When a grand ceremony is held, the performance of Wayang Lemah is obligatory. As its name suggest Wayang Lemah is always performed in the daylight (“wayang” means “puppet” and “lemah” means “day”) and is usually performed as long as the high priest officiates the ceremony. Wayang Lemah is an exorcistic play, it is performed primarily for invisible audiences: the spirit, divinities and the demons, it is a part of ceremony which functions to ensure the success of a ceremony and obviously not an entertainment for mortals.

The stage for Wayang Lemah is simpler than the spectacular Wayang Peteng (Night Shadow Puppet) since it does not need a screen and wick lamp and there will be no shadow. Wayang Lemah stage consists of three young, cut banana trunks for placing the puppet during the play (the pointed handle of the puppet can easily stuck into soft banana trunks), on either side of long banana trunk, which runs across and forms the actual stage, two big branches of evergreen dapdap tree had been pushed vertically through the banana trunk into the ground; at top they branched out in three directions symbolizing Hindu trinity.

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In Bali, dance, drama and music are important part of a ritual or religious ceremony. It is an offering to God. Dancers and actors offer their best performances; musicians play their best melody all for God amusement. Balinese believe that like human, God loves to see beautiful dances, superb drama performance and excellent music. It is the duty of the dancers, artists and musician to sacrifice their talents.

With rare exception, Balinese dance, drama, and music are functional arts, not art for art’s sake. All the drama and music performed, created or composed collectively, all choreography and all dances are ultimately rooted in religion. There is no major religious event, which is not accompanied by music, dance or theater; sometimes they are considered as a compulsory part of a ritual cycle.

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Wayang Kulit is a very popular traditional art performance uses the shadow of leather puppets in its performance. The origin of wayang kulit can be traced back to the days of King Ugrasena in 896. As its name suggests wayang kulit is made of processed cow hide. Some wayang kulit characters especially the jesters (Sangut, Delem, Merdah and Tualen) are made from special cow hide (hide from cow that had been struck to death by lightning or unborn calf). This cow hide is made into puppets representing various characters. The differences among characters are produced by the differences in shape and in intricate carving that symbolize each character.

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