Wayang Kulit in Kelantan

Never before I had witnessed such a unique and traditional performance by seasoned veterans who still manage to keep this dying trade of Wayang Kulit alive.

During my trip, I visited this place in Kota Baharu town called Gelanggang Seni (Cultural Center) which is the cultural development center of Kelantan.

The Kelantan cultural center is located in the city center so getting here is pretty easy. If you have never witnessed this in real time, I would suggest you try to do so as this centuries old trade is slowly fading away.

Read on to find out more about this traditional entertainment called Wayang Kulit or Shadow Play.

Kelantan Wayang Kulit

To become a Tok Dalang or puppet master, it takes many years of skill to handle these puppets with both hands while singing, narrating and tapping the kechrek (rattle) with his leg to signal the musicians.

The dalang also has to master the change the tone in his voice to suit the various characters played. This includes the evil laughter sounds and also the soothing voices of males and female.

When I sat there throughout the show, I was fascinated on how the master could change his voice so many times to suit the various characters throughout his story.

Good characters will appear on the right side of the stage while
evil characters would be on the left. Behind the screen, traditionally
back lit by a flickering oil lamp, the dalang will weave his tale, bringing to live the shadow play aided by a troop of traditional musicians in the back.

These days, energy saving bulbs have since replaced the oil but are still fitted into the traditional oil lamp which is hung just above the master.  

They would be seated behind the Tok Dalang (Dhalang) and awaiting his instructions by knocking his knee with the kechrek (rattle).

This would signal them to start and throughout the performance, the dalang would knock many times changing the tone of the music. These talented musicians have years of experience therefore knowing what and when to play.

They knew exactly when to play what while looking very cool and totally undisturbed by the fact that I was there moving around taking pictures. But I did it quietly tip toeing around the backstage.

During some parts, he would be be talking in a very harsh tone and then changing to a sweet ladies tone.

The musicians would take cue to stop playing while they waited for his signal before they changed to a different music to suite the play.

The strong colors projected by a modern kerosene lamp with an energy saving bulb display brightly against the plain white sheet.

Spectators on the outside then clap to the performance while it is just another day for the troop here. Word has it that it is quite difficult to catch a performance like this around the state and once needs to really ask around to actually see it performed in the local villages.

Types of Wayang Kulit in Malaysia

The sad fact is that there used to be four main varieties of Wayang Kulit in Malaysia where only the first two are still being performed. They are;

Conclusion

I visited the largest Sitting Buddha Statue in Kelantan and also the famous Siti Khadijah Market among some of the popular places here.

I also stayed at the Tune Hotels in Kota Baharu as it was convenient for me to move around due to the strategic location in the main town area.

If you are visiting Kota Baharu in Kelantan, I highly recommend you to explore the many places, food, cultures and traditions available here and most of all, if you have the chance, go to the cultural centre to watch some traditional Wayang Kulit in Kelantan which is a hard performance to catch.