FOLKLORE

Traditional storytelling takes place everywhere throughout the archipelago. Each ethnic group has its own art of storytelling. These performances will last hours, beginning in the evening and continuing until dawn. N some cases a performance may continue over several nights.

In rural areas performances are presented for entire communities, including children. In the cities only rarely do children watch traditional storytelling performances. The presentation can be recited or sung by a storyteller, accompanied by music and sometimes also dance. Storytelling performance types include Kaba, by the Minangkabau in West Sumatera; hoho by the Ono Niha in Nias island; didong, by the Gayo people in Aceh in North Sumatera; and kentrung, by the Javanese in East Java.

Some storytelling performances use puppet theatre, such as Javanese Wayang Kulit (shadow puppet), Sundanese Wayang Golek (wooden puppet), amd Wayang Klitik (in Central Java and East Java). Wayang Kulit puppet are made from perforated leather, Wayang Golek are wooden, do-like-pupets. And Wayang Klitik use wood for the bodies and leather for the arms.

The stories could include tales from the Mahabarata and Ramayana, stories about loval kingdoms, the origin of golds, humans, and the universe, or folkltales and religious.

This tales are intended to teach religion; to disseminate local customs, traditions, and morals; and to introduce their folk heroes and history to the community and the younger generation. In many cases storytelling is used in ceremonies such as those for pregnancy, circumcision, and marriage. And of course another function is to entertain.

Storytelling still takes place in home today. In the cities it takes the form of bedtime stories or reading aloud. Not all families have the habit of it, regardless of their status, and not set stories are told. In the rural areas, in some cases, during the full moon or after sunset prayers is when older family members (mother, father, or grandparents) tell stories to the children in the neighborhood. At bedtime stories are told to their own children. The stories that are most widely known by children in rural areas are about local heroes and legends about places in the neighborhood. Other stories used are about the origins of ancestors, fables, and those that relate to their religion.