Indonesia has a rich tradition of dance and music and theatre. The Javanese and Balinese especially love puppet shows. Wayang Kulit is the most popular form of that art. Wayang Kulit is a unique form of theatre employing light and shadow dating from the year 900. The puppets are crafted from buffalo hide and mounted on bamboo sticks. When held up behind a piece of white cloth, with an electric bulb or an oil lamp as the light source, shadows are cast on the screen. The name derives from Wayang, meaning shadow or theatre, and Kulit, Indonesian for leather. When used together the words translate as Shadow Play. Wayang Kulit plays are invariably based on romantic tales, especially adaptations of the classic Indian epics, "The Mahabarata" and "The Ramayana". It is up to the conductor or "Tok Dalang" to decide the direction of the story. The Dalang controls the entire performance. He sits behind the screen and narrates the story. With a traditional orchestra in the background to provide a melody, the Dalang provides the various voices and creates suspense by changing pitch and tone, heightening the drama. The play will almost always end with the triumph of good over evil. When Islam began spreading in Indonesia, the display of God or gods in human form was prohibited. As a way around this the traditional Wayang Golek puppets were converted into flat leather figures. Instead of the forbidden figures only their shadow picture was displayed, thus the birth of the Wayang Kulit. The pictures below were taken under very low light conditions and are not the best. If you are interested in finding out more about Wayang Kulit there is a very short video to give you just a taste here; http://www.youtube.com/watchv=Ex4M6l4_4E4&feature=related and a very good site that explains Wayang and the Datang in more detail. There are also some images of the puppets used in the plays here; http://discover-indo.tierranet.com/wayang.html Menikmati! Enjoy!