens of schools and universities, including Gadjah Mada University, the country's largest institute of higher education and one of its most prestigious.

Yogyakarta is the capital of the Yogyakarta Sultanate and served as the Indonesian capital from 1946 to 1948 during the Indonesian National Revolution, with Gedung Agung as the president's office. One of the districts in southeastern Yogyakarta, Kota, was the capital of the Mataram Sultanate between 1587 and 1613.

Javanese literature is, generally speaking, literature from Java and, more specifically, from areas where Javanese is spoken. However, similar with other literary traditions, Javanese language works were and not necessarily produced only in Java, but also in Sunda, Madura, Bali, Lombok, Southern Sumatra (especially around Palembang) and Suriname. This article only deals with Javanese written literature and not with oral literature and Javanese theatre such as wayang.

Manteb Soedharsono (Javanese: ꦑꦶꦩꦟ꧀ꦠꦼꦧ꧀ꦯꦸꦝꦂꦱꦤ; 31 August 1948 in Palur, Mojolaban, Sukoharjo, Central Java – 2 July 2021 in Karangpandan, Karanganyar, Central Java) was an Indonesian wayang puppeteer.

Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-out shapes of the puppets sometimes include translucent color or other types of detailing. Various effects can be achieved by moving both the puppets and the light source. A skilled puppeteer can make the figures appear to walk, dance, fight, nod and laugh.

There are four different types of performances in shadow play: the actors using their bodies as shadows, puppets where the actors hold them as shadows in the daytime, spatial viewing, and viewing the shadows from both sides of the screen.

The dhalang or dalang (Javanese: ꦝꦭꦁ, romanized: dhalang; Indonesian: dalang) is the puppeteer in an Indonesian wayang performance.

In a performance of wayang kulit, the dalang sits behind a screen (ꦏꦼꦭꦶꦂ, kelir) made of white cotton stretched on a wooden frame. Above his head, hanging from beams attached to the top of the screen is the lamp (ꦧ꧀ꦭꦺꦚ꧀ꦕꦺꦴꦁ, bléncong), which projects the shadows onto the screen. In front of the dhalang is a stage (ꦒꦼꦢꦼꦧꦺꦴꦒ꧀, gedebog), traditionally made from the trunk of a banana tree, into which the sharpened control rods of the puppets can be pushed to keep them in position during the performance. To his left is the puppet chest (ꦏꦺꦴꦛꦏ꧀, kothak), and to his right is the puppet chest's lid, on which the puppets sit ready for use.

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.

Wayang golek (Sundanese: ᮝᮚᮀ ᮍᮧᮜᮦᮊ᮪, romanized: wayang golèk (in the lemes register); is one of the traditional Sundanese puppet arts from West Java, Indonesia. In contrast to the wayang art in other areas of Java that use leather in the production of wayang, wayang golek is a wayang art made of wood. Wayang golek is very popular in West Java, especially in the Pasundan land area. Today, wayang golek has become an important part of Sundanese culture.

On November 7, 2003, UNESCO designated wayang the flat leather shadow puppet (wayang kulit), the flat wooden puppet (wayang klitik), and the three-dimensional wooden puppet (wayang golek) theatre, as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. In return for the acknowledgment, UNESCO required Indonesians to preserve the tradition.

Wayang wong (Javanese: ꦮꦪꦁꦮꦺꦴꦁ (in the ngoko register)), also known as wayang orang (lit. 'human-form wayang'), is a type of classical Javanese and Balinese dance theatrical performance with themes taken from episodes of the Ramayāna or Mahabharāta. Performances are stylised, reflecting Javanese court culture:

Despite being closely associated with Javanese and Balinese tradition, variants of wayang wong dance drama can also be found in neighboring Javanese ethnic traditions, including Sundanese tradition.