Template:Cangik
Cangik – (Servant) – All stories
Usually, Cangik appears during a kedhatonan (inner palace) scene, in traditional all-night shadow puppet performances.
In the Kedhatonan scene, Cangik and her Daughter Limbuk prepare dinner for the king and queen. When the king and queen are having dinner, Cangik and Limbuk sing a song for the king and his wife. During this scene, audience members are urged to request specific melodies of the puppeteer. Limbuk and Cangik also talk about community issues. When Cangik asked Limbuk what kind of man she would marry, Limbuk answered a lot and often sneered at the girls who were watching.
In some cases this discussion can be influenced by government officials, turning their discussion to family planning, transmigration and other government programs. This servant Cangik also appears in any scene where a princess is in the garden or palace; for example when Princes Sinta is in the palace garden of Alengka Kingdom being held against her will, this servant entertains her.
Each puppeteer is free to give the name of this puppet, and some puppeteers name this puppet after people in their orchestra and make jokes about them. This figure is a very traditional figure, but many puppeteers make their own design that sometimes include many more joints of her body. Sometimes puppeteers make one joint at her waist, and another at her neck so that the puppet can bend down and move her head back and forth. Some puppeteers also make her bottom jaw jointed, so that when the puppet talks, the mouth can be moved as well.
Source: History of Wayang Purwa - Hardjowirogo - PN Balai Pustaka – 1982
