Nice learning from the generation before me 
. Pick up the wisdom of the past as well as learning for the future.
I’m re-blogging this in All of Time and Space blog ’cause it’s been lonely of posts recently 
.
Author Archives: Hanna
a love story retold (via the daysman)
via the daysman
A Blog Is Worth A Thousand Posts (via The Laughing Housewife)
She really celebrated her 1000th post and I would like to celebrate with her by re-blogging this post. Congratulations! What would you personally do if your blog is already at it’s 1000th post?
when not to laugh at a man (via the daysman)
via the daysman
Wayang–A Traditional Puppet Show
In the island where I live—Java Island—there are various traditional puppet shows. You might have heard some or you might not, but if you haven’t than here is a post for starters 
. Besides passing down legends through storytelling, puppet shows—pertunjukan wayang—are also a way to do this.
There are different puppet shows in Indonesia; Wayang Kulit, Wayang Golek, Wayang Beber, etc. I on purpose searched the internet for different info about wayang and found out a lot of things even I didn’t know before! So I’m thankful of that . Literature about Wayang is definitely among the stuff in my list of things to pass on to my children.
Information about different wayangs I put bellow are only a little-tiny-itsy-bitsy part about this traditional entertainment–like I said, they are for starters—so if you want to know more, better read more about it from other sources .
Warning: If you can’t see the images here, click open the original sources and see the images from there !
History of Wayang Kulit
Source: http://senikelantan.blogspot.com/2009/04/history-of-wayang-kulit.html
Wayang is a generic term denoting traditional theatre in Indonesia. There is no evidence that wayang existed before Hinduism came to Southeast Asia sometime in the first century CE. However, there very well may have been indigenous storytelling traditions that had a profound impact on the development of the traditional puppet theatre. The first record of a wayang performance is from an inscription dated 930 CE which says “si Galigi mawayang,” or “Sir Galigi played wayang”. From that time till today it seems certain features of traditional puppet theatre have remained. Galigi was an itinerant performer who was requested to perform for a special royal occasion. At that event he performed a story about the hero Bhim from the Mahabharata.
Hinduism arrived in Indonesia from India even before the Christian era, and was slowly adopted as the local belief system. Sanskrit became the literary and court language of Java and later of Bali. The Hindus changed the Wayang (as did the Muslims, later) to spread their religion, mostly by stories from the Mahabharata or the Ramayana. Later this mixture of religion and wayang play was praised as harmony between Hinduism and traditional Indonesian culture. On Java, the western part of Sumatra and some smaller islands traditionalists continued to play the old stories for some time, but the influence of Hinduism prevailed and the traditional stories either fell into oblivion or were integrated into the Hinduistic plays.
The figures of the wayang are also present in the paintings of that time, for example, the roof murals of the courtroom in Klungkung, Bali. They are still present in traditional Balinese painting today.
When Islam began spreading in Indonesia, the display of God or gods in human form was prohibited, and thus this style of painting and shadow play was suppressed. King Raden Patah of Demak, Java, wanted to see the wayang in its traditional form, but failed to obtain permission from the Muslim religious leaders. As an alternative, the religious leaders converted the wayang golek into wayang purwa made from leather, and displayed only the shadow instead of the figures itself.[citation needed] Instead of the forbidden figures only their shadow picture was displayed, the birth of the wayang kulit.[citation needed]
The figures are painted, flat woodcarvings (a maximum of 5 to 15 mm thick — barely half an inch) with movable arms. The head is solidly attached to the body. Wayang klitik can be used to perform puppet plays either during the day or at night. This type of wayang is relatively rare.
Wayang today is both the most ancient and most popular form of puppet theatre in the world. Hundreds of people will stay up all night long to watch the superstar performers, dalang, who command extravagant fees and are international celebrities. Some of the most famous dalang in recent history are Ki Nartosabdho, Ki Anom Suroto, Ki Asep Sunarya, Ki Sugino, and Ki Manteb Sudarsono.
Short History of Wayang Beber
Source: http://wayangbeberkota.multiply.com/journal/item/1/Short_History_of_Wayang_Beber
Wayang beber is the cloth scrolled puppet picture . It is older than leather puppet (wayang kulit). It is narrated picture stated as the origin of the shadow theater. It had existed in 939 AD in of the era of the hinduism King Jayabaya Order of the Jenggala Kingdom. He asked the kingdom artists to draw his anchestor figures on the palm leave. In the early 20th century it was painted on 1 x 4 meter-sized cloth depicting four acts. It is based on the Panji story telling about Jenggala/Kediri kingdom’s anchestor. Till now we can know artefacts of wayang beber at Pacitan (East Java Province) and Gunungkidul town (Central Java Province).
The way to play it is by scrolling the wayang beber pictured cloth. The dalang (story teller) uses a stick to point at picture he wants to tell. He is in front of the scrolling cloth. Another man is at the back of it to scroll the act-to-act moving. The dalang used to be the Jawa Tengahan language, a old Javanese language used in Majapahit Kingdom era in the 15th century. Wayang beber performing were to honor the anchestor, then then to be for purification ritual.
Wayang Golek
Source: http://asiarecipe.com/indogoleng.html
Again: If you can’t see the pictures, click open the original source of this writing (http://asiarecipe.com/indogoleng.html).
An Indonesian dalangfrom Cibiru in Western Java. Mimi Herbert,Voices of the Puppet Masters, 2002, Honolulu.
The painted wooden puppets on the preceding page are old examples from the still thriving and important folk art puppet theater of Java in Indonesia. Although tourist shops now sell imitations of wayang golekpuppets, the puppets illustrated on these pages were actually used for many years in theater productions–in presentations of Hindu epics, Javanese history plays and the Islamic Menak cycles. Theseperformances were given in towns and villages on holidays and for a variety of festivals, as were the distinctive shadow-puppet plays. Adalang, or puppet master, manipulated the puppets, spoke their parts, and coordinated the puppets’ actions with music from a gamelan orchestra.
Anne Richter has described the stories as follows: “The most frequently performed narratives derive from the Hindu epics. TheArjuna Sasra Bahu and Ramayanacycles concern the affairs of the noble Rama himself and his ancestors. Favorite stories concern Rama’s marriage to Sinta; their banishment to the forest together with his brother Laksmana; Sinta’s abduction by the monster king Rahwana; and her subsequent rescue, with the aid of the monkey king and after numerous battles, from the kingdom of Sri Lanka. The Ramayanacontains many episodes from the lives of these characters which are emphasized in varying degrees to form separate plays in their own right.
The Mahabharata tells of the conflict between the superior Pandewa brothers (Judistra, Bima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sadewa) and their hundred jealous and mendacious cousins, the Kurewas, who drive them away from their home at the court of Astina, to wander in the wild. In the forest the Pandewas build the lovely and idealized kingdom of Amarta where the majority of the plays are set. The heroic quests, battles with vile ogres and scenes of romantic love are made all the more poignant by the knowledge that the glory and beauty are fleeting. Events are presented as taking place in Java rather than India, and the heroic Pandewas, descendants of Vishnu, are the ancestors of the Javanese kings. Many episodes have simply been invented by puppeteers over generations.
A wayang golek puppet carver in West Java. Voices of the Puppet Masters, Mimi Herbert, 2002, Honolulu.
The court scenes also allow scope for the comic misadventures and intrigue of the Pandewas’ clown servants, the Punakawans: Semar the wise, whose identity is thought to have evolved from that of the pre-Hindu Javanese god Ismaya and his sons. The inane and melancholic Gareng, with his round drooping nose, is the butt of jokes and tricks played by the sharp Petruk. Philosophical and mystical speculations made by the refined characters provide an intellectual and spiritual dimension for members of the audience with a taste for high seriousness.”
Richter describes the puppet making itself: “Like so many other crafts in Indonesia, making wayang golek is a skill handed down through families. The master puppet-maker usually makes the head because it expresses the personality of the puppet. Ceremonies are performed before commencing a deity or a demon. A piece of light, local softwood, which is easy to carve and not too heavy to hold up during a performance, is sawed or chopped down to the right size, and the main features are roughly chiseled. After sanding, fine decorations such as the parts of a crown are carved in with more care and sanded. The smooth surface receives a coat of glue-based paint, which will enable subsequent coats to adhere well. Lips, flowers and some bits of jewelry are painted red, as are the irises of angry characters. Blue is also used for eyes and sapphire jewelry. Fine black lines are painted for eyes, eyebrows, moustaches and wisps of hair….Bodies are often made by younger members of the family, and arms are attached at the elbow and shoulders with string so that they move easily. The shapes of hands also express character and role; those of nobles stretch out gracefully, but servants and commoners have large open palms. A rod passes from a hole in the base of the puppet’s head and down through the body to form a handle. Costumes are usually made by wives. …Since the stories portray historical and human rather than divine affairs, the puppets, like those used for history plays, are always fully clothed in Central Javanese traditional dress with batik sarongs.
Puppet body types can be identified across a spectrum which ranges from alus (extremely refined) to kasar(extremely rough and crude). Refined, virtuous characters have small dainty bodies, slitted oval eyes with pupils shaped like rice grains, pointed noses and a modest downward gaze… Vigorous or turbulent characters have a more direct and confrontational stare. As the personality of the puppet becomes less refined, there is an increase in size; the nose becomes heavier and blunter; eyes and pupils become larger and rounder and the gaze more aggressive; teeth and gums may be exposed in a snarl or a foolish sneer. The more refined middle-sized puppets may represent courageous but impetuous kings and heroes; the coarser ones suggest an uncontrolled or evil nature. The largest puppets are used for those whose greatest attribute is physical strength.”
Richter concludes, “It is the mixture of courtly, mystical and popular elements that allows traditional theatre to be so loved by so many people.”
A Javanese dulang and musicians. Voices of the Puppet Masters, Mimi Herbert. 2002, Honolulu.
For more information on the wayang golek traditions in Indonesia see the publications below. We do not sell books; they are listed here for your information.
Voices of the Puppet Masters: The Wayang Golek Theater of Indonesia. Mimi Herbert. 2004, Honolulu. 251 pages; profusely illustrated. This publication describes the puppet theater from the perspective of the dulang, the puppet masters. It is a delightful account based on interviews in the 1990s. Many of the myths used in the productions are recounted, and a complete list of wayang characters is included.
The Arts and Crafts of Indonesia. Anne Richter. 1993, London. 160 pages. Lots of illustrations. This little book covers many of the folk arts of Indonesia, and includes an excellent chapter on masks and puppets. The excerpts above are from this publication.
Are there any traditional entertainment in your area? Tell me ^_^!
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Other interesting posts you might wanna check out :
Legend of The Up-side Down Boat Mountain (Legenda Gunung Tangkuban Parahu)
- Gunung Tangkuban Parahu (Up side down Boat Mountain)
Behind my house there is a beautiful mountain called Gunung Tangkuban Parahu. It literally means Mountain (gunung) Upside down position (tangkuban) Boat (parahu); Upside-down Boat Mountain! If you think the name of the mountain is interesting, the story or legend behind it is much more interesting.
Because the story is passed down from generation to generation through story telling, so there might be a bit alteration in detail, but nevertheless, you get the main point of the story (I hope).
Warning: Logic is not needed to understand this legend!
One day a beautiful princess–Dayang Sumbi–was doing menyulam (I don’t know what this is in English), when one of her kit fell out of the window. Dayang Sumbi said whoever helps her get her kit will become her sister if it was a girl, and become a husband if it was a boy. Turns out that a dog named Tumang was the one who helped get her kit!
So, Dayang Sumbi married Tumang–who was actually a half god–and had a son named Sangkuriang. Sangkuriang was never told that Tumang was his father.
One day Sangkuriang and Tumang went out hunting for deer, but didn’t get any deer by the end of the day. Sangkuriang wanted to give a deer’s heart to his mother but with this failure he decided to kill Tumang and give Tumang’s heart to Dayang Sumbi.
Dayang Sumbi didn’t know this so she finished the heart that Sangkuriang gave her. When it was finished then Sangkuriang told her that it was Tumang’s heart. Dayang Sumbi was very angry and hit Sangkuriang’s head with a Coet (a tool to grind spices. It’s made out of rock).
Sangkuriang ran away from home.
For years he lived alone and in the way learned magical powers from different teachers. Until he came of age, he met a beautiful lady and fell in love with her. The girl also fell in love with Sangkuriang (who grew up to be a handsome and powerful young man).
One day, the lady saw the scar on Sangkuriang’s head and she remembered her son. Turns out that she was Dayang Sumbi (what a coincidence)! She tried to tell Sangkuriang this but Sangkuriang didn’t want to believe that she was his mother.
Dayang Sumbi thought of a plan so that she won’t have to marry Sangkuriang. She told Sangkuriang to make a boat in one day. The boat had to be finished by dawn. If he can’t do this, she won’t marry him.
Example of selendang
Sangkuriang with the help of the spirits or jinn (makhluk halus) started to make the boat. When it was almost dawn, Dayang Sumbi realized that the impossible has almost been completed. In her worry, she kicked a rooster and it cock a doodle doo-ed. Another version of the story was that Dayang Sumbi had awesome powers of her own and she made dawn come faster by raising up her selendang (a soft scarf or sari).
All the spirits thought it was dawn and all ran away, leaving Sangkuriang who also thought he had failed. In his anger he kicked the boat until it fell up side down and it turned into a mountain!
Tadaa… The End.
Moral of the Story:
- You can marry a dog if it’s half god
- You can’t marry your own mother even if she has defied the laws of science by marrying a dog–and is the hottest ‘chick’ in the kingdom
Kidding. You make your own moral of the story .
Other version’s of the story:
Etc.
Do you have an interesting legend where you live? (I know I do–a lot!) Tell me ^_^!
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Other posts from other blogs you might wanna check out :
Little Big Planet 2 (from Arty)
Welcome to Your Golden Years (funny post and it gives me a little bit of insight about getting old 
)
Past, Present, Future
I mean this to be a positive picture .
Have we ever answered what we want from this life? I’ve heard of the saying ‘enjoy the moment’ or ‘live in the present’ or something like that. But, I think that statement needs a little bit of adding to it. Well, at least for me.
I can enjoy every moment of my life because every thing I do brings me a step closer to my vision. Without this vision in life, we just enjoy life but mindlessly go where ever others pull us and waste our (little) time in life.
We enjoy our ‘present’ because we (constantly) learn from our ‘past’ and have guided our ‘future’.
My professor said to not just ‘go with the flow’; what if ‘the flow’ brings us to the ditches? Or to the toilet?
Get what she means?
Another friend said to prepare water pumps and pipes to flow our ‘life’ water. With that, our flow of life will bring good; a beautiful garden (or rice field ^_^, etc)!
Found this short commercial I find inspiring. Its about five old men who used to be motorcycle riders when they were young. Now they are old (and one of them have died) and all have some kind of sickness.
One day, they decided to reunite…
What happens when old men–former motorcycle riders–reunite? Well, watch in the video bellow (only 3 minutes and 11 seconds long). It is also quite funny . Enjoy!
I’m gonna close this post with a little quote I got from Gene Barry my friend in Facebook (thanks Gene ^_^!)
Be yourself, everyone else is taken.
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Other posts (from other blogs) you might want to enjoy:
People Come Into Your Life for a Reason
“…People come into your life for a reason…”
People say this a lot…
But, I would like to add a little bit to this:
I do believe that this can be the other way around also; “I come into his/her life for a reason”.
Picture source: http://www.arthursclipart.org/children/togetherbw.htm
What have you given to those around you that made them better? Elevated them in such a way that changed their lives for the better?
Though I believe people come into our life for a reason, I also believe we are in someone else’s life for a reason too (I don’t mean to say this as opposites, but just another perspective of seeing the same thing ). I believe it is a two way line.
Someone commented bellow the video and because it is totally awesome, I’d like to share it with you (even though something tells me you might have read it before ):
“We were given: Two hands to hold. Two legs to walk. Two eyes to see. Two ears to listen. But why only one heart? Because the other was given to someone else. For us to find.“
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And last…
If you aren’t someone who believe in anything transcendental, at least we do all believe in the logic of cause and effect. What cause and effect are you making?
Have a great day ^_^!
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Other posts you might want to read:
You and Me… Me and You… Together
Picture source: http://www.scn.org/cmp/ex-illu.htm
Did you know that you can’t be truly ‘claiming’ that you are independent? Just because you live in your own apartment and have your own job, that doesn’t mean you’re independent. Okay, well, you are independent in the sense that you are working your own to get your needs and clean up your own mess. But, did you know, that we humans are not independent?
Go to your bathroom and look at the toothpaste tube you use (you do brush your teeth, right?—if you don’t then you can stop reading and start brushing now!). Think about the toothpaste tube in your hands, why is the shape like that? Who designed it? Who decided that it will be shaped like that?
Look at the design of the ‘cover’. What color is it? Who made the design and decided the colors? Who made the writing on the toothpaste tube? Why did they choose to design it that way? Then, who designed the machines to make the tubes? Who are the people who produced the tube?
I’m focusing on the word ‘they’, ‘cuz behind the toothpaste tube alone, there are teams from different divisions with different talents. The choosing of the design, colors, and so on is not ‘random’ but it is to tell a specific message. They took time to research it. Then there are those who made a few designs and there are people who chose the final design. Afterwards, there are people operating the machines so that the tubes can be mass produced (the machines can’t start themselves of course—if they can, well… that would be a bit scary 
). Finally, there are people who distributed those tubes to stores and bla-bla-bla until it arrived now in your beautiful hands.
This tiny example of a toothpaste tube shows that there are so many people involved in it. Think about it, if you had to make that tube alone how many years would it take you to do it? Instead, you just see it on the shelf of a supermarket—already set and with toothpaste in it—and buy it.
What about the clothes you’re wearing? Your shoes? The food you eat every day?
What I’m trying to say is that we are interdependent.
I can’t find one reason to be arrogant and say that I don’t need any one else. I can’t find one reason to think that I am the best and everyone else is below me. Why? ‘Cuz I can’t live alone. Even if I could make all my ‘utilities’ by myself, I still need someone to share my feelings and thoughts to.
Every comfortable experience I am now having is because other people contributed something to it.
I remember when I was in Elementary, I prayed for the people who made the road that I was walking on. I prayed for the people behind the construction of the building I was in. Even though I don’t know them but I thank them, for because of what they did, I can have a better life. This is most true for my parents also (especially them). I always pray for my parents, because without their contribution (their love, education, etc), I might not end up where I am at now. They have sacrificed so much for me. I can’t stop being thankful to them.
We do not live alone. We are a ‘little’ someone in a big grand world. But those ‘little’ contributions add up to SO MUCH. By understanding this, I do not want to belittle others; everyone makes a difference, either knowingly or un-knowingly. Plus, it has taught me also to think win/win; for me to ‘win’, I have to make other people around me ‘win’.
So, are you ready to willingly contribute ‘goodness’ in the world?
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Other posts you might want to read
