THE SUNDANESE PUPPETS APPERANCE AS THE REPRESENTATION OF THEIR CHARACTERS IN MAHABHARATA PLAY

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Đào

Study examining Sundanese puppetry as a cultural representation within Indonesian heritage, using semiotics to analyze how character traits are expressed in performances. The research focuses on two determinants: the role of color as a pictorial metaphor and the overall appearance of each puppet. Using qualitative description, the study analyzes four Panakawan puppets, two knights, and two giants, concluding that most appearances reflect their intended characters, except Cepot (Astrajingga), whose facial color does not match its characteristics.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

A. INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

Semiotics

THE SUNDANESE PUPPETS APPERANCE AS THE REPRESENTATION OF THEIR CHARACTERS IN MAHABHARATA PLAY Ida Lisdawati [ida_lisdawati9088@gmail.com](ida_lisdawati9088@gmail.com) STKIP Siliwangi Banding Abstract This study not only aims to introduce Sundanese culture which is part of Indonesian culture, but also analyses the phenomenon that exists in Sundanese puppets performance as one of the entertainment for the Sundanese people with Semiotic. In this study, the researcher analyzed two factors that determined the result of this research. Firstly, the researcher found the role of color as a kind of pictorial metaphor. In each puppet, it will be seen whether the dominant color of puppet represents the characteristics corresponding to the color or has a significant difference. The secondly, the researcher analysed the appearance of each puppets. This research used four puppets from category of Panakawan, two puppets from category of Knight, and two puppets from category of Giant. Qualitative method is used for describing the result and the result showed that almost puppets appearance represented their character except Cepot that also known as Astrajingga. His appearance did not represent his characteristic especially his color face. Keyword Semiotics, Sundanese puppets, color of Sundanese puppet. A. INTRODUCTION Sundanese, one of the tribe populating the province of West Java, is one of the largest provinces in Indonesia. It is associated with religion and belief because it is received many influences from Hindu and Islamic culture proved by the history of Tarumanagara kingdom that stood around the 5th century AD. The area adhere Hindu culture are Rangkasbitung, Bogor, Puwakarta, Subang, Sumedang and Indramayu, while the influence of Islam on the Sundanese comes from the area of Cirebon where the data collected indicates a commercial relationship brought by Islamic merchants who come from Parsi, Pasai, Malaka, Arabic and India. The other data indicate that Cirebon is the center of Islamic deployment is based on Purwaka Caruban Nagari story that tells the history of Islamic dissemination brought by Susuhunan Jati in 1470 became religion teacher and appointed become head of local area to lead it (Ekajati, 1980:90) . In West Java, there is one area that is not affected by the two religions and cultures derived from these two religions namely Banten region holds a belief called the Sunda Wiwitan. It emphasizes good deeds and not hurting others (Ekadjati, 1980:25) . In Sunda wiwitan belief, a functionary has three assistants who have different tasks. Firstly is Tangkesaas an astrologer. Secondly is Jaro Dangkat as the supervisor of the territory of Dangka and the last is Gurang Seurat as a leader of religious ceremony. Because of their belief, Baduy residents limit the influence that goes into the baduy tribal ares so that makes the Baduy tribe who live in south Banten is the only region in the West Java awakened its customs. A famous Sundanese artist, Ajip Rosidi, states that Sundanese art has a variety of vocal music called “tembang” where it is a culture that comes from the mixing of Javanese and Sundanese culture. Tembang itself eventually developed into “papantunan” and“dedegungan” and the other art getting influence from Hindu is puppet (Ekadjati, 1980:147) . The use of Mahabarata and Ramayana stories is evidence that Indonesian culture is influenced by Hindu culture brought by Indian traders although the puppet itself originated from Javanese culture that eventually developed into a part of Sundanese culture. In essence, the difference between Mahabharata and Ramayana lies in the time difference of the story Mahabharata tells the story of the royal period of Barata, while Ramayana tells the king of Rama (Salamu in Suryana, 2002) . The first type of puppet in Java is “Wayang Kulit Purwa” developed into “Wayang Golek Purwa" in West Java. Wayang golek (Suryana, 2002: 12) is a communication tool used by puppeteers to

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

To introduce Sundanese culture and analyze how semiotic phenomena appear in Sundanese puppet performances as entertainment for Sundanese people.

What two factors does the research analyze?

The research analyzes (1) the role of color as a pictorial metaphor and (2) the appearance of each puppet in relation to character traits.

Which puppet does not match the expected character representation?

Cepot, also known as Astrajingga, does not have an appearance that represents its characteristic, especially regarding his face color.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Đào