A shadow-play using flat two-dimensional puppets chiselled by hand out of buffalo parchment. Known in Central and East Java, and on Bali. By far the most popular wayang form, it is a spellbinding medium for storytelling. Since a wayang ku/it puppet is a stylized exaggeration of a human shape, it's really a shadow of a shadow. Wayang ku/it is difficult to compete with, it's the cheapest wayang form to present on stage. Wayang kulit is often heard on the radio with just the voice of the dalang and the gamelan music. history: The Javanese have been cultivating the shadow play for more than 2000 years and this very sophisticated type of theatre is one of the strongest cultural traits to have survived throughout the recorded history of Indonesia. Originally it was connected with ancestor worship and from the very first has had a religious significance. South India was probably the original source of influence for Indonesia. Recorded in Pali canons, it existed there as far back as the 1st Century. Forms related to wayang ku/it are found today from the Nang plays of Thailand all the way to Turkey in the Mediterranean. The earliest written record in Indonesia of a shadow play was found on a stone insciption in Central Java dating 907 A.D., a performance of dances, music, buffoonery and songs dedicated to Bima. At present these plays, after a long evolution, are based on the Indian epics, native East Javanese legends, and stories adopted from Arabian tales.