Indian poet impressed by Javanese dance<\/p>\n
By Jai Singh Yadav<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), the great
\nIndian poet and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913,
\nwas the first intellectual freedom fighter from India to visit
\nthe islands of Indonesia. Tagore, the composer of India's
\nnational anthem, is the most fascinating personality in India-
\nIndonesia cultural relations because it was his visit to
\nIndonesia in 1927 which revived the age-old relationship between
\nthe two nations.<\/p>\n
Tagore's visit to the islands of Sumatra, Java and Bali, which
\nincluded visits to the palaces of Yogyakarta and Mangkunegaran,
\nthe Borobudur temple and the temples of Bali, carried a deep
\nimpression, particularly when he was received by Sultan Hamengku
\nBuwana VIII and presented with some royal Javanese dances.<\/p>\n
\"...The dance was performed by four girls from the Sultan's
\nown family, two of them his daughters. This was the best of all
\ndances I have yet seen here. It is impossible to describe in
\nwords the impression I received. I have never beheld such perfect
\ncreations of charming forms. One aspect of these dances is the
\nnatural elegance of outward form; the other of technical
\nsignificance of different attitudes and movements.\"<\/p>\n
This was his expression --later published in The Viswa-Bharati
\nQuarterly, October 1928 -- of his admiration for the Javanese
\ndance which was so famous, fine, complex and advanced.<\/p>\n
So advanced that Tagore wrote: \"...only those who know this
\nlanguage can allow satisfaction to be derived from the graceful
\ncombination of attitude and idea.\"<\/p>\n
Having enjoyed the dances in the sultan's company, Tagore also
\nvisited the dance training center in Ngayogjakarta Hadiningrat
\nPalace. Perhaps he was tempted by the mysteries of the dancers
\nlanguage.<\/p>\n
Rabindranath Tagore was also invited to attend the ceremony of
\nthe 24th anniversary of the 7th Mangkunegara's coronation.
\nAccording to Hilmiyah Darmawan, a grandchild of the 7th
\nMangkunegara, -- in an exclusive interview with me -- Tagore made
\nsome notes on his impression of the ceremony. These were later
\npublished in Dutch in 1939\/1940. In Surakarta, he was warmly
\nwelcomed and a street was named after him.<\/p>\n
His impressions and feelings on the relationship between
\nIndian and Javanese cultures which he gained during his visit
\nwere described in his poem To Java. The journey had profoundly
\ninfluenced him.<\/p>\n
The poem, originally written in Bengali, reads:<\/p>\n
When we tied golden threads of kinship<\/p>\n
Round each other's wrist<\/p>\n
That ancient token, grown pale,<\/p>\n
has not yet slipped off thy right arm,<\/p>\n
And our wayfaring path of old<\/p>\n
lies strewn with the remnants of my speech<\/p>\n
They help me to retrace my way to the inner chamber of thy<\/p>\n
life<\/p>\n
where still the light is burning that we kindled together<\/p>\n
on the forgotten evening of our union.<\/p>\n
Remember me, even as I remember thy face,<\/p>\n
and recognize me as thine own,<\/p>\n
The old that has been lost, to be regained and made new<\/p>\n
After returning from Java, he urged one of his pupils in
\nSantiniketan, H.B. Sarkar, to study and research the relationship
\nbetween Indian and Southeast Asian cultures, especially Javanese
\n(Indonesian) culture.<\/p>\n
This suggestion encouraged people to write valuable books on
\ncultural links between Indonesia and India. The books were the
\nresults of the research of Indian scholars, especially the
\nstudents of Tagore in Santiniketan. It is a pity that this
\npositive creativity only lasted for H.B. Sarkar's generation. It
\nstopped partly because of the political conditions of both
\ncountries during their struggle for freedom.<\/p>\n
Santiniketan, which means Abode of Peace, later became the
\nViswa Bharati University; an ideal and idyllic place for
\nlearning, away from the hustle of noisy cities, where education
\nmeant more than books and crass technology.<\/p>\n
At Santiniketan, Tagore directed that there should be a great
\neducational movement to teach the highest expressions of human
\nspirit, especially the practice and recognition of universal
\nbrotherhood. The center really supported a humanist and
\nuniversalist movement.<\/p>\n
It was these movements which impressed the great Indonesian
\neducationalist, Ki Hadjar Dewantara, who founded an educational
\nexperiment using Tagore's systems. He established the Taman Siswa
\nmovement and its institutions throughout Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Recently, the 17th congress of Taman Siswa was held in
\nYogyakarta from July 15 to July 21. It was opened by Minister of
\nEducation and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro. It is worth saying
\nthat the new generation of Indonesians and Indians should ponder
\nover Tagore's word: \"Remember me, even as I remember you\", and to
\nemphasize the words, \"The old that has been lost, to be regained
\nand made new\".<\/p>\n
I must say without a doubt that Rabindranath Tagore showed all
\nthe signs of an historical literary genius.<\/p>\n
The writer is a visiting associate professor at the School of
\nLetters, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.<\/p>",
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