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Wayang Wong

Tejakula, Spiritual
Dance Bali’s Drama

Sacred Art
of Migrants

Writer: Alpha Savitri ; Photos: Joko Sugianto

This Article’s Published by Bali Echo Magazine


The highly spiritual dance drama, wayang wong Tejakula, has its roots
in 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 you


traverse on traveling there, the kilometers pass quickly by - especially once one
enters the cool, refreshing ambience of the highland Gunung Batur area. It is the
silhouette 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. Tejakula
welcomes visitors with an stounding temple. Homes and shops line the main
road into town. Unlike most Balinese villages, the houses here arc tiny, and most
of 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 domestic
compound must contain a family shrine (pemerajan), a master bed room where
the family heirlooms are stored (bale daja), a family bedroom (bale dauh), a
room for family ceremonies (bale dangin) and a rice store (jineng). But in
Tejakula, 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 size
and fame. Based on archaeological data, it is estimated that the area has been
populated since prehistoric time. Nyoman Tusan, a painter and cultural
commentator and a native of Tejakula, asserts that the area has had trading
links with the outside world since the first century. Many foreign artifacts, such
as ceramic pots have been found in the area, suggesting that Tejakula
functioned as an important crossroad where traders from all over the world came
together. The original inhabitants of Tejakula were the Balinese aborigines, the
Bah Mula.

This means that the people of Tejakula are not descended from the Javanese
who invaded Bali when the kingdom of Majapahit began to fall in the 15th
century, as are most area, the Bali Aga people dominated the local population
until 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 the
17th century. Tejakula was favored, it seems, for its volcanic, fertile earth which
acommodated cultivation of rice and oranges alike, although it is difficult to know
for certain why such migration took place. There is a legend, well known among
Tejakula locals, concerning this period of migration of Hinduism when masks
were used as a tool with which to communicate with the ancestors. The masks
used 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 themselves
with 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 time
of the Waturenggong regime, between 1460-1550. The language used in
wayang wong is Balinese or Kawi (a form of old Javanese) noble characters use
Kawi 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, for
centuries. But the version of the Ramayana with which the Balinese are most
intimate is the Kekawin Ramayana which came to the island via Java. "Although
Balinese 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 and


adaptation 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 lontar
palms, 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 contain
some salient moral messages. Coincidentally, perhaps, the wayang wong has
served as a medium for the preservation of the Ramayana, for today it remains
as the only dance-drama form which performs the Ramayana, which tells of the
war 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 among


scholars, 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 to
watch the show every time there's a religious festival. Usually, wayang wong
dancers are descended from generations of dancers, and usually experience the
urge 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. Some
dancers however are not descended from dancers, but have taken a vow to help
strengthen 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
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 back
to 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 fact
that the masks regularly undergo ritual cleansing, and have so for centuries.
Special rituals accompany the use of the
masks 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 performers
hang 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 melds
dance, drama and music. Unlike the wayang kulit (shadow puppet), in which
leather puppets are manipulated by a dalang behind a screen, wayang wong is
performed 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. In
wayang 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 wong
enveloped 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 stories
concerns 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. The
community 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 not
all. Apparently, the Kumbakarna mask doesn't like to be made fun of, and those
who do so must be prepared to receive Kumbakarna's wrath. One local child's
crooked teeth arc believed to result from his parents' having insulted
Kumbakarna. Kumbakarna is the representative of the army of giants who go to
war 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 before
each performance, to avoid fatality. Prior to 4 each performance, the troupe
distributes offerings. A black chicken is sacrificed prior to the entry of
Kumbakarna' The blood of the chicken is believed to neutralize the giant's
strength and power over his surrounds. Another story relates the experience of
the mask maker responsible for the mask of Rangda (the symbol of evil). One
day, 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 Rangda
tempting 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 to
the abundance of requests for thern to perform in secular setting,in 1975 the
trouve decided to establish a secular wayang wong, for performances outside the
temple. In these secular performances, duplicates are substituted for the sacred
masks. "The main aim of the secular wayang wong is as a tool for introducing
our culture to outsiders. Moreover, with the secular performances, the
performers have become more diligent about rehearsing. As a result, the quality
of the dances performed at the temple has improved, " said Nyoman Tusan.
Since the establishment of the secular wayang wong, the troupe has received
many 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 stipulations
and remains unchanged over time. The secular version frees artists to make their
own interpretations," explained Tusan. Even in preparing for the secular
performance, 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 concept
behind the sacrifice, they understood," recalled Nyoman Tusan. So how did they
explain it? Partly, by referring to the concept of reincarnation. They said that
after the chicken had been sacrificed, its soul would be transferred to a higher
being. It could even be reborn as a human.

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