The purpose of the research is to reveal the structures and the forms of Pandawa Lima figures, namely Puntadewa, Werkudara, Harjuna, Nangkula, and Sadewa. Purwa shadow puppet is the Javanese profile visualizations which reflect certain dispositions and characters. The forms of those five figures are very distinctive and have been considered as a fixed rule (pakem) in the order of Javanese purwa shadow puppet makings. Thus it is interesting to study whether the forms of the figures in the Javanese purwa shadow puppet have structures and meanings. The questions are whether each purwa shadow puppet such as Pandawa Lima also has certain structures, how the structures are, and how the meanings of these figures in the context of Javanese culture are. To reveal the structures and elucidate the meanings, in-depth research was executed by compiling data through, among others, participatory observation, in-depth interview, content analysis, and literary study. This research used the anthropological structural-interpretative analysis. The results of the research show that the forms of Pandawa Lima purwa shadow puppet is a shaped structure with distinctive forms, which are in contrast with the form structures of those of giant dispositions. The findings show that distinct facial structures as found in Pandawa Lima are Javanese character transformations which reflect the characters of knight. These structures are in contrast with the forms of purwa shadow puppet depicting giant characters which reflect negative characters or the opposite of positive characters. Therefore, the profiles of Pandawa purwa shadow puppets are meaningful visual structures, since they are the manifestation of Javanese characters which reflects the souls, characters, and good values which should be established as Javanese society's life guidance.
Key Words: Purwa shadow puppet, Pandawa Lima, Character, Structure, Meaning