Javanese wayang golek or rod puppets are carved from soft wood, with necks that can swivel and bodies clad in long cotton sarongs. Their headdresses, costumes and colours can indicate the puppets’ characters. White means purity, virtue and moral integrity and is often the face colour of princes. Red means aggressiveness and anger, while blue and green faces mean cowardliness and hypocrisy. They are operated from below the stage by a central rod and by rods connected to the puppets’ hands. The puppeteer directs the performance and speaks all the roles. Behind him sit female singers and a gamelan orchestra.

Dating back to the 16th century, the plays they performed were based on Javanese folklore or stories from the Mahabharata or the Ramayana, ancient Indian epic stories featuring the struggle between good and evil, with good figures on the left of the puppeteer or dalang, and the evil on his left.

This rod puppet was originally identified as Ghatotkacha, an important, magical character in the Mahabharata who was summoned by his father Bhima to fight in the Kurukshetra War. However, Ghatotkacha is usually represented as bald and wearing a different form of headdress to the one worn by figure here. The puppet is more likely to be his opponent, Suyodhana (also known as Duryodhana).