Kekayon Puppet Museum

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A. Overview

The Special Region of Yogyakarta is a province of dozens musea. Almost in every part of the province has one, run either by government, educational institution, foundation, or private sector. Each of the musea has a certain vision and mission. For example, Mount Merapi Museum is founded as a place for information, research, education, and recreation related to the volcano, Kolong Tangga Children’s Museum aims at nurturing children creativity, and Affandi Museum is constructed to commemorate and as a gallery of Indonesian painting maestro, Affandi.

Often referred as the capital of Javanese culture, Yogyakarta has musea founded to preserve cultural heritages. One of them is Kekayon Puppet Museum, usually compressed to merely Kekayon Museum. Kekayon is another word for Gunungan (a symbolic triangle figure in wayang play, placed in the middle of the screen) that symbolizes life. The establishment of Kekayon Museum was originated from the initiative of Prof. Dr. dr. KRT. Soejono Prawirohusodo, oddly a psychiatrist.

Prof. Soejono was devoted to puppetry and had always had a dream to set up a special museum for puppet in the hope that Indonesian young generations would appreciate and know about their remarkable culture. In 1981 he started the work. He began with the concept of the museum’s architecture, content, and location. The whole planning and construction was finally completed in 1987. During the process, Prof. Soejono traveled around seeking for puppets to add to his collection.

In January 5th 1991, Kekayon Puppet Museum was inaugurated by Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Sri Paduka Paku Alam VII and started to open for public. The museum, that resembles Javanese traditional architecture Joglo, has 9 buildings and sits in a land as wide as 1,1 Ha at the side of Yogyakarta-Wonosari Highway, Km 7.

Kekayon Museum has 5.465 puppets of 25 types from either Indonesia or abroad. Among them are Purwa Puppet, Madya Puppet, Balinese Puppet, Suluh Pupet, Golek Puppet, Potehi (Chinese) Puppet, Kancil Puppet, Thai Puppet, Indian Puppet, and still many others. Aside from puppets, Kekayon Museum also collects masks.

After Prof. dr. Soejono passed away, the museum is managed by his son, RM. Donny Megananda, S.Si., M.M. Today, Kekayon Puppet Museum is overseen by Kekayon Social Foundation and has joined Badan Musyawarah Musea (Barahmus), a Musea Organization, of the Special Region of Yogyakarta.

B. Features

Visitors will find it cool and quiet there. Little birds fly from one tree to another, go down to the ground once in a while and walk as if ignoring people around them, then fly away again. Although Kekayon is a museum that specializes on culture, the museum is open for public, especially puppet devotee.

Kekayon Puppet Museum complex is divided into several parts. First is the main building which is a Joglo complete with kuncung, pendapa, longkang, peringitan and dalem with sarean tengah. The main building functions as the office of Kekayon Foundation as well as a place for art performances. At times, the building functions also as a wedding place.

The collection items are placed in special buildings distinguished into 9 units as follows:

Unit 1 (Yogyakarta style purwa puppets): containing puppets of Lokapala, Ramayana, post-Bharatayudha, Raden Gatot Kaca mannequin puppets, and the whole collection of purwa puppets of Yogyakarta style.
Unit 2 (Surakarta style purwa puppets): containing details of puppet costume, lineages of the dyniasties of Bharata, Palasan Krama, Jejeran Astina, Pasetran Gandhamayit, Parepatan Agung of the Gods, Karna Tanding, Budhalan Astina, and Sri Bathara Kresna mannequin puppet.
Unit 3 (madya and gedhog puppets): containing puppet characters of Geculan, Bandung Bondowoso, Anglingdarma, Panji-Klana, various gunungan of Surakarta style madya puppets, Yogyakarta style gedhog puppets, and Devi Shinta mannequin puppet.
Unit 4 (klitik, krucil, and beber puppets): containing Damarwulan Begal, Menakjingga Lena, Rama Tambak, Mintaraga, model of the scene of Kiskendha Cave, Yogyakarta style klitik puppets, Banyuwangi-Tulungagung style klitik puppets, Surakarta style beber puppets and Prabu Gambiranom mannequin puppet.
Unit 5 (various kinds of puppets): containing a collection of Maduranese, Dupara, Kartasuranese, Kidang Kencana, Kancil, Purworejo, Kaper puppets and Prabu Ramawijaya mannequin puppets
Unit 6 (various kinds of puppets): a collection of Balinese puppets, Menak puppets, perjanjian puppets, suluh puppets, Sentolo style golek menak puppets, Bantul style golek menak puppets, golek wahyu puppets, golek tangul puppets, Raden Anoman mannequin puppet.
Unit 7 (golek puppets and new creation puppets): containing Javanese puppets, tutur puppets, Diponegaran puppets, golek purwa puppets, golek cepak puppets, Sundanese golek puppets, Devi Trijatra mannequin puppets.
Unit 8 (masks and mini scale models of puppet show): containing various masks such as Yogyakartanese masks, Balinese masks, Maduranese masks, mixed-style masks, costumes for wayang wong (puppets performed by real people), mini scale models of leather puppet show, wayang wong show, Yuyu Kangkang and Jaka Tarub performance, Kethek Ogleng performance, Jatilan and Balinese Barong performance, and Dasamuka mannequin puppet.
Unit 9 (various kinds of puppets): containing a collection of kerasul puppets, turis puppets, Thai puppets, Potehi (Chinese) puppets, carton puppets and Raden Kumbakarna mannequin puppet.

What is unique about the items, aside from the wide variety of the types, is that there are a number of replicas of events and buildings related to Indonesian history since ancient times up to the independence declaration, including the history of puppet art since the 6th to 20th century. The record of Indonesian history starts in the front yard of the museum. On the left corner, there is a complex of prehistoric constructions illustrating the origin of Indonesian people. Although the constructions have been damaged, at least there is something that gives us picture of early historic era.

In the front yard, there is also a Borobudur’s lion usher statue marking the entrance of Hindu-Buddha civilization to Indonesia. There is also a water tower with a temple-shaped roof, depicting the grandeur of Majapahit Empire. Besides, there is also a replica of Kudus Tower that portrays the arrival of Islam. Near to it, Bidadari Fountain Complex gives us picture of European influence on the people, especially the Dutch, who once colonized Indonesia. There are also the complex of Baleranu Mangkubumi, Japanese statue, and Proklamasi (Declaration of Independence) statues symbolizing the history around the time of Indonesian struggle of independence.

C. Location

Kekayon Puppet Museum is situated in the 7th kilometer of Jogja-Wonosari Highway, No. 277, Baturetno, Banguntapan, Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

D. Access

Kekayon Museum’s location is right at the side of the highway connecting Yogyakarta and Gunung Kidul Regency so that the access to get to this place is easy. From Adi Sucipto Airport, the museum is 6 kilometers away, while from Giwangan Bus Station 5 kilometers. Visitors can use private transportation, public transportation of Jogja-Wonosari route, or taxi to get there.

E. Ticket

The ticket rate is set by the management of Kekayon Puppet Museum based on nationality. Domestic students and common visitors are charged Rp 7.000 per person while foreign tourist is charged each Rp 10.000. A visitor bringing camera is charged with an additional Rp 10.000.

Kekayon Puppet Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, at 08.30 a.m. – 02.30 p.m. West Indonesian Standard Time. The museum is closed on Mondays. If coming in a group, it is probably better for you to have prior confirmation of your visit with the management of Kekayon Museum.

F. Accommodations and Facilities

As an art and cultural tourist destination, Kekayon Puppet Museum is a place for education, research, and recreation at the same time. To support the functions, the museum is also fitted out with many facilities.

Beside the puppet storages and exhibition rooms, in Kekayon Puppet Museum there are also other buildings with different functions. One of them is the auditorium equipped with audiovisual facilities which are usually used to present introductory information about the museum before visitors enter the main room.

Kekayon Puppet Museum also has a main building of a Javanese architectural construction complete with kuncung, pendapa, longkang, peringitan, and ndalem with sarean tengah. The roomy pendopo (hall) is used for different occasions such as wedding, preparatory training for art performance, and workshop. A tourism package of dinner and watching art performance is also available there.

Text: Elisabeth Murni
Photo(s): Collection of Jogjatrip.com
Translation: Reza Daffi
(Primary data and various sources)

Read : 5025 time(s).

If you are from outside Yogyakarta and want to visit this place by travel agency services,
please contact:

Maharatu Tour and Travel

Jl. Sisingamangaraja No. 27 Yogyakarta.
Telp. +62 274 8373005. Fax. +62 274 379250
Email : maharatu@maharatu.com -maharatu257@yahoo.com
Website : www.maharatu.com

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