Do You Know Ondel-Ondel?

 

Ondel-ondel

Do you know Ondel-Ondel? It is a traditional puppet from Betawi tribe who mainly lives in Jakarta city, Indonesia. This puppet often enlivens folk celebrations or city anniversary. 

Ondel-ondel is also called the dancing puppet because it always waves its hands with glee while performing in streets. However, unlike puppets which are generally small, Ondel-ondel is very big, even bigger than humans, and have covered with attractive decorations. 

In order to make it move, a man must enter it and move its hands. I took a photo some years ago when my daughter was just about two or three years old. 

Big Ondel-ondel

It was a sunny afternoon when the three of us (my husband, daughter, and I) went to an amusement park in Ancol beach, Jakarta. We just arrived in the beach and my daughter just woke up from her short nap. We saw this large puppet standing on the pavement and I photographed my husband carrying our daughter. 

They posed in front of that empty Ondel-ondel puppet. Aini seemed a little scarred because it's the first time she saw the puppet closely. She looked to it several times and held on to her father real tight. 

By the way, what do you think about Ondel-ondel puppet? Does it look attractive with its costume and hair decorations? :) If you want to know more about it, you can read a brief explanation about it here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondel-Ondel