Archives West Finding Aid

Wayang, also spelled Wajang, (Javanese: "shadow"), is the term for classical Javanese puppet drama that uses the shadows thrown by puppets manipulated by rods against a translucent screen lit from behind. Developed before the 10th century, the form had origins in the thalubomalata, the leather puppets of southern India. The art of shadow puppetry probably spread to Java with the spread of Hinduism.

The prototype of the wayang figures is the wayang kulit, or shadow puppet made of perforated, elaborately painted leather. The plays utilizing wayang puppets are set in mythological times and dramatize episodes from the Hindu epics Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata. Some are of Javanese creation, being further elaborations of the Mahābhārata legends of the five heroic Pāṇḍava brothers. These highly ritualized midnight-to-dawn performances may be viewed from either side of the screen, some of the audience sitting behind the dalang (puppeteer), but most connoisseurs prefer to watch the figures as shadows cast on the screen. When the characters are introduced, the figures representing the forces of good are on the right, the evil ones on the left.

-- https://www.britannica.com/