Variety of Distinct Style Scripts in Inscriptions Found in Mandalas of the Late Majapahit Era: an Overview of the Paleography to Mark Religious Dynamics

Cultural Dynamics in a Globalized World – Budianta et al. (Eds) © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-62664-5 Variety of distinct style scripts in inscriptions found in Mandalas of the late Majapahit era: An overview of the paleography to mark religious dynamics N. Susanti Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia ABSTRACT: The late Majapahit era is found to mark the decline of Saivaism and Bud- dhism. In the late 15th century, Buddhism started to decline, whereas Saivaism was still developing, despite experiencing a decline. Trailokyapuri II and Trailokyapuri III inscriptions, which were issued by the King, mentioned names of figures and gods other than Siva, namely Sang Rsiswara Bharadhwaja, Bhatara Wisnu, Bhatara Yama, and Bhatari Durga. Literature works have also suggested life perspectives and “indigenous” religiousness as well as the establishment of religious buildings with mountain top features (punden berundak) and pyramidal architecture, such as the constructions in the slopes of Mount Penanggungan and Mount Lawu. Distinct script styles found in brief inscriptions in several sites that served as centers of religious activities (mandala) may confirm the assumptions regarding the religious life lead in the late Majapahit era. The content of the inscriptions provides hints of holy places/mandala, names of figures and gods, and moral teachings of the time. Paleographic analyses carried out using a dynamic method for the distinct script styles found in brief inscriptions from the late Majapahit era may provide information regarding the types of the currently existing mandala. Previous studies show that every mandala normally possesses a unique script style together with its diacritical symbols. The analysis of the content of the inscriptions reveals the figures, gods, and moral teachings of the era. Ultimately, the variety of distinct script styles may contribute to the information related to the life outside the palaces of the late Majapahit era, especially the religious life. 1 INTRODUCTION The late Majapahit era has marked the decline of two religions, namely Saivaism and Bud- dhism. In the late 15th century, the role of Buddhism as an official religion started to decline, whereas Saivasim sustained and flourished up to the late 15th century, despite experiencing a decline. The inscriptions and literature works of that time have also revealed the existence of figures and gods belonging to neither Saivaism nor Buddhism. For instance, the content of Trailokyapuri II and III inscriptions issued by King Gir- indrawarddhana Dyah Ranawijaya mentions the existence of other figures and gods, such as Sang Rsiswara Bharadhwaja, Bhatara Wisnu, and Bhatari Durga. Literature works have also suggested views of life pertaining to an “indigenous” religion and the establishment of religious structures, including those with mountain-like and pyramidal shapes, such as some constructions found in the slopes of Mount Penanggungan and Mount Lawu. When Hinduism and Buddhism were introduced in Nusantara, they grew in an environment that had developed its own faith system, namely the worship of the spirit of the ancestors. Together with the development, these three systems of faith influenced each other, which was reflected in not only the system of the ideas but also the ritual activities and the material manifestation of the objects used to support such activities (Sedyawati & Djafar, 2012, p. 286). 585 Centers of religious development from the early stages were distinguished into three cat- egories based on the environment where the religious teachings were developed, namely the palace area, the hermitage area, and the village area. Two groups of religious leaders were involved in palaces, namely the court priests and the high officials in charge of religious affairs. Hermitage sites that were later also referred to as mandala are religious activity sites located somewhat away from the living areas, normally deep in the forest, in mountain slopes, or in caves. The caves, for example, which were situated in the high plateau of Dieng and Ratuboko, are assumed to be the oldest centers of worship in Java. The word Dieng or Di- hyang (ancient Javanese language) would possibly indicate the dwelling place of the spirit of the ancestors or hyang. The proximity of such caves and the oldest Hindu religious building compound and the finding of prehistoric ritual equipment, such as copper drum (nekara), possibly indicate the area having been used since prehistoric time by a group of people (Sedyawati & Djafar, 2012, pp. 286–295). The description of hermitage life was obtained later, especially from the ruling era of King Airlangga and the era of the Majapahit Kingdom through the content of inscriptions and literature works conducted in the two eras. On the basis of manuscripts of the Janggala-Kadiri era, namely Bhomantaka and Suma- nasantaka, and those dated from the Majapahit era, such as Nagarakrtagama, Rajapatigun- dala, Arjunawijaya, Tantu Panggelaran, and Pararaton, some terminologies are indicated to relate to the naming of such religious centers, namely mandala, kut.i, dharmasala, karĕsyan, wanaśrama/asrama, patapan, and kadewagurwan. Santiko (1990, p. 159) assumed that wanas- rama or dormitory refers to a sacred place of hermits or karĕsyan, whereas mandala is another term for kadewagurwan (Sedyawati & Djafar, 2012, p. 292). Soepomo (1977, pp. 66–67) distinguished patapan from mandala and stated that patapan is a quiet place of retreat that a person visits and stays for a certain period for a certain intention, whereas mandala is a compound of housing for hermits that is more of a perma- nent base and the occupants are referred to as tapaswi and tapi (Sedyawati & Djafar, 2012, p. 293). Religious centers that flourished during the ancient Javanese era as well as served as places of learning and teaching are referred to as widya gocara as mentioned in the book Sutasoma. The book Sarasamuccaya describes a place of hermitage or patapan as the one that served as the dwelling place of a master (Mpu) and his students (sisya). Furthermore, it is described as being surrounded by a fence made of solid walls and having a gate, a pond, and a large banyan tree, under which the students played (Sedyawati, 2012, p. 302). Several types of other religious centers are also described in the literature works, for instance, kadewagurwan is described as being located at the base of a mountain and was occupied by a family of religious leaders or dwija (Brahmana) and holy women. The educational system followed was similar to that of gurukula, with a single student being directed by his teacher at a hermitage. Literature works denote an interactive learning– teaching process, involving direct verbal communication between the teacher and the students. The materials taught were related to religion and the literature. The book Pararaton lists the subjects taught to the students, which included scripts, knowledge on the use of vocals, consonants, and change of sound of scripts or candrasangkala; elements of calendar system; and so on. It also includes the teaching of good characters, truth, and proper behav- iors (Gonggong, 1993, pp. 101–117). Further studies on the inscriptions of the late Majapahit era would find that there are several inscriptions that have distinct characters, indicated in their size and shape. These inscriptions are not as large as other inscriptions in general, which have a height of >1 m, and the shape is less regular. Examples include inscriptions made on natural stones that are relatively small. Scripts carved on these inscriptions are short, and their form has specific motifs different from those used to record king’s announcements. The language used is ancient Javanese of Middle dialect. Unlike that of inscriptions issued by the royal palaces, the content of these inscriptions is not related to king’s announcements, the elements of which are arranged chronologically. These inscriptions contain names of places, gods, and priests, as well as moral teachings, which leads us to assume that these inscriptions were made and 586 issued by people who lived in mandala, comprising priests, students, and sages (Susanti, 2008; 2011, pp. 3–4; Rahayu, 2016, p. 13). On the basis of several previous studies, it is assumed that there were religious centers, such as mandala, kadewagurwan, kuti, and patapan, during the late Majapahit era, as mentioned in the manuscript of Nagarakrtagama. By linking the sites where these inscriptions were found, the information obtained from Nagarakrtagama, and the journey of Bujangga Manik, the locations of those religious centers can be deduced. The chronological data of the mandalas may be concluded from the hints found in the content of the inscriptions and the development of the shape of the scripts. The development of the script style can be observed by two methods, namely static method and dynamic method. According to the static method, introduced by de Casparis, the script is a hierarchy of lines. Thus, in analyzing, observing the scripts one by one is sufficient. The simplest script is the latest (de Casparis, 1975, p. 66). According to the dynamic method, introduced by Jean Mallon, the script is not just one line, rather a result of hand movements. The script consists of real and unreal elements. For example, in order to make a real line to attract a specific direction, the hand needs to be lifted first to make a real line on the different sides. The script changes can be seen from the combination of real and unreal elements (duktus). Increasingly complicated ductus indicates the younger characters of script style (van der Molen, 1985, pp. 9–10). Bujangga Manik was a Sundanese Hindu priest who lived in the late 16th century. He went wandering overland from his place of origin in Sunda region to the eastern tip of Java and to Bali, and went back to West Java.

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