Kayon Gapuran (2012) by Bambang MurtiyasaUnit Pengelola Museum Seni
This type of wayang is called Gunungan
A gunungan is a symmetrical-shaped figure of parchment made of cow leather and drawn on with watercolor mixed with adhesive. In a wayang performance, it is the first and the last to appear. It also marks transition between different scenes of the shadow play of wayang.
It is also known as Kayon
"Kayon" comes from the word "Kayu" which means trunk of a tree. This is not just any other tree. This is the tree of life, more known as Kalpataru in Hindu mythology.
The Gunungan shows us 8 direction of the wind
The four cardinal direction North, East, South, West each separated by 90 degrees, and secondarily divided by four ordinal directions—northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest.
The wind direction represent Hasta Brata
Hasta Brata is the eight characters a King should bring into the world
Character like sun ray
Capable of bringing life
Character like the moon
Capable of bringing light and joy in darkness
Character like the earth
Can feed all and every creature on earth
Character like the stars
Capable of guidance in life
Character like the ocean
Capable of being fair as ocean on all places has the same height
Character like the wind
Can go through everywhere and fill every place
Character like fire
Capable of vanishing all vanity
You are all set!
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