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A history of wooden puppets ('Wayang Golek') in Indonesia
Little is known for certain about the history of wayang golek, but scholars have speculated that they most likely originated in China and arrived in Java sometime during the 17th century. Others claim that the puppets' long, straight noses indicate strong influences from the Indian Subcontinent.
What is certain is that the first Muslim missionaries landed on the shores of Java in the 13th century to a waiting population of Hindus, Buddhists and animists. Like the Romans in their empire, these early missionaries decided that assimilation was better than indoctrination and spread their message by weaving religious undertones into already established narratives and traditions.
By the 18th century, wayang golek - with their three dimensions and irresistible charm - had become the powerful vehicles of this social change, interestingly playing out the popular Hindu epics of the Mahabharata and Ramayana to proselytize the word of Islam.
And these are the stories that Agus continues to play today.