Kosala's Journey to Revive the Once Extinct Madura Shadow Puppetry

PAMEKASAN, KOMPAS.com - Madura shadow puppetry flourished in the 17th century in Pamekasan Regency, East Java.

The art form once died out completely. Not a single generation preserved it.

Around the year 2000, Kosala Mahinda, a resident of Galis District, Pamekasan, took the initiative to revive it. He was not alone; there was Ki Sudirman, the first puppeteer after decades of the Madura shadow puppetry's dormancy.

"Madura shadow puppetry is an ancestral heritage. Since then, we have strived to bring it back to life," Kosala said on Monday (21/9/2026).

Kosala then prepared gamelan instruments, Madura shadow puppets, and other equipment despite the difficulty of reviving an art form that had died out.

At that time, no practitioner of Madura shadow puppetry remained. They only had recorded puppetry performances that were gathered, studied, and reenacted.

"Ki Sudirman is the biological son of one of the original Madura shadow puppeteers. His parents were directly taught by Ki Loncet, but he never had the chance to learn from them," Kosala explained.

Kosala encouraged Ki Sudirman to study the art form. Armed with leftover cassette recordings—not videos—from various performances, Ki Sudirman learned the craft.

He studied everything from the types of gamelan music that accompany Madura shadow puppetry to how the puppeteer relays stories using the Madura language.

"It was not easy and required a process because all we had were cassette recordings to study," said Kosala.

Training sessions began. The musicians and storytelling were gradually integrated and synchronized.

In 2003, Madura shadow puppetry finally held its first performance. Nothing was changed from how the art had evolved hundreds of years ago in Madura.

"Not a single element was altered—music, puppets, stories, or the puppeteers’ delivery," Kosala affirmed.

Kosala invested a considerable amount of his own money. He funded all the equipment, operational costs, and rehearsal venues.

But for him, money was insignificant compared to preserving ancestral legacy. He vowed that Madura shadow puppetry must never perish again.