First , we may know that Topeng Malang or wayang masks is one of traditional and native culture of Malang. So be a poor townspeople of malang we should appreciate and proud of that. The history of this poor mask is closely related to the Kanjuruhan Kingdom.In the history of the Kanjuruhan Kingdom, the best known king is King Gajayana because it was during his reign that this kingdom experienced a golden age.
This culture was the result of assimilation between Indian and Javanese-Kanjuruhan culture, because at that time many Indian traders traded in Kanjuruhan.
The stories that are often told in this mask puppet are usually Indian puppet stories, such as the Ramayana and Mahabarata, interestingly, this culture sometimes has something to do with religion to make it a sacred performance at that time.
But since the reign of King Erlangga, this mask art has been transformed into an ordinary culture and only as a dance. Another purpose of wearing this mask is to support the flexibility of the dancer so that there is no need to use make-up which was difficult to do in ancient times.
This mask puppet culture eventually became a typical Malang cultural art, which is a performance art that is played by humans but does not show the real face of the player, namely Wayang Topeng Malang. As the name implies, the players in this show use masks as face coverings.
Malang’s distinctive features are evident in this Malang Wayang Topeng art. One of these characteristics is the character carving of a person’s face on wood that looks more real. In addition, the color variety is also more diverse than the masks from other regions.
These colors are red, white, yellow, green, and black. The meanings of these colors, respectively, represent courage, purity, pleasure, peace, and wisdom.
There are more or less 76 characters found in this art that has developed since the Hindu-Buddhist era.
Second we must know about this traditional dance by Winarto Ekram the name of this dance is Jaran Monel. The characters built in the Monel dance are sigrak and enthusiasm. The funny and unique performance of Monel dance in its form of motion and movement techniques give it identical characteristic and style
