Puppets of the world should meet Sigale-gale.

He is not cute and fuzzy like the TV star

Elmo or soulless and naked like a crash test dummy or rich and gilded like the French
Marionettes. He is a life size statue of a boy, the Indonesian version of Pinocchio less the
Jiminy Cricket as its conscious and the Blue Fairy.

Sigale-gale may be known to most of us as an old totem, but it is not just a numinous
symbol or a statue of a sage. Sigale-gale also epitomized primitive performance arts.
Sigale-gale is an ancient traditional puppet show from the Batak people of North
Sumatra. Moved with strings by the puppeteer who hides inside the coffin that housed
the Sigale-gale, the statue performs humanlike gestures and dances to the music. The
best puppeteers can even make the statue cry. The mystical beliefs and rituals that
shrouded the puppet make it a rare piece but still lives among the people and performed
on special occasion.

It is belief that when one decided to make a Sigale-gale puppet or statue, the maker has
surrendered his life for the statue to make the statue alive. That is why there are very few
statues exist, and the one that exist are old and antique. It is for this reason also, that if it
is necessary to make a new statue, the making of the statue are now conducted by more
than one person and in separate places. Once the statue finish it can not stay in the house
of the maker or the house of the patron but must be housed in the middle of the rice field
called Sopo Balian.

The Legend behind the Sigale-gale statue is the story of a king mourning his dead son.
Once upon a time, a wise king of the Toba area named King Rahat, has only one son
named Manggale. During the war between the tribes, he sent his son to fend the kingdom
but then his son was killed. The King becomes stricken with guilt and grief, befalls ill.
Watching their king suffer due to his lost, the kings courtiers summon several shamans to
treat the king. They said that the king illness was caused by his longing to meet his dead
son. The Shamans suggest carving a wooden statue that resembles Manggale.

The carving of the statue was conducted in the forest and once the statue is finish, a ritual
was performed to carry the Manggale statue to the castle. The Shaman blows the Sordam
horn to summon the sons soul and carry the statue from the forest to the castle with an
orchestra of horns and percussion. When the statue arrives at the castle the King was
very happy and recovers from his misery because he saw the statue looks exactly like his
son and is dancing along with the music.

The soul of the son within the statue moves the statue to dance along the music for seven
days and seven nights.

Come to the Indonesia Pavilion to meet Sigale-gale and let him entertain you with his
antics. Sigale-gale is our version of Pinocchio, an icon for fathers love to his child, and
that what Indonesia IS.