Indonesia · Woodcarving / Sculpture
Pembuatan Wayang Golek
Wayang Golek are the three-dimensional wooden rod puppets of the Sundanese people of West Java — distinct from the flat leather Wayang Kulit of Central Java. Each puppet depicts a character from the Mahabharata, Ramayana, or Sundanese Menak cycle, with a carved and painted wooden head and hands, dressed in fabric costume and manipulated by three rods (one central, two for the hands). The puppet-maker must master both woodcarving (head and hands) and the iconographic canon — facial features, eye shape, and headdress are character-specific prescriptions as rigorous as those of Wayang Kulit. Bandung and the surrounding Priangan highlands are the primary production center. The carving tradition is the most technically demanding element — the painting and costuming are related but separate skills.
Risk level: Endangered · Not separately inscribed; covered under broader wayang recognition
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