Wayang is an Indonesian term for traditional artforms of Indonesian culture in form of characterized puppets from epic stories as well as traditional characters, that teaches lessons of wisdom and life through its performance. Wayang has been designated as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations’ world cultural association , UNESCO, on November 7 2003. The existence of wayang as one of Indonesia’s cultural heritage has initiated Indonesians to build a museum that preserves and displays the varieties of wayang that is known throughout Indonesia. The idea of establishing a wayang museum was eventually  triggered by a senior psychiatrist by the name Prof. Dr. dr. KRT. Soejono Prawirohusodo in 1967 using private funds. Before establishing the museum, he had been travelling around Indonesia in search of the different kinds of wayang that can be displayed in the museum. Finally in 1987, the museum was established, having a collection of more than 5000 wayangs from around Indonesia and other countries as well, Kekayon Puppet (Wayang) Museum is without doubt the museum with the most complete collection of wayang in Indonesia. But it was not until 1991 that Kekayon Museum was inaugurated by the Governer of Yogyakarta during that time, Sri Paku Alam VIII, and was fully operating in June 17 1992.

Kekayon Puppet Museum is situated on Jl. Wonosari KM 7 No.277 Baturetno Village, Bantul Region, Yogyakarta. Architecturally speaking, this 1.1 ha wide building complex is made in accordance to traditional Javanese architecture and dominated by Joglo shape. The first time entering this building, you will encounter a room named Sasono Pratelo which functions as an auditorium equipped with audio visual facilities to give visitors a basic understanding about the collections of this museum. Besides being a recreational site, Kekayon Museum also brings educational purposes, especially related to the history of each wayangs, and the story related to each one. The rarest collections of wayang in the museum is the 100 personifications of Kurawa, the archenemy of Pandawa, and the 250-year old Wayang Golek originated from Jepara. There are also puppets and costumes in detail representing characters from the Ramayana Ballet performance, such as Rama, Shinta, Rahwana, Hanoman, and others.

The Museum provides 9 small exhibition rooms displaying different wayang characters in each room.  There is a much larger room named Pendopo, a traditional ornate of open air pavilion with a pyramid–styled roof, used to accommodate social activities such as wedding, art exhibition, meeting and shadow puppet performance. There are a lot of things to describe about wayang, so if  by any chance you are interested in visiting the museum, you should hire a guide with you to explain about each wayang you encounter. For example, Wayang Purwa, is a kind of wayang that’s performed in the Kediri area, made from buffalo skin. Wayang Gedhog on the other hand tells the story of Dewi Candrakirana, Wayang Klithik tells the story of Damarwulan and Minakjinggo, Wayang Dupara tells the story of Diponegoro, and Wayang Suluh tells the story of the struggle experienced by the Indonesian citizens to seek independence from the colonialist. There are also wayang collections from other countries outside indonesia, such as Wayang Potehi dari China, and puppets used in Thailand, Amerika, and India. Besides wayang, Kekayon museum also displays many collections of traditional mask, especially masks used in traditional art performance related to wayang story from all over Indonesia.

The main purpose of the establishment of the museum is the preservation of National Cultural Heritage, especially the wayang culture and others related to that. It is also a facility to develop the Youth Domestic Tourism, as a means to provide more awareness and understanding for the younger generation about the culture of their noble ancestors. Kekayon Puppet Museum is open for public everyday from 8:00 AM to 15:00 PM and is subject to substansial booking given early notification. The admission fee is only IDR 3.000 but you can receive guide book for an additional IDR 2.000.

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