Gunungan

To signal the beginning and the end of the performance – but also strong emotions, scene changes, the elements of fire, earth, air and water – the dalang uses the gunungan, the most important requisite in the wayang theatre. The gunungan (gunung, mountain) or kayon (forest) is a representation of the ancient Tree motif originating from India. This consist of two parts: a mountain and a tree. The Tree motif is rendered as a combination of two different trees: the fig tree rooted in heaven; and the earthbound lotus tree rising from the waters. The former, placed above, has implanted its root in the top of the stem of the tree-shaped lotus. The lotus is the very symbol of life springing from the water. The celestial fig tree represents ‘creative breath’ or fire, which is as essential in creating life as the water’s essence. In the Javanese gunungan the lotus part can assume an hourglass form, with a small building with a pair of closed doors, or that of a lake or pot filled with water. Guardians stands on both sides of the stronghold. Their task is to guard treasures, particularly the mount Meru (heavenly mountain), and the liquid elixir of life. A pair of huge wings flank the upper half. The shape of these wings may actually be derived from lotus leaves or other vegetation. The gate building with closed doors can be understood as female, whereas the tree represents the male. Together and united they form life.  The gunungan is placed in the centre of the screen before the drama begins, separating the opposed groups of characters that lie to the right and left of the dalang. The meditation undertaken by the dalang before the performance seeks a train of associations leading from the gods of the Hindu pantheon to the kayon. During the performance, the gunungan is the backdrop with which time and space are delineated, and it determines the atmosphere. Its association with the Tree of Paradise makes it an apt image to suggest the idyllic world of the kingdoms of the wayang lakons (plays) before the activities of men and supernatural beings upset the ideal balance. 

Dalang

Dalang is highly respected and is often believed to possess supernatural qualities – especially healing – because of his position as mediator between people, gods and spirits. Linguistically, the word dalang is thought to be associated with langlan, which means ‘to go round’ something. Adalang is a ‘wanderer’, but also a ‘diviner’, a protector in a religious or magical sense. The work of the dalang is difficult because he needs to have many talents and to conform to a number of court-derived prescriptions and traditions: antawacana (intonation), to make the distinction between the voice of each character, all of which have their own characteristic voice, and whose register and sound are determined by the combination of the shape of the eyes and the position of the head. A dalang has nine voices for the main figures, as well as the typical language of each one; rengep (to involve completely), to keep the performance alive; enges (emotion), to create interest in the characters and involve and move the audience, for instance, during a dialogue between lovers; tutug(eloquence), to recite prescribed dialogues or pagedongan (traditional, fixed explanations); banyol(comedy), to  make the audience laugh; sabet (flow, wave), to handle the puppets correctly, and properly distinguish between their movements, especially during fight scenes; kawiraja (kawi refers to the old Javanese mode of speech, raja means ‘prince’), to be able to recite the traditional eulogy prior to the performance; parama-kawi (parama is the Sanskrit word meaning ‘high’), to correctly explain the nicknames of the kings and nobles in the performance; amardi-basa (to focus on language), to know the different ways that gods, giants or humans speak in their various social positions (hierarchy is strongly embedded in the Javanese language, which has two completely separate vocabularies: if the listener has a higher status krama is used, but if he has a low statusngoko is used); parama-sastra, to know the writings (layang) on which a performance may be based, and which are necessary to determine the content of the suluk (narrative announcements) and greget saut (pieces of music); awicarita (knowledge of many tales), to know all the tales referred to in a performance, the character depicted by each puppet, and the significance of each stage requisite;amardawa-lagu (melodious singing), to know the verse measure and singing techniques which are used in performance. A dalang also needs to observe the following courtly prohibitions: he may not change the form of a performance once it is recorded in the pakem (handbooks of the court); he may not show any preference for a character; he may not show himself during a performance, or speak out of turn; he may not focus criticism on anyone, or anger his audience; he may not make uncouth jokes; he must make sure that the performance lasts for the correct duration and that each aspect of the performance lasts the appropriate time.