ondel ondel

A pair of ondel-ondel, consisting of a male and female puppet, takes about a week to make. The process requires patience and good observation.

 

1. The first step is preparing the puppet's skeleton, which is made from 400-centimeter-by-1.5-centimeter bamboo twigs.

2. Weave the twigs to shape the skeleton and use three buckets for the center part, lower part and the shoulders. For the shoulders, we make an oval shape which is about 120 centimeters wide

3. After the skeleton is ready, fills the buckets with fiber so that the puppets are solid. This process takes one to two days to dry it.

4. The puppets' masks take the most time to finish. It needs to make the mask and plaster them, and then color them. Use goat skin to make the moustache for the male ondel-ondel, so it looks real.

5. The mask of a male ondel-ondel is usually painted in black or red. The puppet is dressed in a black top and sarong. The mask of a female ondel-ondel is usually white.

6. Other than making the giant puppets, It also needs to prepare the musical instruments for an ondel-ondel show, during which two people inside the giant puppets dance to traditional Betawi music.

7. A pair of "simple" puppets costs Rp 3 million (US$ 350). Customized and more complicated designs are sold for Rp 5 million.