Jakarta Shopping: Top 11 Indonesian Products, Jakarta, Indonesia (B)

The world's largest Muslim-populated country, Indonesia is also a mecca for tourists, drawing millions each year to her thousands of volcanic islands scattered between the Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's ethnic diversity has given rise to the lavish and colorful arts and craftsmanship, manifested in rich variety of items craving to be picked up as souvenirs. Listed here are some of the most prominent Indonesian-made gift ideas.

Indonesians have used puppets for centuries to tell the stories of the Ramayana, Mahabharata and ancient myths as well. Indonesian puppets may be divided in two categories: wayang kulit (leather or shadow puppets) and wayang golek (wooden puppets). Different regions have their own styles of wayang puppets, but they are all handmade. Wayang puppets represent all kinds of characters - good guys, bad guys, gods, demons, animals and so on. Though, sometimes, objects from the modern world, like airplanes, cars and others, are also made, they are mostly for comic effect. Generally, the traditional designs for making wayang puppets have not changed much over the last 300 years. The puppets are made by groups of artists, each one performing a certain operation. Nowadays, wayang puppets are still quite popular and used to depict modern stories, as well as old ones. Prices for wayang puppets start at $10. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).