Dalang Paiman, 69, plays a wayang krucil that belonged to the family of Mbah Saniyem, in her 90s, of the Wiloso subvillage, Gondowangi village, Wagir district, Malang regency, East Java, on Saturday (1/2) night. Wayang krucil, made of wood andestimated to be over 200 years old this year, is usually played once a year in the month of Syawwal, exactly one week after Idul Fitri.
After spending the preceding few months inside a coffin, on Saturday (1/7/2017) evening, the wooden puppets of Mbah Saniyem, a resident in her 90s of Wiloso hamlet, Gondowangi village, Wagir district, Malang regency, East Java, were “reawakened.”
Puppeteer Paiman, 69, played the puppets in front of over a hundred locals at the Gebyak Syawalan Wayang Krucil event commonly held a week after the Idul Fitri holiday at the end of the Ramadhan fasting month.
The sounds of gamelan in the front yard of Mbah Saniyem’s home pierced through the silence of the hamlet on the slope of Mt. Katu. The boisterous Idul Fitri spirit of people visiting each other’s homes throughout the day had died down. Most of the locals had closed the doors and windows of their homes. Outside, there was only the cool air of the dry season.
Approaching 10 p.m., Paiman walked on stage in a blue beskap (traditional Javanese attire) and a dark belangkon (traditional Javanese headwear). Before he began his performance, Paiman received the gunungan (a mountain-shaped puppet) from a representative of Mbah Saniyem’s family. The handing-over of the gunungan made of bird feathers symbolizes the puppet owner’s blessing for the puppeteer to play using the hundreds-of-years-old shadow puppet collection.
Not a moment later, Paiman sat cross-legged in front of the backdrop screen dominated by the colors pink and white. He prayed while looking at several of the puppets that he would perform with in the first act. There was no banana tree trunk, where the rods of the shadow puppets are usually put into. It was replaced by two blocks of wood with several small holes where the puppeteer inserted the rods of the puppets.
In performing the story of Trunojoyo Bedahe Mataram that night, Paiman was accompanied by two sinden (traditional singer), telling the story act by act. The tale was set in the colonial era.
“Apart from their bodies that are made of wood, the wayang krucil is different from wayang kulit [shadow puppets made using leather] in the stories that they tell. The stories of wayang krucil are based on facts and real events from the past, including during the kingdom and struggle eras, instead of on Ramayana or Mahabharata epics like in wayang kulit. All the characters, like Ranggalawe, Angling Darma or Damarwulan, are historical,” Paiman said before his performance.
The performance this time was different. The village created a new backdrop screen to make the shows more interesting. Performances in the past three years have only been conducted on stage and in tents. Before, the performances were held barebones – without a tent, a stage or a backdrop screen. Often times, the shows were held during the day.
Apart from a new backdrop screen, the gamelan players now wear uniforms. In order to increase public interest, the organizers include traditional campursari music performances before the puppet performance for entertainment. The singers are also Gondowangi residents. “The events are now managed by the village,” said Mbah Saniyem, who was accompanied by her first son Gunari, 67, in an interview before the performance.
As the owner of the puppets, Mbah Saniyem had never counted how many times the wayan gkrucil art had been performed. Only a few locals remembered that the puppet – with its 67 figures – was inherited by Mbah Saniyem from her parent, Mentaram (Mbah Taram) when she was younger.
In the book Almanak Desa Wayang Krucil Ereng-ereng Gunung Katu (2016), written by Fariza Wahyu Arizal from Yogyakarta’s Indonesian Arts Institute, it is mentioned that Mbah Taram was an artist from Putat village, Tanggulangin district, Sidoaro. Mbah Taram moved to Gondowangi in either 1896 or 1910. The book also mentions that the puppets may have been created by Prince Pekikin the 17th century in Surabaya. Another version says that the wayang krucil were created by the wali (Islamic saints) in East Java.
More complete
Regardless of when the unique wayang was created, the village felt that it was necessary for locals to preserve the art form.
Mbah Saniyem’s wayang krucil collection is deemed more complete compared to other similar wayang in Kediri, Tulungagung and Bojonegoro.
Gondowangi village head Danis Setyo Nugroho said that wayang krucil was named by the government as a national intangible cultural heritage. “In the past three years, there have been changes in the performance. Managing the performances helps preserve the art form. We strive to improve the performances’ quality, making it more than just a ritual,” Danis said.
According to Danis, the changes extend beyond making the concept and organizing the performances to be more contemporary. New characters are also developed. Puppeteer Paiman said that he made new wayang krucil characters to make the stories more relatable. Therefore, the stories that the puppeteer perform can be imbued with contemporary elements.
“In addition to the new characters, there are duplicates of existing characters. Duplicates are made to replace the original figures during battle scenes. That way, the original figures will remain undamaged. There are six new and duplicate characters,” Danis said, adding that the book Almanak Desa Wayang Krucil Ereng-ereng Gunung Katu was initiated by the village.
The efforts by the village administration and the involvement of locals in Gondowangi must be appreciated. Their focus on the art form is in line with Mbah Saniyem’s pledge to preserve local heritage despite that none of her six children perform with the puppets.
Fortunately, in the past few years, wayang krucil performances have not been exclusively held in Wiloso hamlet once a year. Several performances were held outside the village, including on college campuses. On New Year’s Eve 2017, a wayang krucil performance was held in Wiloso.
Malang State University history lecturer M. Dwi Cahyono said that the efforts by numerous parties to preserve wayang krucil in Gondowangi should be well-received. According to Dwi, the presence of Mbah Saniyem’s wayang krucil is important for Greater Malang. “The wayang krucil in Gondowangi is the only one in existence,” he said.
Seeing its rarity, Dwi said, a collective preservation effort from all stakeholders was important. He said that he would not have problems whether the wayang performances were based on tradition or modern creation and that the important thing was that the true spirit and the core of the art was not lost. “It can be that the Gebyak Syawal performances are based on traditions. Meanwhile, performances outside can be based on modern creations,” he said.
