The Story of Ramayana in Javanese Version

4 Descriptive words to portray the characters and settings.

6. The Story of Ramayana in Javanese Version

According to Suwito 2009 Ramayana is an original story written by Valmiki Walmiki from India around the year 400 BC. Valmiki as the main Ramayana author only wrote the script‟s core, then the other Indian authors added stories in the Ramayana to amount to 24,000 lines of poetry. Ramayana story entered Indonesia through trade activities along with the Indian culture and the religions it brought, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Later, Indian culture formed an acculturation with that of Indonesian culture. This is proven with the existence of a number of Hinduism and Buddhist kingdoms. However, the story of Ramayana that we know today has transformed so that the story of Ramayana in Indonesia will be different from the Ramayana in India. Ramayana epic in Java first appeared in the form of kakawin literature which was then called kakawin Ramayana. Kakawin Ramayana was supposedly written around 9th AD, referring to the old Javanese language it used. Old Javanese language has become a vehicle for culture that is important since 9th AD, Zoetmulder 1974. Soebadio 2001 states the Ramayana story from India was indeed written by Valmiki. However, it was then modified in such a way to adjust the context of Javaneseness, that kakawin Ramayana from multiple viewpoints seems to differ from the Ramayana epic in Valmiki ‟s version. The sloka a couplet of Sanskrit verse that appear are different from that in India and cannot be found in the original Indian texts. In addition to undergoing a transformation in the story, the story of Ramayana in Javanese version also gets additional distinctive characters. During the kingdom of Islam, Sunan Kalijaga created a group of characters named Punakawan which includes Semar, Gareng, Petruk, Bagong. These Punakawan figures still can be seen until now in the entire puppet story. Punakawan figures in charge of instilling character and moral values through conversations in the story can be made in view of the public or the audience in a puppet show, Purnamasari 2013. Ramayana story is played in a show called the puppet show and this is still often played in Java. The puppet itself originally comes from the western Indian art. The puppet show in Java is the same as what is in the West Indies; therefore, he suggests that the puppet was created by Hindu and Javanese people. Just as the Ramayana story is undergoing a transformation, which is originated in India, the puppet then gets more complex by the presence of equipments such as kelir screen, blencong taper of oil lamp, cempala, and kepyak percussion instrument. Hazeu 1897 believes that the puppet show is derived from the original art of Java. It can be seen from the terms that are used, mostly in Javanese language for example, kelir screen, blencong taper of oil lamp, cempala bludgeon, and kepyak percussion instrument to support the puppet show.

7. Culture-Based Materials