AS A major producer of oil and timber; East Kalimantan is at present the most industrially advanced province of the island and the second largest province in Indonesia. It is also the home of the original inhabitants of Kalimantan, the Orang Gunung or Mountain People. The tribes are collectivelly called Dayak, although this name is not embraced by many tribes-people themselves, who prefer to be known by sepa¬rate tribal names such as Iban, Punan and Banuaq. Local tribes traditionally live in the communal longhouses called Lamin or Umaq Daru.
They are built on wooden piles, sometimes 3 metres high as protection against wild animals and flooding. The Punan people are nomadic hunter-gatherers, and only use the longhouse at the height of the rainy season. Steeped in tradition, the interior of the longhouse is typically divided into separate family quarters with communal areas connecting each of the families. It is in the communal areas that village meetings are held and ceremonies performed, thereby reinforcing the strong tribal bonds in the face of rapidly advancing 20th century’s technology.
Guardian statues are normally placed in front of longhouses to protect them against evil’s spirits who bring disease and bad fortune. The more remote and traditional tribes-people have pierced earlobes, which over the year have become stretched by the weight of heavy gold or brass rings, and beautifully elaborate tattoos. Traveling along the extensive Mahakam river system is a fascinating adventure. Ri¬ver boats slide unobtrusively through heavily silt-laden waters, wild orchids drip off trees. Proboscis monkeys signal your arrival to the crocodiles and legendary hornbills. A 5,000 acre Orchid Reservation close to the village of Kersik Luwai cultivates 27 different species of orchild including the very rare “Cologenia pandura” the Black Orchid.
Tourist Office:
Jl. Kusuma Bangsa Balaikota Samarinda 75123 Phone (0541) 741669, 731447 Fax. (0541) 736866
Getting there:
Balikpapan is the gateway to East Kalimantan, Garuda Indonesia Airlines fly from Kuala Lumpur to Balikpapan via Jakarta. Balikpapan can be reach by flight directly from Jakarta, Manado and Surabaya as well as from Tarakan.
Tourism Events
Erau Festival, Tenggarong Mahakam River, East Kalimantan. Catch a rare glimpse of Dayak and their culture during the Erau festival. The event is held on Sept’ 08 to celebrate Tenggarong, Founding as the capital city of an ancient kingdom several centuries ago.
Places of Interest
Samarinda
Samarinda is a capital of East Kalimantan province known for its fine sarong. The Garden of Mulawarman University has the education forest with 62.4 ha arboretum, about 12 km north of Samarinda. A number of modest but comfortable hotels availablein Samarinda.
Balikpapan
Balikpapan, the center of Kalimantan’s oil industry, is also the gateway to East Kalimantan with air and sea connections to Jakarta and other major points in Indonesia. Balikpapan has a major number of good hotels, including one of the international standard, as well as recreation facilities. It has the second-busiest airport in the nation after Jakarta.
Tanah Merah Indah-Lempake
Tanah Merah Indah-Lempake. This is recreational park called Tanah Merah Indah-Lempake ith a water fall, located 16 km from downtown Samarinda. It can be reached by car or public transportation.
Tenggarong
Tenggarong, up to Mahakam river from Samarinda, is the capital of Kutai regency and was once the seat of the Kutai sultanate. The Sultan’s palace at the riverside is now a museum where the old royal paraphernalia are kept, as well as an excellent collection of antique Chinese ceramics. Dayak statues can be admired in the yard. A curious thing about the royal paraphernalia is that they display a strong resamblance with Java’s court traditions. Every 24th of September, the former palace becomes a stage of dance and music performances given to celebrate the town’s anniversary.
Berau
Berau. Found here are the remains of a king called the Keraton Gunung Tambur and The Keraton Sambaling.
Tanjung Isuy
Tanjung Isuy. This litle settlement around Lake Jempang, in the lake-studded East Kalimantan hinterland, has a traditional Da¬yak longhouse which has been turned into lodges for visitors. The grave of a Benuaq Dayak chief lies aside the hamlets’s only only road. Visitors are usually given a traditional Dayak Benuaq welcome. The trip over Tanjung Isuy over the Mahakam River is along but interesting one past floating village and forest scenery. See the magic dance of the “belian” a Dayak tribe‘s doctor. Dressed in skirt of leaves, cures his patients at night by performing the rites prescribed by ancestors to the frenzied accompaniment of gongs and drums. Many Benuaq Dayaks still prefer the old cures to the modern ones at the government public health centers which are nearby.
Derawan and Sangalaki Islands
Derawan and Sangalaki Islands 3 hours by long boat from Tanjung Redep in the north, you can reach Derawan Island. There are many rare animals such as the green turtle, the scarlet turtle, star fruit turtle and sea cow. Derawan and Sangalaki islands hold an amazing marine environment, including fabulous coral formations, canary crabs, green turtles and pearls.
Muara Ancalong
Muara Ancalong-Muara Wahau Dances at the Kenyah Dayak are often performed here for visitors at a traditional longhouse.
The Kecak dance is one of the most famous of Balinese dances. It is unusual because it has no musical accompaniment like many other Indonesian dances do, the rhythm of the dance is produced by the chanting 'monkey' chorus. Instead, a troupe of over 150 bare-chested men serve as the chorus, making a wondrous cacophony of synchronized "chak-achak-achak" clicking sounds while swaying their bodies and waving their hands .From that chanting noise of "Cak-cak-cak", then it gave the dance its name Kecak.
What makes the Kecak such a fascinating dance to watch are the fifty or so men in the checkered pants. They are both the choir and the props, providing the music for the story in a series of constant vocal chants that change with the mood of the actors. They don't sit still, either, they wave their arms to simulate fire, and reposition themselves around the stage to represent wind and fire, prison cells, and unseen hand of protection from the gods.
The dance is played in five acts and lasts roughly 45 minutes. It taken from the Hindu epic Ramayana, which tells the story of Prince Rama and his rescue of Princess Sita, who has been kidnapped by the evil King of Lanka, Rahwana and somehow with the help of the white monkey army, Rama rescues his wife and defeats the evil Rahwana.
Attending a Kecak recital is a must for any visitor to
• By Land:
• By Sea:
The state-run passengers line PELNI operates weekly sailing's between
No need to worry where youll stay in
There are a variety of restaurants in
Its so easy to move around in
There are a lot of things to do or see while youre in
Handwoven fabrics are a great buy; a simple sarong is an inexpensive, portable and practical travel accessory,
Ubud is the best place for you to buy paintings and other artworks,
Browsing at the Sukawati Art Market and Galeria Nusa Dua offers a tempting range of Balinese goods in one place.
• Various hotels in
• Weekly (in some places daily) performances of the Kecak abound around the island, but the most well-known Kecak Theater is in the town of
• Upon arrival, if your hotel has not arranged transportation from the airport, hire a taxi from the transport counter outside the arrival gate. Fares are listed by destination and must be paid in advance. Metered taxis are also available in Kuta, Sanur, Nusa Dua and Denpasar.
Bali was inhabited by Austronesian peoples by about 2000 BCE who migrated originally from Taiwan through Maritime Southeast Asia.[2] Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are thus closely related to the peoples of the Indonesian archipelago, the Philippines, and Oceania.[3] Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west.[4]
Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian and Chinese, and particularly Hindu culture, in a process beginning around the 1st century AD. The name Balidwipa has been discovered from various inscriptions, including the Blanjong charter issued by Sri Kesari Warmadewa in 913 AD and mentioning Walidwipa. It was during this time that the complex irrigation system subak was developed to grow rice. Some religious and cultural traditions still in existence today can be traced back to this period. The Hindu Majapahit Empire (1293–1520 AD) on eastern Java founded a Balinese colony in 1343. When the empire declined, there was an exodus of intellectuals, artists, priests and musicians from Java to Bali in the 15th century.
The first European contact with Bali is thought to have been made by Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman who arrived in 1597, though a Portuguese ship had foundered off the Bukit Peninsula as early as 1585.[citation needed] Dutch colonial control was expanded across the Indonesian archipelago in the nineteenth century (see Dutch East Indies). Their political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on the island's north coast by playing various distrustful Balinese realms against each other.[5] In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island's south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control.
The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults at the Sanur region in 1906 and were met by the thousands of members of the royal family and their followers who marched to certain death against superior Dutch force in a suicidal puputan defensive assault rather than face the humiliation of surrender.[5] Despite Dutch demands for surrender, an estimated 4,000 Balinese marched to their death against the invaders. In 1908, a similar massacre occurred in the face of a Dutch assault in Klungkung. Afterwards the Dutch governors were able to exercise little influence over the island, and local control over religion and culture generally remained intact.
Dutch rule over Bali had come later and was never as well established as in other parts of Indonesia such as Java and Maluku. Imperial Japan occupied Bali during World War II during which time a Balinese military officer, Gusti Ngurah Rai, formed a Balinese 'freedom army'. In the 1930s, anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, and artists Miguel Covarrubias and Walter Spies, and musicologist Colin McPhee created a western image of Bali as "an enchanted land of aesthetes at peace with themselves and nature", and western tourism first developed on the island.[6] Following Japan's Pacific surrender in August 1945, the Dutch promptly returned to Indonesia, including Bali, immediately to reinstate their pre-war colonial administration. This was resisted by the Balinese rebels now using Japanese weapons.
On 20 November 1946, the Battle of Marga was fought in Tabanan in central Bali. Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai, 29 years old, finally rallied his forces in east Bali at Marga Rana, where they made a suicide attack on the heavily armed Dutch. The Balinese battalion was entirely wiped out, breaking the last thread of Balinese military resistance. In 1946 the Dutch constituted Bali as one of the 13 administrative districts of the newly-proclaimed Republic of East Indonesia, a rival state to the Republic of Indonesia which was proclaimed and headed by Sukarno and Hatta. Bali was included in the "Republic of the United States of Indonesia" when the Netherlands recognised Indonesian independence on 29 December 1949.
The 1963 eruption of Mount Agung killed thousands, created economic havoc and forced many displaced Balinese to be transmigrated to other parts of Indonesia. Mirroring the widening of social divisions across Indonesia in the 1950s and early 1960s, Bali saw conflict between supporters of the traditional caste system, and those rejecting these traditional values. Politically, this was represented by opposing supporters of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), with tensions and ill-feeling further increased by the PKI's land reform programs.[5]
An attempted coup in Jakarta was put down by forces led by General Suharto. The army became the dominant power as it instigated a violent anti-communist purge, in which the army blamed the PKI for the coup. Most estimates suggest that at least 500,000 people were killed across Indonesia, with an estimated 80,000 killed in Bali, equivalent to 5 per cent of the island's population.[7] With no Islamic forces involved as in Java and Sumatra, upper-caste PNI landlords led the extermination of PKI members.
The passion of H.Santosa Doellah for preserving Batik, trigger the idea of building a museum of batik. As one of the Cultural identities, batik is an insperable part of the city of
Displayed in this gallery are the antique batiks that were created through the period of time before and during the Dutch and Japanese occupancy, till the independence of
The old building of Ndalem Wuryanigratan itself is promised to be an interesting object for cultural tourism, displaying the spendor of traditional Javanese architecture.
1. Location
"Galeri Batik Kuno Danar Hadi" is located at the centre of
2. Background
The founding of this Gallery was based on Mr. Santosa Doellah's wish in his effort in preserving batik since the Gallery's missions are:
a. Preserving batik in any aspects
b. Providing information for the educational society
c. Building another tour asset for
3. The Building
a. This Gallery consists of eights halls:
b. Gallery I
c. Gallery II
d. Gallery III
e. Two Showrooms
f. Hand waxing department
g. Stamp waxing department
h. Dyeing department
4. Collections Being Displayed
Gallery I displays:
a. Batik Belanda (from 1840-1910)
b. Batik Cina (before 1910 and after 1910)
c. Batik Djawa Hokokai (1942-1945)
d. Batik Kraton (batik from the palaces)
Batik Puro Mangkunegaran
Batik Puro Pakualaman
Batik Kasunanan Surakarta
Batik Kasultanan Yogyakarta
e. Batik Pengaruh Kraton (batik influenced by the Batik from palaces):
Batik Cirebon
Batik Banyumas
Batik Indramayu (Batik Dermayon)
Batik Madura
f. Batik influenced by The Indian Cloth
g. Batik Danar Hadi
Gallery II displays:
a. Flow of process (Traditional Batik Process)
b. Batik Wax ingredients
c. Batik
d. Batik Wonogiren (1966-1975)
e. Batik Kontemporer
Batik created by Guruh Soekarno Putra
Batik created by Amry Yahya
Batik created by Bambang Oetoro
Batik created by SP. Gustami
Batik created by Soemihardjo
f. Batik Souvenir
5. Processing Department
Batik Process being shown in this gallery are mostly Multi Coloured Batik Process (Batik Pesisiran Processes) applied on silk.
Traditional Performing Arts
Included in the "one stop shopping" concept, Galeri Batik Kuno Danar Hadi will continually stage traditional performing arts or other cultural events from
Artistic Atmosphere of the Workshop
Take advantage in viewing the process of batik making, whether stamped or drawn, which are famous for its high standard of quality.
Exclusive Shop
The shop provides a variety of exclusive items from exclusive batiks, specific souvenirs from Solo and nearby regions, to high quality Javanese antique and ethnic products. Guests may feel comfortable in the attractive and artistic atmosphere of the shop.
Tour Package
"Wisata Budaya Terpadu" Package Offered by Danar Hadi's Antique Batik Gallery
1. Visiting The Gallery $ 2.00/person
Special rate for student $ 1.00/person
2. Visiting The Gallery and The Building with Old Javanese Architecture followed by a short Discussion on Batik (for a minimum of 15 persons)
a. without snack/beverages $ 4.00/person
b. with snacks & aqua $ 5.00/person
c. with lunch $ 9.00/person
d. with lunch and Gamelan Music $ 14.00/person
3. Batik Workshop - one day
(for a minimum of 20 persons)
4. Batik Course - five days
(for a minimum 15 persons)
a. without snacks/beverages $ 62.50/person
b. with snacks and aqua + (5 x $ 1.00) $ 67.50/person
c. with lunch + (5 x $ 4.00) $ 87.50/person
1st day :
Visiting The Gallery and The Old Javanese Building
Short discussion on Batik displayed inside The Gallery
Lunch
Distribute hand-outs and Batik tools
Batik processes
2nd day :
Raw materials for batik
Dyerstuffs
Drawing patterns
Batikking
3rd day :
Batikking
Direct dyeing
4th day :
Waxing dyed parts
Dyeing and removing the wax
5th day :
Waxing, brown dyeing, wax removing
Evaluation
5. Lectures / Discussion on Batik
(for a minimum 15 persons) $ 7.00/person
6. Cultural Performances
(for a minimum of 25 persons)
a. Traditional Javanese Dresses
(included
b. Traditional Royal Javanese Wedding Ceremonies
(Surakarta & Yogyakarta) $ 35.00/person
c. Javanese Dance performances (fragments and others) $ 30.00/person
d.
1. Shadow Puppet play $ 30.00/person
2. Wodden Puppet play $ 30.00/person
3. Folk Dances $ 30.00/person
(Including Lunch or Dinner, Tour inside Galeri Batik Kuno Danar Hadi)
For further information, please contact : Asty
Phone : (0271) 713140, 714326
Location
Jalan Slamet Riyadi No.261, Surakarta
Telp. (0271) 714326 Fax. (0271) 714253
Once you read or give it a deeper study to Danis way of life, dont be surprise that you may find your eye lifting or forehead wrinkling. Why? Because the Dani is uniquely amazing.
The Dani men and women sleep separately in different honai (Danis traditional house). The men sleep grouped in one honai, while the women and children slumber in another honai. As descended from their ancestor, sex is taboo for the women after giving birth, for 2 or 5 years, as the result the Dani generated healthier kids since the women focus on babysitting the kids during the most important phase of growth. This situation makes the men vulnerable to polygamy, its a true fact of life that the Dani men are allowed to have more than 1 wife or as many as he can afford. A man should give 4-5 pigs to the girls parent he wants to marry. For Dani men, his social status are initiated by the number of wives and pigs he has.
Another remarkable custom of Dani is that women will amputate their finger when their relatives die, hence doesnt be surprise when you see women with missing finger.
To enhance the quality of your experience in
Flying might be the only way to access the
- Trigana Air Services provide daily flights into and out of Wamena. Spot the Trigana Air Service Offices at
- MAF
- AMA
- Yajasi
- Manunggal Air
- Hercules carrier provide by Indonesian army (TNI)
To access
For those who are adventurer and cultural observer in heart, stay and mingle with the
If the first alternative is way too extreme, you can stay at hotels at Wamena:
- Wamena Hotel at Jl. Homhom 61
- Srikandi Hotel at Jl. Irian 16
- Pondok Wisata Putri Dani at Jl. Irian 40
- Nayak Hotel at Jl. Gatot Subroto 63
- Hotel Syah Rial Makmur at Jl. Gatot Subroto 45
- Hotel Anggrek at Jalan Ambon 1
- Baliem Pilamo Hotel at Jalan Trikora
- Baliem Valley Resort (3 star resort), www.baliem-valley-resort.de
Would you mind if we say ON FOOT? Healthy foot and fit body? Absolutely. Through trekking, you can witness traditional ceremonies, traditional markets and the people of Dani.
There is no restaurant inside the
- Souvenir can be easily found on the valley and buy the crafts directly from the Dani people.
- Stone blade is a major favorite for the tourist
- Sekan: rattan bracelate
- Noken: made from trees bark
- Head and arm necklace
- Jogal: grass skirt
- And other head decorations
- The captivating Baliem Fiesta is held on August around 10 - 17 August every year. The festival performs traditional dances, pig races, ancestral fighting and races. Today, Baliem Fiesta is one of the main reasons why tourists visit Papua. Its a magical Fiesta says most of the tourist.
- Join the large and busy local market at Sinatma.
- Spotting mummies at
- Guide is needed to explore the valley
- Dont forget to bring the copy of your Surat Keterangan Jalan
- Best time to visit is between March and August
- If you travel during the rainy season, be prepared with cold weather equipment
- Ask your guide about Dos and Donts in the
Foreigner must obtain a travel permit letter or known as Surat Keterangan Jalan to get the access into the interior part of Papua. You can obtain the Surat Keterangan Jalan at main town police station such as Jayapura, Merauka, Timika,
You can ask your travel agent to arrange the Surat Keterangan Jalan.
Mount Merapi, Gunung Merapi in Indonesian language, is a conical volcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. Its name means Mountain of Fire. It is very close to the city of Yogyakarta, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano, with villages as high as 1700 m above sea level.
Although smoke can be seen emerging from the mountain top at least 300 days a year, several eruptions have caused fatalities. Hot gas from a large explosion killed 43 people in 1994, mostly in the town of Muntilan, west of the volcano. Another large eruption occurred in 2006, shortly before the Yogyakarta earthquake. In light of the hazards that Merapi poses to populated areas, it has been designated as one of the Decade Volcanoes.
Merapi is the youngest in a group of volcanoes in southern Java. It is situated at a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian Plate is sliding beneath the Eurasian Plate. It is one of at least 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire – a section of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and South East Asia.[2] Stratigraphic analysis reveals that eruptions in the Merapi area began about 400,000 years ago, and from then until about 10,000 years ago, eruptions were typically effusive, and the outflowing lava emitted was basaltic. Since then, eruptions have become more explosive, with viscous andesitic lavas often generating lava domes. Dome collapse has often generated pyroclastic flows, and larger explosions, which have resulted in eruption columns, have also generated pyroclastic flows through column collapse.
Typically, small eruptions occur every two to three years, and larger ones every 10-15 years or so. Notable eruptions, often causing many deaths, have occurred in 1006, 1786, 1822, 1872 (the most violent eruption in recent history), and 1930—when thirteen villages were destroyed and 1400 people killed by pyroclastic flows.
A very large eruption in 1006 is claimed to have covered all of central Java with ash. The volcanic devastation is claimed to have led to the collapse of the Hindu Kingdom of Mataram, however there is insufficient evidence from that era for this to be substantiated.
Merapi continues hold particular significance for the Javanese: it is one of four places where officials from the royal palaces of Yogyakarta and Solo make annual offerings to placate the ancient Javanese spirits.
AS THINGS HEAT UP around Merapi, dozens of reporters flock to cover the standoff starring the immovable Marijan, Merapi's first media-age Gatekeeper. Soon, his face and the words "President of Merapi" adorn T-shirts all over Yogyakarta. To raise funds for his impoverished Kinarejo neighbors, he appears in a television advertisement for an energy drink. Marijan, who inherited his job as Merapi's caretaker from his father, is paid the equivalent of a dollar a month by the kraton, as the sultan's high-walled palace in Yogyakarta is known. In traditional Javanese cosmology, the kraton sits on an invisible line between Mount Merapi and the nearby Indian Ocean. The sultan, a palace publication explains, is a "divinely chosen person" whose coronation is preceded by "a supernatural message." Along with the everyday business of governing Yogyakarta, the sultan is also responsible for placating a powerful sea goddess called Ratu Kidul, and Merapi's guardian ogre, Sapu Jagat. One morning, soldiers arrive. "I don't want to leave," Marijan tells them with all the firmness his creaky voice can convey. "Maybe I'll leave tomorrow. Maybe the day after tomorrow. It's up to me." Then he heads for the village mosque. Marijan's duties may include mollifying a volcano-dwelling ogre. But he is also a devout Muslim who prays five times a day.
A gamelan is a musical ensemble of Indonesia typically featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings, and vocalists may also be included. Drums are also a very important instrument that leads the band.
The term refers more to the set of instruments than the players of those instruments. A gamelan is a set of instruments as a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together — instruments from different gamelan are not interchangeable.
The word "gamelan" comes from the Javanese word "gamel", meaning to strike or hammer, and the suffix "an", which makes the root a collective noun.
The gamelan predates the Hindu-Buddhist culture that dominated Indonesia in its earliest records, and instead represents a native art form. The instruments developed into their current form during the Majapahit Empire. In contrast to the heavy Indian influence in other art forms, the only obvious Indian influence in gamelan music is in the Javanese style of singing.
In Javanese mythology, the gamelan was created by Shivam Malhotra in Saka era 167 (c. AD 230), the god who ruled as king of all Java from a palace on the Maendra mountains in Medangkamulan (now Mount Lawu). He needed a signal to summon the gods, and thus invented the gong. For more complex messages, he invented two other Gongs, thus forming the original gamelan set.
In the palaces of Java are the oldest known ensembles, the Munggang and Kodokngorek gamelans, apparently from the 12th century. These formed the basis of a "loud style." A different, "soft style" developed out of the kemanak tradition and is related to the traditions of singing Javanese poetry, in a manner which is often believed to be similar to performance of modern bedhaya dance. In the 17th century, these loud and soft styles mixed, and to a large extent the variety of modern gamelan styles of Bali, Java, and Sunda resulted from different ways of mixing these elements. Thus, despite the seeming diversity of styles, many of the same theoretical concepts, instruments, and techniques are shared between the styles
Wayang klitik figures occupy a middle ground between the figures of wayang golek and wayang kulit. They are constructed similarly to wayang kulit figures, but from thin pieces of wood instead of leather, and, like wayang kulit figures, are used as shadow puppets. A further similarity is that they are the same smaller size as wayang kulit figures. However, wood is more subject to breakage than leather. During battle scenes, wayang klitik figures often sustain considerable damage, much to the amusement of the public, but in a country in which before 1970 there were no adequate glues available, breakage generally meant an expensive, newly made figure. On this basis the wayang klitik figures, which are to appear in plays where they have to endure battle scenes, have leather arms. The name of these figures is onomotopaeic, from the sound klitik-klitik, that these figures make when worked by the dalang.
Wayang klitik figures come originally from eastern Java, where one still finds workshops turning them out. They are less costly to produce than wayang kulit figures.
The origin of the stories involved in these puppet plays comes from the kingdoms of eastern Java: Jenggala, Kediri and Majapahit. From Jenggala and Kediri come the stories of Raden Panji and Cindelaras, which tells of the adventures of a pair of village youngsters with their fighting cocks. The Damarwulan presents the stories of a hero (Damarwulan) from Majapahit. Damarwulan is a clever chap, who with courage, aptitude, intelligence and the assistance of his young lover Anjasmara, makes a surprise attack on the neighboring kingdom and brings down Minakjinggo, an Adipati (viceroy) of Blambangan and mighty enemy of Majapahit's beautiful queen Sri Ratu Kencanawungu. As a reward, Damarwulan is married to Kencanawungu and becomes king of Majapahit; he also takes Lady Anjasmara as a second wife. This story is full of love affairs and battles and is very popular with the public. The dalang is liable to incorporate the latest local gossip and quarrels and work them into the play as comedy.
The wayang beber has strong similarities to narratives in the form of illustrated ballads that were common at annual fairs in medieval and early modern Europe. They have also been subject to the same fate – they have nearly vanished. A few scrolls of images remain from those times, found today in museums. Performances, mostly in small auditoriums, take place according to the following pattern:
The dalang gives a sign, the gamelan orchestra (or a musician with a violin-like instrument) begins to play and the Dalang unrolls a picture related to the story. Then, speaking and singing, he narrates the story in more detail. In this manner, in the course of the evening he unrolls several pictures. The pictures are shown one at a time and are successively unrolled. Each picture represents a story or part of a story. The content of the story typically stems from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Jenggala stories or profane stories from other villages and kingdoms.
Wayang golek are wooden doll puppets that are operated from below by rods connected to the hands and a central control rod that runs through the body to the head. The simple construction of the puppets belies their versatility, expressiveness and aptitude for imitating human dance. Little is known for certain about the history of wayang golek, but scholars have speculated that it most likely originated in China and arrived in Java sometime in the 17th century. Some of the oldest traditions of wayang golek are from the north coast of Java in what is called the pasisir region. This is home to some of the oldest Muslim kingdoms in Java and it is likely the wayang golek grew in popularity through telling the wayang menak stories of Amir Hamza, the uncle of Muhammad. These stories are still widely performed in Kabumen, Tegal, and Jepara as wayang golek menak, and in Cirebon, wayang golek cepak. Legendary origins of wayang golek attribute their invention to the Muslim saint Wali Sunan Kudus, who used the medium to proselytize Muslim values. In the 18th century the tradition moved into the mountains of West Java where it eventually was used to tell stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabarata in a tradition now called wayang golek purwa, which can be found in Bandung, Bogor and Jakarta. Wayang golek purwa has become the most popular form of wayang golek today and the most famous puppeteer family is the Sunarya family which has produced several generations of stellar performers.
Wayang kulit, shadow puppets prevalent in Java and Bali in Indonesia, are without a doubt the best known of the Indonesian wayang. Kulit means skin, and refers to the leather construction of the puppets that are carefully chiseled with very fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods.
The stories are usually drawn from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata or the Serat Menak. The island of Lombok has developed its own style of Serat Menak called "kazangiloonga".
There is a family of characters in Javanese wayang called Punakawan; they are sometimes referred to as "clown-servants" because they normally are associated with the story's hero, and provide humorous and philosophical interludes. Semar is the father of Gareng (oldest son), Petruk, and Bagong (youngest son). These characters did not originate in the Hindu epics, but were added later, possibly to introduce mystical aspects of Islam into the Hindu-Javanese stories. They provide something akin to a political cabaret, dealing with gossip and contemporary affairs.
The puppets figures themselves vary from place to place. In Central Java the city of Surakarta (Solo) is most famous and is the most commonly imitated style of puppets. Regional styles of shadow puppets can also be found in West Java, Banyumas, Cirebon, Semarang, and East Java. Bali produces more compact and naturalistic figures, and Lombok has figures representing real people. Often modern-world objects as bicycles, automobiles, airplanes and ships will be added for comic effect, but for the most part the traditional puppet designs have changed little in the last 300 years.
Historically, the performance consisted of shadows cast on a cotton screen and an oil lamp. Today, the source of light used in wayang performance in Java is most often a halogen electric light. Some modern forms of wayang such as Wayang Sandosa created in the Art Academy at Surakarta (STSI) has employed spotlights, colored lights and other innovations.
The handwork involved in making a wayang kulit figure that is suitable for a performance takes several weeks, with the artists working together in groups. They start from master models (typically on paper) which are traced out onto kulit (skin or parchment), providing the figures with an outline and with indications of any holes that will need to be cut (such as for the mouth or eyes). The figures are then smoothed, usually with a glass bottle, and primed. The structure is inspected and eventually the details are worked through. A further smoothing follows before individual painting, which is undertaken by yet another craftsman. Finally, the movable parts (upper arms, lower arms with hands and the associated sticks for manipulation) mounted on the body, which has a central staff by which it is held. A crew makes up to ten figures at a time, typically completing that number over the course of a week.
The painting of less expensive puppets is handled expediently with a spray technique, using templates, and with a different person handling each color. Less expensive puppets, often sold to children during performances, are sometimes made on cardboard instead of leather.
Wayang kulit, shadow puppets prevalent in Java and Bali in Indonesia, are without a doubt the best known of the Indonesian wayang. Kulit means skin, and refers to the leather construction of the puppets that are carefully chiseled with very fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods.
The stories are usually drawn from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata or the Serat Menak. The island of Lombok has developed its own style of Serat Menak called "kazangiloonga".
There is a family of characters in Javanese wayang called Punakawan; they are sometimes referred to as "clown-servants" because they normally are associated with the story's hero, and provide humorous and philosophical interludes. Semar is the father of Gareng (oldest son), Petruk, and Bagong (youngest son). These characters did not originate in the Hindu epics, but were added later, possibly to introduce mystical aspects of Islam into the Hindu-Javanese stories. They provide something akin to a political cabaret, dealing with gossip and contemporary affairs.
The puppets figures themselves vary from place to place. In Central Java the city of Surakarta (Solo) is most famous and is the most commonly imitated style of puppets. Regional styles of shadow puppets can also be found in West Java, Banyumas, Cirebon, Semarang, and East Java. Bali produces more compact and naturalistic figures, and Lombok has figures representing real people. Often modern-world objects as bicycles, automobiles, airplanes and ships will be added for comic effect, but for the most part the traditional puppet designs have changed little in the last 300 years.
Historically, the performance consisted of shadows cast on a cotton screen and an oil lamp. Today, the source of light used in wayang performance in Java is most often a halogen electric light. Some modern forms of wayang such as Wayang Sandosa created in the Art Academy at Surakarta (STSI) has employed spotlights, colored lights and other innovations.
The handwork involved in making a wayang kulit figure that is suitable for a performance takes several weeks, with the artists working together in groups. They start from master models (typically on paper) which are traced out onto kulit (skin or parchment), providing the figures with an outline and with indications of any holes that will need to be cut (such as for the mouth or eyes). The figures are then smoothed, usually with a glass bottle, and primed. The structure is inspected and eventually the details are worked through. A further smoothing follows before individual painting, which is undertaken by yet another craftsman. Finally, the movable parts (upper arms, lower arms with hands and the associated sticks for manipulation) mounted on the body, which has a central staff by which it is held. A crew makes up to ten figures at a time, typically completing that number over the course of a week.
The painting of less expensive puppets is handled expediently with a spray technique, using templates, and with a different person handling each color. Less expensive puppets, often sold to children during performances, are sometimes made on cardboard instead of leather.
Although the word's origin is Javanese, its etymology may be either from the Javanese amba' ('to write') and titik ('dot' or 'point'), or constructed from a hypothetical Proto-Austronesian root *beCík, meaning 'to tattoo' from the use of a needle in the process. The word is first recorded in English in the Encyclopædia Britannica of 1880, in which it is spelt battik. It is attested in Indonesian Archipelago of the Dutch colonial period in the various forms mbatek, mbatik, batek and batik
Batik has been both an art and a craft for centuries. In Java, Indonesia, batik is part of an ancient tradition, and some of the finest batik cloth in the world is still made there.
Contemporary batik, while owing much to the past, is markedly different from the more traditional and formal styles. For example, the artist may use etching, discharge dyeing, stencils, different tools for waxing and dyeing, wax recipes with different resist values and work with silk, cotton, wool, leather, paper or even wood and ceramics.
Melted wax (Japanese: malam) is applied to cloth before being dipped in dye. It is common for people to use a mixture of beeswax and paraffin wax. The beeswax will hold to the fabric and the paraffin wax will allow cracking, which is a characteristic of batik. Wherever the wax has seeped through the fabric, the dye will not penetrate. Sometimes several colours are used, with a series of dyeing, drying and waxing steps.
Thin wax lines are made with a canting needle (or a tjanting tool), a wooden handled tool with a tiny metal cup with a tiny spout, out of which the wax seeps. Other methods of applying the wax onto the fabric include pouring the liquid wax, painting the wax on with a brush, and applying the hot wax to pre-carved wooden or metal wire block and stamping the fabric.
After the last dyeing, the fabric is hung up to dry. Then it is dipped in a solvent to dissolve the wax, or ironed between paper towels or newspapers to absorb the wax and reveal the deep rich colors and the fine crinkle lines that give batik its character. This traditional method of batik making is called Batik Tulis (lit: Written Batik).
The invention of the copper block or cap developed by the Javanese in the 20th century revolutionized batik production. It became possible to make high quality designs and intricate patterns much faster than one could possibly do by hand-painting. This method of using copper block to applied melted wax pattern is called Batik Cap (pronounced like "chop").
Indonesian batik used for clothing normally has an intricate pattern. Traditionally, wider curves were reserved for batik produced for nobles. The traditional cloth has natural colors (tones of indigo and brown) while contemporary pieces have more variety of color.
Javanese batik typically includes symbols. Some pieces may be mystic-influenced, but very rarely used for clothing. Some may carry illustrations of animals or other intricate things.