My World: Gatutkaca

Gatutkaca is a "wayang golek" figure. In the epic of Mahabharata - one of the main sources of the narratives for the Javanese and Sundanese wayang performances, Gatotkaca is characterized as a demigod superman whose power includes - among others - the ability to fly. So powerful this character is that it is said that his bones are made of steel and his muscles of wires.

Gatotkaca's power is said to be inherited from his parents: Bimasena or Bima of the Pandawa family, his father, is a fierce but kind-hearted hero, and Hidimbi (better known as Arimbi in Javanese and Sundanese), his mother, is a powerful rakshasa (giant).

The Gatutkaca in the above photo is not the one that is normally used for "wayang golek" performance, but a unique souvenir that you can bring home from Bandung and West Java in general. This souvenir wayang golek is made larger that the one that is normally used for the performance.

This post is Bandung Daily Photo's participation in My World Tuesday Meme. Please follow the link to see other participants' photos and stories.

Inside the Sundial: Infinity Mirror

Bandung's Sundial - whose photos and stories I have previously posted here, here, and here - is more than just a sundial. It is a "Puspaiptek" (Pusat Peragaan Ilmu Pengetahuan dan Teknologi or science and technology exhibition center). In it we can find a lot of interesting scientific and technological experiments and exhibits such as this infinity mirror.

The "infinity mirror" phenomenon takes place whenever we place two pieces of mirrors opposite one another and an object between them.

Indonesian "Kangaroo"

Here is another collection of Bandung's Zoo: The Agile Wallaby (Wallabia Agilis).

Wallaby is a marsupial that, together with the kangaroo and wallaroo, belongs to the family of macropodidae (macropod = large foot). There are currently about 30 species of wallaby that have been identified, some of which - including this Agile Wallaby - are native to the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua (formerly called Irian Jaya) on the island of Papua.