wayang wong tejakula - pdf

8/14/2019 Wayang Wong Tejakula - PDF

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Writer: Alpha Savitri ; Photos: Joko Sugianto

This Articles Published by Bali Echo Magazine

Wayang WongTejakula, Spiritual

Dance Balis Drama

Sacred Art

of Migrants


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The highly spiritual dance drama, wayang wong Tejakula, has its rootsin a migrant community. Alpha Savitri explores this history, and the

mystical tales that surround it.

Kintamani is 98 kilometers from Denpasar. But so beautiful is the landscape youtraverse on traveling there, the kilometers pass quickly by - especially once one

enters the cool, refreshing ambience of the highland Gunung Batur area. It is thesilhouette of this mountain which. forms the back drop to the village of Tejakula

- a fertile, village located on the side of a hill. on the north coast of Bali. Tejakulawelcomes visitors with an stounding temple. Homes and shops line the main

road into town. Unlike most Balinese villages, the houses here arc tiny, and mostof them do not follow traditions of Balinese domestic design.

This is unusual, for in most Balinese villages, local architectural traditions

continue to be strictly upheld. Such traditions stipulate that a domesticcompound must contain a family shrine (pemerajan), a master bed room where

the family heirlooms are stored (bale daja), a family bedroom (bale dauh), aroom for family ceremonies (bale dangin) and a rice store (jineng). But inTejakula, only large landowners can affront such luxuries. The history of this

village is one of immigration, not only by Balinese migrants from other area, but

by Chinese and Persian migrants as well. Indeed ' Tejakula. was once a trading

port that outstripped Benoa in Denpasar and Padangbai in Karangasem in sizeand fame. Based on archaeological data, it is estimated that the area has been

populated since prehistoric time. Nyoman Tusan, a painter and culturalcommentator and a native of Tejakula, asserts that the area has had trading

links with the outside world since the first century. Many foreign artifacts, suchas ceramic pots have been found in the area, suggesting that Tejakula

functioned as an important crossroad where traders from all over the world cametogether. The original inhabitants of Tejakula were the Balinese aborigines, the

Bah Mula.

This means that the people of Tejakula are not descended from the Javanesewho invaded Bali when the kingdom of Majapahit began to fall in the 15thcentury, as are most area, the Bali Aga people dominated the local populationuntil the end of the 16th century. It is believed that Balinese from Blahbatuh,

Karangasem and even Bangli migrated to this area in large numbers durig the17th century. Tejakula was favored, it seems, for its volcanic, fertile earth which

acommodated cultivation of rice and oranges alike, although it is difficult to knowfor certain why such migration took place. There is a legend, well known among


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Tejakula locals, concerning this period of migration of Hinduism when masks

were used as a tool with which to communicate with the ancestors. The masksused to communicate with the ancestors could only be shown in public on certain

days, or at religious rituals. In former times, the dancers would adorn themselveswith bark and their dance was a way of thanking the ancestors for protecting

thern from plague. Wayang wong is believed to have emerged around the timeof the Waturenggong regime, between 1460-1550. The language used in

wayang wong is Balinese or Kawi (a form of old Javanese) noble characters useKawi and the clowns use Balinese. The Balinese have been acquainted with the

Ramayana,the Indian epic which is the source of the wayang wong stories, forcenturies. But the version of the Ramayana with which the Balinese are most

intimate is the Kekawin Ramayana which came to the island via Java. "AlthoughBalinese have access to other, more authentically Indian versions, the Kekawin

Ramayana is the version most Balinese identify with the epic", asserted Bandem.

The Old Javanese version of Kekawin Ramayana is a free translation andadaptation of a Sanskrit poem from India, the Rawana Vadha by Bhatti, written

in the 6th century The text was translated into Balinese and recorded on lontarpalms, several hundred years ago. Parts of the poem are frequently translated

and recited at important religious rituals on Bali, for the text is thought to containsome salient moral messages. Coincidentally, perhaps, the wayang wong has

served as a medium for the preservation of the Ramayana, for today it remainsas the only dance-drama form which performs the Ramayana, which tells of thewar between Rahwana's giant troops, and Rama's army of monkeys. Rahwana

kidnaps Sita, Rama's wife and takes her to his kingdom, Alengka. But in the end

Rahwana is overcome by Rama, assisted by his army of monkeys; and their king,

Hanoman.

Thus, the Tejakula wayang wong is a popular subject of research amongscholars, both Indonesian and foreign, of performance art. and his forces, the

preparation for war, the I meeting between Rahwana and his troops, and finally,the war itself. And that's all. The audience knows off by heart, scene by scene,

what going to happen. But that goes not seem to deter them from turning up towatch the show every time there's a religious festival. Usually, wayang wong

dancers are descended from generations of dancers, and usually experience theurge to become active in the troupe as a higher calling. By day, their vocations

are varied - some are guides, some traders, some teachers, and the like. Somedancers however are not descended from dancers, but have taken a vow to helpstrengthen the troupe if they attain their I ideals. Once their ideals are attained,to be true to their vow, they turn to the troupe.

SACRED MASKS

There are 72 sacred masks in the Tejakula troupe. The three main characters'masks Wibisana, Rama and Laksamana were donated by the king of Bangli


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sometime this at Batur temple. Apparently, eager to test Hanoman's magical

powers, the king built a two meter high hurdle and ordered Hanoman to jump, it.Extraordinarily, Hanoman succeeded in the task. The king was so impressed that

he donated the three masks to the troupe. The troupe's other masks date backto the 18th century, and remain in pristine condition. This is believed to be due

to both the excellent quality of the wood from which they are made and the factthat the masks regularly undergo ritual cleansing, and have so for centuries.

Special rituals accompany the use of themasks at every performance. In the morning, the performers pray in the temple

to ask God to protect them while they arc performing. The masks are taken out,offerings are spread around, and the performers are ritually cleansed. The masks

are sprinkled with water, and distributed to the performers. Then the performershang the masks from an orange tree. At first glance, the masks

WAYANG WONG RAMAYANA

Wayang wong is one of several Balinese performance art forms which meldsdance, drama and music. Unlike the wayang kulit (shadow puppet), in which

leather puppets are manipulated by a dalang behind a screen, wayang wong isperformed by actors on a stage. in Bali, there are two kinds of wayang wong

wayang wong parwa which adapts stories from the Mahabharata for the stage,and wayang wong Ramayana, which takes stories from the Ramayana.

In wayang wong parwa, all actors, except for the clowns, do not wear masks. Inwayang wong Ramayana, all the actors are masked. Wayang wong Ramayana is

generally known just as wayang wong, hereas the wayang wong parwa is usually

referred to as parwa. According to the Rector of the Yogyakarta-based

Indonesian Arts Institute, Prof. Dr Made Bandem, the Balinese wayang wongenveloped out of masked performances which existed in Bali prior to the arrival

look like oranges. Indeed, the performance is in essence a form of prayer,requesting that God make the earth fertile and resistant to plagues. There are

many mystical stories that surround these sacred masks. One of these storiesconcerns the mask of Kumbakarna, and almost ended in fatality. Due to a

mistake in the ritual, the mask went missing and a child went into a coma. Thecommunity was quick to react: they cut the pole that usually carried that

particular mask.

Believe it or not, at that point the child emerged from his coma. And that's notall. Apparently, the Kumbakarna mask doesn't like to be made fun of, and thosewho do so must be prepared to receive Kumbakarna's wrath. One local child'scrooked teeth arc believed to result from his parents' having insulted

Kumbakarna. Kumbakarna is the representative of the army of giants who go towar against Rama, and the mask of Kumbakarna is believed to be the most

sacred of all. So sacred is the mask, in fact, that it receives a special ritual beforeeach performance, to avoid fatality. Prior to 4 each performance, the troupe


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distributes offerings. A black chicken is sacrificed prior to the entry of

Kumbakarna' The blood of the chicken is believed to neutralize the giant'sstrength and power over his surrounds. Another story relates the experience of

the mask maker responsible for the mask of Rangda (the symbol of evil). Oneday, the mask he was working on suddenly split into two. The mask maker then

put the two pieces under his bed, and when he went to sleep he felt Rangdatempting him. The strange thing was that on awaking, he flounder the mask to

be whole again.

SECULAR WAYANG

The wayang wong Tejakula is not only performed in the temple, however. Due tothe abundance of requests for thern to perform in secular setting,in 1975 the

trouve decided to establish a secular wayang wong, for performances outside thetemple. In these secular performances, duplicates are substituted for the sacred

masks. "The main aim of the secular wayang wong is as a tool for introducingour culture to outsiders. Moreover, with the secular performances, the

performers have become more diligent about rehearsing. As a result, the qualityof the dances performed at the temple has improved, " said Nyoman Tusan.

Since the establishment of the secular wayang wong, the troupe has receivedmany invitations to perform - in Sweden and Japan as well as all over Bali and in

Jakarta.

Sardono W. Kusumo, a renowned Indonesian choreographer, has added fresh

dramaturgical and aesthetic dimensions to the performance of wayang wong,

without renouncing the essence of the performance. By adding a gong gede (a

large gong) and cengceng (small cymbals) to the musical accompaniment,Sardono was able to augment the sense of violence in the war scene. "The

variant of wayang wong performed in the temple is subject to strict stipulationsand remains unchanged over time. The secular version frees artists to make their

own interpretations," explained Tusan. Even in preparing for the secularperformance, the performers undertake certain rituals. In the lead up to the

performance in Sweden for instance, the ritual sacrifice was performed as usual.Journalists, backstage to report on the performance, witnessed the ritual. "They

protested. They thought we were sadists. But once we explained the conceptbehind the sacrifice, they understood," recalled Nyoman Tusan. So how did they

explain it? Partly, by referring to the concept of reincarnation. They said thatafter the chicken had been sacrificed, its soul would be transferred to a higherbeing. It could even be reborn as a human.

wayang wong tejakula - pdf

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