The Shadow Puppet Master

This is Wayan. The name Wayan comes from the word bayan, which means shadow. He is literally a national treasure. As one of Bali’s best puppeteers, and a member of the Indonesian puppeteer association with full honors, he is well respected.

In Bali the word for puppeteer is dalang. It is an honored position that requires the practitioners to pass a ritual to become a priest. They are qualified to whisk holy water and to heal special illnesses. Iswara is their goddess.

In the past the dalang were responsible for education on appropriate behavior as well as entertainment. Now it is not easy to preserve the art form. Now they put clown characters in the stories, which are taken from daily life as well as tradition. Now they must compete with TV and radio.

Kala represents evil. If a child is born on Kala’s birthday, then the parents must have a puppeteer perform in their home to avert evil. This is done every time the birthday comes up – which by Bali reckoning comes up every 27 weeks. Without it, the child might have an evil character.

Kala has long fangs, very big thick hair, long finger nails, and a fat stomach. She represents greed. She eats everything. You don’t want your kid turning out like that.

Trying to have children on other days means to thwart the child’s destiny and can result in the mother taking on the child’s bad Karma.

The puppet show can be very expensive. Some do it every 27 weeks for the rest of the child’s life. Others do one big one every so often. The big ones will invite all the neighbors etc. and turn it into a festival so can save some money by accepting gifts.

There are two kinds of puppet show – one done in the day and one at night. That’s why the puppets are colored. The one to prevent Kala’s influence is a set piece that takes place during the day. A day show typically runs about one and a half hours.

A full night show will take at least seven people – including four musicians and two assistants. It takes three to four hours. It’s done with lanterns and shadow.

He does different voices for different characters.  It reminded me a great deal of Mel Blanc  (think Warner Brothers cartoons)

Wayan is 74 yo. He has done it for 52 years, since 1963. He is the 5th generation.

In the old days most were male, but now there are female. There is even a woman from LA California (Maria Boatman) who visits Wayan once a year, and has done so since 1986. She orders her puppets from him. In 1986 she stayed for 2 years to train under him.

In the old days Wayan made all the puppets himself. Now two of his boys make puppets. We got a quick demonstration.

First you place translucent rawhide over a paper pattern. Trace the pattern. Then using a hammer and long, thin metal spikes you create a dot to dot set of holes along the outside edges of the tracing. When it’s done you can break the shape out of the rawhide piece.

Once it’s free, you can paint the front and glue sticks to appropriate parts of the back. Buffulo horn was traditionally used for sticks. Now it’s harder to get, so he uses wood and bamboo instead.

We were given a chance to make the little holes. It takes time and a deft touch. No wonder the finished products tend to be a little pricey.

Puppets portraying good guys have lighter colors, smaller eyes, and a smile. The evil characters have fangs, big eyes, brighter colors, and bigger voices. Some good characters are given bright colors or fangs to show that they are powerful.

Wayan wants the next generation to become puppeteers, too. One of his sons and one of his grand children have already been selected to take over from him. He has 6 children – 2 boys and 4 girls.

They all live in his home – or rather in the buildings inside his compound. It was one of those places where each room stood separately.

Sons are considered very important. Parents will do anything for their sons. The fanciest building in the compound is for the oldest son, rather than himself.

The north and east areas in a compound are the holiest because the son rises in the east and the nearest volcano is in the north. That’s where the family temples and the oldest in the family generally live. The open building in the middle of the compound is for special events like weddings.

We were brought through the gate into the courtyard where their shrines are all set up and given a tour. They had altars for guardian spirits on either side, and one in the center dedicated to their ancestors. The doors of the ancestors shrine are always left open so that they might reincarnate back into the family. There was also one for Suryh, the god of the sun.

The shrines must be built before any other building goes up. Otherwise it is considered bad luck.

After the tour we hung around for fifteen minutes while the sun set and the family got everything ready for a show. Only Wayan and one of his sons took part in it. The son played a one man band kind of instrument that included a bell and box drum. Wayan handled all the puppets.

He got money from the government from 1974 to 2000 to give opening ceremony speeches at a school and to travel. He also gets benefits to go around the world: Canada, Germany, Australia, Japan – to perform. He’s always invited to a big festival. This is on top of his income from performing for individuals for the religious reasons described above.

His services don’t come cheap. He alone charges between $800 and $1000 to do a anti-Kala birthday show. With a full crew they might charge $3,000. Yes, that’s converted to US Dollars.

Unluckily we didn’t get much out of the story because it wasn’t translated for us.