Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 17 (2) (2017), 113-119 p-ISSN 2541-1683|e-ISSN 2541-2426 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/harmonia DOI: 10.15294/harmonia.v17i2.11539 The Javanese Panji Story: its transformation and dissemination into the performing arts in Southeast Asia Triyono Bramantyo1, Susan Hung2 1Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Indonesia 2Graduate Department of Ethnomusicology, Tainan National University of Fine Arts, Taiwan Received: September 17, 2017. Revised: November 24, 2017. Accepted: December 4, 2017 Abstract This paper studies descriptively several versions of Javanese Panji Story with its transformation and dissemination into the performing arts found in Southeast Asia. Accordingly, there are ver- sions varied not only regarding its stories, locations, events, and the style of its narratives but also the flow of the stories. So many other versions have not been described here in this paper just to imagine how this 13th century Javanese literature has turned out to become so many versions. Moreover, the story has spread out not only in Indonesia but also throughout the Southeast Asian archipelago. The study found that authenticity is not the concern because the original version of the Panji Story was not existed and thus texts can be in so many forms. However, what was overwhelming is that the story had been transformed into so many genres of performing arts in Southeast Asia, such as in Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar, the former state of Burma. The study found that the performing styles of Panji or Inou in Indonesia, Thailand, Cam- bodia, and Myanmar shared the same styles as typical classical dance of Royal Palace that per- formed high standards of performances such as glorifying model of costumes and accompanied by aesthetically qualified Royal Palace Music Ensembles. Keywords: Panji Story; transformation; performing arts How to Cite: Bramantyo, T. & Hung, S. (2017). The Javanese Panji Story: its transformation and dissemination into the performing arts in Southeast Asia. Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research And Education, 17(2), 113-119. doi:http://dx.doi. org/10.15294/harmonia.v17i2.11539 INTRODUCTION The history of the Ramayana dates back to approximately the 5th-4th century BCE. It A monument that was erected du- is believed that the original version of the ring the reign of King Dyah Balitung of story is Valmiki’s Ramayana. Some cultu- Central Java dating from approximately ral evidence suggests that the Ramayana 907 CE (Ministry of Education and Cultu- predates the Mahabharata. Regardless of re, (1983-1984)) provides the oldest written which tale appeared first, these two -im record of a wayang performance, which portant Indian literary works have been was based on the Mahabharata epic tale. adapted to many forms in Javanese perfor- The Ramayana was also an essential ming arts and those of the rest of Southe- source in the development of the perfor- ast Asia. They are Javanese Ramayana, the ming arts in the early civilization of Java. Javanese Mahabharata, the Balinese Ra- Corresponding author: Jl. Parangtritis Km 6,5, Sewon, Bantul, Panggungharjo, Yogyakarta, 55188 E-mail: [email protected] 113 114 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 17 (2) (2017): 113-119 mayana, the Phra Lak Phra Lam of Laos, mayana and Mahabharata stories. the Hikayat Seri Rama of Malaysia, the Ra- The transformation of the Panji cycle makien of Thailand, the Yama Zatdaw of into classical performing arts (mostly dan- Myanmar, etc. (Bramantyo, 2015). ce) in Southeast Asia can be traced back Alongside the Ramayana and the recently. We thank the SEAMEO-SPAFA Mahabharata, there is a local Javanese (The Southeast Asian Ministers of Educa- cycle called the Story of Panji, which, ac- tion Organization Regional Centre for Ar- cording to C.C. Berg’s work Inleiding tot cheology and Fine Arts) for the initiative de Studie van Het Oud-Javaansch (1928), and to host the Panji/Inao Festival held in was disseminated in the year of Pamalayu Bangkok, Thailand, 2-6 March 2013. (1277 CE). Purbatjaraka, an expert on the In this paper, the main characters of Panji cycles, writes: “[…] the writing of the the story are Prince Panji Kertapati and his early Panji story was during the suprema- fiancée Princess Dewi Sekartaji or Galuh cy of the Majapahit Kingdom” (Purbatjara- Candrakirana. In Thailand and Cambodia, ka, 1968). The Story of Panji subsequently name of Panji becomes Inou, and Dewi Se- spread throughout the Southeast Asian kartaji becomes Bossaba or Bussaba (accor- region, including present-day Malaysia, dingly it is come from the word ‘puspa’ in Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, Javanese language which is mean ‘flower,’ and has been adapted to a variety of per- since a beautiful lady usually personified forming arts. as beautiful as a ‘flower’). In Myanmar, There are different versions and epi- Inou become E-Naung and Bosabba be- sodes of the Panji cycles. The main story, comes Busba. The names of kingdoms in however, is about the romance between Java where this story initially comes from Prince Panji and Princess Kirana, a tragic can be recognized such as Kahuripan dan tale of love, full of adventures and chal- Daha. Some other kingdom names are not lenges that sometimes concludes with a explicit, but probably they are corrupted happy ending. This paper is a descripti- names of Javanese language or perhaps ve study of versions that can be found in some common local names of local king- Purbatjaraka’s book Tjerita Panji Dalam doms. Perbandingan (1968) and in R.A. Kosasih’s In studying the transformation and Pandji Semirang (1978), with some addi- dissemination of the Panji Story, for the tions taken from the videos of Inao Festi- writer, it is so much a wonder to realize val held by Spafa, Bangkok, Thailand, 2-6 how the unwritten Javanese Romance of March 2013. 13th century can be adopted and be adapted It is possible that the Mahabha- to become ‘their’ own arts. It seems there is rata may have influenced some storiesno in conflict of ‘self and Other’ dichotomy the Panji cycles. In his genealogy entit- in sort of the legacy of cultural influences led Pustaka Radja Mada, the Surakartan (Payne & Barbera, 2010), in this process poet Ranggawarsito writes: “the Javanese of transmission from the beginning to the Kings, including Panji, are considered the present day. descendants of the Pandavas of the Ma- habharata” (Brandon, 1970). METHOD This empirical research aims to exp- lore the fact that this classic Javanese roman This study employs analytic history of 13th century has been widely known in methods found in cultural studies. In a li- Southeast Asia of that period and has been mitation of readily available related refe- adopted to become classical performing rences, the writer has borrowed the met- arts in several kingdoms in the region. It hod of analytic history of cultural studies can be used as a coincidence of how this focuses primarily upon theoretical and ancient roman cycle of Java has gained so methodological dynamic (Tudor, 1999). much popularity as popular as Indian Ra- The implementation of this approach, in Triyono Bramantyo, , Susan Hung, The Javanese Panji Story: its transformation ... 115 this case, is that the writer studies some Is the music of various place influences the documents that have been carefully consi- story? In answering those questions short- dered to see the various types and genres ly, I would like to make my account based of the stories. Meanwhile, the videos of on the documents that did not explicitly the performance of Inou/Panji from Cam- described any music for the accompani- bodia, Thailand, and Myanmar, mostly ment at all. Firstly, there is no such typical available on Youtube uploaded by SPAFA Panji/Inou music accompaniment for the (2013) have been selected to see the trans- dances and dramas in Java and in Southe- formation of the story into the performing ast Asian Inou Drama. Secondly, nor that arts. the music of different place influences the The problems of originality of the story, for there is no such specific music genres are not mentioned in this paper accompaniment for the Panji/Inou Story. because it is so hard to identify the ori- Take for the example of the Javanese ginality when it has been lost due to the classical performance of Panji Story’s epi- social and political war that happen for sode that might used a gamelan ensemble such long time (in case of Cambodia and of classical gendhing repertories that alrea- Myanmar). So, the videos were saw and dy existed and be selected and adapted to analyzed the whole structures and the sto- accompany the performance. The selection ries of the episodes. It was found that they and adoption of the gendhing repertories are still very relevant to the main ideas of normally follows the dynamic flows of the the Panji cycles. Thus, that means that the actions on the stage. performances should then to be accepted For Inou performance from Thailand, as the new versions of the original Inou/ they usually used the Pi Phat Mai Nuam Panji episodes of the given countries. ensemble, a typical classical repertories Accordingly, unwritten folklore like for court ceremonies use. Accordingly, the the Panji Story is part of tradition, and it is Pi Phat Mai Nuam ensemble was created dynamic. The study have found that in this during the reign of King Rama V by Chao process of sharing the tradition has helped Phraya Thewat Wongwiwat. Wongwiwat the continuity of culture and the importan- not only rearranged the entire Pi Phat en- ce of time and repetition in tradition that semble as the accompaniment for dance implies a sense of continuity and of divi- and drama but also replaced Khlui Phiang ded materials (Sims, 2005).