The Wayang Purwa, the oldest form of wayang in Indonesia. The name Wayang Purwa may be interpreted as “the ancient wayang“, telling stories from the mythology of the gods as described in the Serat Pustaka Raja Parwa, an old book which still exists in museums. The etymology of its name indicates that the Wayang Purwa is indeed the oldest wayang form.

According to some scholarly persons, the Wayang Purwa is the wayang which depicts on the screen stories from the Parwa(s) or the chapter(s) from the Hindhu epic of the Mahabharata. In Bali may still be seen with the name Wayang Prawa. In Bali all the stories are derived from the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Arjuna Wiwaha, Bhaumakawya, and other old books in Kawi (the old Javanese language).

Even so the Wayang Purwa in Java, especially in Central Java has reached a very upper-level of development, so that now the technique of the wayang and of the gamelan musical accompaniment, both instrumental and voice, can be regarded as a complex and highly developed art form, involving both music and drama.

There now exist a whole repertory which can be enjoyed in many parts of Indonesia on different occasions. The wide fame of the wayang play extends through all levels of the society from remote villages on mountainslopes to the verendahs of houses in great metropolises, and even to the Presidential Palace in Djakarta. Young and old, educated and illiterate, leaders and folk are all devoted to the Wayang Purwa play, often sitting up all night to see a performance through to the end. While in Bali the wayang is still existensively used in all the Panca-Yadnya, the offering ceremonies in house and temple.

So what is the secret of this universal appealingness? Why does the Wayang Purwa exercise this remarkable spell on its audience? Probably it’s due to a combination of technique and of the material of the wayang.

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Narasumber: Moerdowo,R.M.