Ondel-ondel: Once sacred, traditional puppets now synonymous with parades in Jakarta

JAKARTA: Under the blazing sun along the side of a road in a residential area of Central Jakarta, skilled craftsmen were hard at work to create giant puppets out of woven bamboo.

Once regarded as sacred, ondel-ondel are now mainly used in performances and are synonymous with parades held in the month of June to commemorate the founding of Jakarta.In the performances, the puppet is manoeuvred from the inside by a performer – typically a man due to its heavy weight - and accompanied by musical instruments.

“If the sun is not stinging , it can take up to five days to finish one ondel-ondel mask,” he said, referring to the laborious process of crafting and drying the part. To “humanise” the puppets, Mr Abdul Halif said that they are given clothes to cover their body structure. The structure is made mainly using bamboo strips.

The bamboo strips are strung together using wire and raffia rope to form the ondel-ondel body structure. Mr Yahya Andi Saputra, 61, a Betawi cultural figure, told CNA that ondel-ondel was originally used to ward off bad luck and was part of the alms ritual of the Betawi people in the past as it was considered “sacred”.

"What has changed is us. Culture has not changed - people nowadays don't believe in such things because it's not scientific,” said Mr Saputra, referring to the ondel-ondel’s purported significance.

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