The RULE of RAMA from the Bay of Bengal to the Pacific Ocean
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The RULE of RAMA from the Bay of Bengal to the Pacific Ocean Nicanor G. Tiongson or the last 2,000 years or more, the Ramayana, which first sprang to life in F India, has been transplanted to the countries of South, East, and Southeast Asia. The epic was assimilated and transformed by the host countries according to local history, geography and way of life. Accepted in all levels of society, it was then interpreted by local artists in oral and written literature, in music, dance and theatre, and in architecture, painting, sculpture and crafts. Today, the Ramayana continues to permeate these regions so deeply that it cannot be extracted from them without destroying the basic fabric of their cultures. SPAFA Journal Vol. 10 No. 2 India including Ravana's sister Sur- Ravana to return Sita and his phanaka and brother Khara, alliance with Rama, the building The story of Rama, first Ravana's abduction of Sita with of the bridge to Lanka with the written down sometime be- the aid of the hermit Marica, help of the ocean God, the tween 400 B.C. and 200 A.D., is Jetayu's failed attempt to rescue encounter with Ravana's son regarded in India as the "first Sita, and Sita's imprisonment in Indrajit, the fight b e t w e e n R a m a poem" and its creator, the "first Ravana's palace in Lanka. The and Ravana, the defeat of poet." Valmiki's Ramayana is fourth gives an account of the Ravana, Rama's rejection of the told in six sections (kanda), in alliance between Rama and the "defiled" Sita, the trial by fire prose that is encrusted with monkey king Sugriwa, the battle which proves Sita's chastity, the metaphors and gilded with with and defeat of Sugriwa's return to Ayodhya, and the coro- meditative passages. The first enemy Valin, the offer of help nation of Rama. section narrates Rama's birth from Hanumat, son of the wind- After its creation, Valmi- and childhood, the bow contest god, and the conscription of the ki's classic became the foun- and the hero's marriage to Sita. monkey army of Rama. The tainhead for the innumerable The second tells of Dasaratha's fifth narrates Hanumat's jump to versions of the Rama story in the subcontinent. Of all the poetic rescensions, the most re- nowned are: the Raghuvamsa by Kalidasa which is one of the sources of the Tamil Ramaya- nam; the Ravanavadha of Bhatti, which was translated into Javanese and later called the Ramayana Kakawin; and Ramacaritamanasa of Tulasi- dasa, composed around 1574 A.D. in Avadhi Hindi. To popu- larize the epic, it was sung in public for the last 500 years from Assam to lower Bengal. Unlike the poems, the plays on Rama were created by the playwright's imagination. Since the 5th century, the story has been enacted with shadow The Kathakali Troupe from Kerala Kalanandalam, India puppets or simple glove pup- attempt to transfer his crown to the kingdom of Lanka, his pets. Around the 16th century, Rama, the objection of Kaikeyi search for Sita, the latter's lam- other dramatic forms inter- who wants his own son crowned, entation, and Hanumat's reas- preted the epic in different lan- and the departure of Rama for surance that Rama is coming to guages, among them, the ankia his 14-year exile, accompanied rescue her. The last dramatizes nat of Assam, the highly stylised by Sita and Lakshmana. The the preparation of the monkey kathakali of Kerala, the yaksha- third describes Rama's battles army, Vibhisana's fruitless gana of Mysore, and the dasha- in the forest with the Raksasas, attempt to persuade his brother vatar of Maharashtra. 6 SPAFA Journal Vol. 10 No. 2 In India, the Ramayana is perfect order Gandhiji was fact which only proves that, not only a colorful saga but also thinking of when he died with mystified as it has been, the a book of dharma (duty). It the name of Rama on his lips epic was but a product of its own prescribes the rules of proper (Buck 1989: 47). society, and therefore, mirrors behavior, such as the leader's With the rise of Buddhism, the structures and values of that commitment to truth and the jatakas began to use the society. Criticisms notwith- service above duplicity and story for their own purposes. standing, the story continues to personal convenience, the Thus, the character of the be enthroned in the hearts of wife's fidelity to her husband, buddha was patterned after the Indian people, the way the fraternal loyalty and affection, Rama or Krishsna. In time, images of Rama and Sita were the young person's devotion to Rama himself was eventually seen enthroned when Hanu- elders and the servants' obedi- reinterpreted as a bodhisattva. man's heart was opened. ence to their masters. In Reverence for Rama as From India, the Rama- this perspective, the conflict ideal man or god, however, has yana eventually spread east- between Rama and Ravana is not spared the epic from criti- ward to China, Japan, and South- allegorized as the clash between cism. Some contemporary east Asia. To the last, the saga dharma and adharma. In this writers, for example, have at- was brought by Brahmin and battle, Rama emerges as the tacked Tulasidasa for "his Ksatriya adventurers and trad- lord who rides the chariot of defense of monarchy and the ers, who went to Subarnabhumi righteousness, whose wheels caste system, his glorification of and even "to Canton, across the are heroism and courage, the Brahmins, his low esteem of Malay peninsula, by foot or by whose flags are truth and virtue, women" (Bulcke 1989: 73), a sailing through what later came whose horses are strength, to be Strait of Malacca" (Sarkar discretion, self-control and 1994:207-208). These travelers unselfish action, and whose must have crossed the tran- charioteer is the worship of speninsular route from Takua- God (Bulcke 1989:61,75; Buck pa, southern Thailand to Kedah 1989:41,52,54). to ride ships from ports in the Understandably, this hero east coast of Malaya. There soon metamorphosed into a di- they waited for the proper mon- vinity. In Adyatha-Ramayana, soon, enjoying Indian music and Rama is pictured as the incarna- dance, which were also appre- tion of the Brahma himself. His ciated by the native royal courts, story, now sacralized, teaches like those of Malaya. Through that doing good to others is these waiting stations, where essential and turning one's back many Brahmins eventually to the world characterizes one settled, and through the In- dianized local courts, the Rama searching for God. It is in this story entered and spread context that the kingdom estab- through Southeast Asia. lished by Rama—the dharma- rajya or reign of righteous- ness—should be understood. Indonesia To realize this kingdom, one must emulate Rama and medi- From India, the Ramaya- tate on his name. This was the na was brought, together with SPAFA Journal Vol. 10 No. 2 7 the Hindu religion and culture, during religious ceremonies, wooden puppets inspired by the to East and Central Java from such as those held for the tooth- colourful leather puppets, while where it spread to Bali. Earli- filing or the wedding ceremony the golek uses three-dimensional est evidence of the epic, found (Sarkar 1989: 214). heads and hands and costumes in Central Java, dates from the In the performing arts, the made of cloth. Because the 8th century. Although Hindu- Rama epic has been the princi- golek uses dolls which are beau- ism has continued to influence pal source of stories for the tiful in themselves, it dispenses Bali to the present, it was wayang kulit purwa or ancient with the screen, situating the replaced by Islam in Java by shadow play with leather pup- action of the plays within a large the 14th century. In time, the pets. Considered as the oldest carved wooden frame (Yousof Javanese Ramayana became form of shadow play in Indone- 1994:279-280). more and more secularized, sia, the wayang kulit is usually Inspired by wayang kulit while the Balinese continued to performed on special occasions as well is the wayang wong, be performed within a religious such as marriage, birth, circum- the dance drama where actors context (Santoso 1989: 327). cision, recovery from illness imitate the movements and In Indonesia, the Rama and passing of exams; or on stances of puppets and wear story has been expressed in village purification ceremonies costumes and headdresses or paintings, such as the folk can- before the planting of rice masks drawn from puppet vasses still being produced in (Yousof 1994: 291-296). designs. Whether in Java or in Bali, and in sculpture, which The puppets include kings, Bali, wayang wong or wayang may be free-standing statues of princes, princesses and soldiers, orang ("human shadow") enacts wood or stone, as in Bali and gods and giants, counselors and the story of Rama as the univer- Java, or high and low reliefs, officers, and the clown and ser- sal and eternal conflict between such as those decorating the vants. Each is distinguished Good and Evil. walls of Prambanan Siva temple, through the details of eyes, lips, Characters are generally the Panataran Temple in East necks, shoulders, colours, orna- divided into the refined (halus) Java and the series of temples ments and attitudes. Final char- and rough (kasar), these two dotting the villages of Bali. acterization of the puppets, categories being identified The oldest and longest however, is in the hands of the through the costumes, head- poem in Javanese literature is dalang or master puppeteer.