There are several regional styles of Topeng masks in Java and West Java: Central Java, East Java, Sunda, Madura and the Cirebon region at the northeastern edge of the West Java all have distinctive styles. Though all of these regions are Islamic in their religious orientations, the masks harken back to earlier historical times in Java's layered cultural history and identity, depicting episodes from the Ramayana and portraying characters and situations drawn from stories centering around the legendary Javanese Hindu prince Panji and his love, Candra Kirana. Dancers perform in both palace-based and village contexts. The Cirebon region, which had a central role in the spread of Islam in Java, has a particularly active Panji-cycle tradition, known as Topeng Babakan and the masks of this tradition are particularly elegant in their painting and carving. Both men and women dance in this tradition (a rare instance in traditional performance of women masking as men). Long solo dances alternate with dramatic incidents in performances lasting as long as eight hours and held most frequently at circumcisions, weddings, and funery ceremonies. In Cirebon, it is customary for the performer to dance first without the mask, placing the mask in front of the face and biting onto a leather thong to hold it in place only once the character has been established and has come into the body of the dancer. There are five major types of characters, or masks, ranging from the refined (alus) Panji to the crude (kasar) Klana and the crudely comic Jinggananom. All of the masks in the IGNCA Topeng Babakan collection have been made by the master carver Royani, Desa Godingan, Indramayu, West Java.