`Lutung Kasarung' defines symbolism<\/p>\n
By Yogita Tahil Ramani<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It is often said that a person gets from a
\nsymbol the meaning he puts into it, and what is one man's comfort
\nand inspiration is another's jest and scorn.<\/p>\n
If these words express the profundity of symbolism, then the
\nplay Lutung Kasarung, a mythical story derived from old Sundanese
\nculture, enacted it.<\/p>\n
Lutung Kasarung played for three nights in Jakarta this week,
\ncourtesy of the Indonesian Asthma Foundation, the Indonesian
\nCancer Foundation, the Indonesian Heart Foundation, The
\nIndonesian Anti-Tuberculosis Group and The Foundation of Trustees
\nfor Indonesian Asthmatic Children.<\/p>\n
For most in the audience, it was a show of symbolic
\nsignificance.<\/p>\n
Being tied to the religious beliefs of the ancient Sundanese,
\nLutung Kasarung is one of three pantun -- poems set to music and
\nsung -- that is considered sacred.<\/p>\n
Possessing special characteristics, a pantun story ordinarily
\ncenters around the struggle of a princely knight, who, after
\novercoming many adversities, becomes a fitting king for his
\nsubjects.<\/p>\n
Lutung Kasarung, like Mundinglaya di Kusuman and Ciung Wanara,
\nis sung solely by experienced pantun-performers during religious
\nceremonies.<\/p>\n
The story -- choreographed by Bandung choreographer Dinin
\nRasidin, with music by Iyon Supiyono and Lili Suparli --
\nrevolves around the fictitious kingdom of Pasir Batang Anu
\nGirang.<\/p>\n
The wise old king, Prabu Tapa Agung, wishes to step down to
\nlive a hermit's life in the jungle of Ganggong Simagonggong and
\nfaces the dilemma of selecting an heir to take his place.<\/p>\n
His problem is solved when the Goddess Sunan Ambu (Diah
\nAgustini) visits him in his dreams and tells him to select his
\nyoungest daughter as queen, the gentle and wise Purba Sari
\n(played by the charming Rieka Sukmawati).<\/p>\n
However, his eldest daughter, Purba Rarang (Pipih Yulipah), a
\nvindictive and cruel woman, overthrows Purba Sari with the help
\nof her husband Indrajaya.<\/p>\n
She tortures Purba Sari and dresses her in rags, smearing her
\nface with sooty medicinal powder so that she cannot be
\nrecognized, and packs her off to the jungle.<\/p>\n
A respected elder, Batang Lengser, follows Purba Sari into the
\njungle, builds a hut for her and promises to visit regularly.<\/p>\n
Monkey<\/p>\n
The heavenly powers, however, had inscribed honorable and
\namusingly sweet intentions on Purba Sari's luck-line.<\/p>\n
In Buana Padang (The World Of Light), the son of the Supreme
\nGoddess Sunan Ambu, Guru Minda (Agus Kandiawan), dreams of a
\nbeautiful woman resembling his mother. He tells his mother that
\nhe would marry no one other than the woman of his dreams.<\/p>\n
Sunan Ambu transforms him, \"for good reason\", into a black
\nmonkey (Lutung), advising him to \"find the princess, in Buana
\nPanca Tengah (the earth).\"<\/p>\n
The extraordinarily huge and boisterous monkey is later
\ncaptured by the queen's hunter Aki Panyumpit for sacrificial
\npurposes.<\/p>\n
Lutung creates chaos at the palace but is befriended by the
\nkind Batang Lengser who, upon Purba Rarang's command, is
\ninstructed to take the monkey to Purba Sari.<\/p>\n
In the jungle, monkey and Purba Sari meet for the first time.
\nUpon seeing the darkened, disheveled-looking princess, Lutung
\nprays to his mother for help.<\/p>\n
Sunan Ambu sends 40 gods and 40 nymphs to the jungle, who
\novernight change the jungle into a beautiful garden and Purba
\nSari's hut into a palace with a bathroom. Purba Sari is restored
\nto her beautiful self in the bathroom.<\/p>\n
The news reaches the ears of Purba Rarang who calls upon her
\nyounger sister, challenging her with weaving, cooking and beauty
\ncontests. These were followed by competitions involving catching
\nthe biggest fish and tying up the most dangerous bull. In both
\ntasks, Purba Sari is helped by her monkey-mate, enabling her to
\nonce again be her sister's better.<\/p>\n
Purba Rarang then finally challenges her to prepare a huge dry
\nrice field. With the help of Sunan Ambu's gods and nymphs, Purba
\nSari's crop yield turns out much better than Purba Rarang's.<\/p>\n
In desperation, Purba Rarang asks Purba Sari to compare their
\npartners. Indrajaya steps forward as Purba Rarang's mate, while
\nPurba Sari, for the first time, finds herself in a tough spot.<\/p>\n
However, she announces that \"due to `Lutung Kasarung's
\nkindness and companionship all through the hard times, he is the
\nonly one suitable enough to be her husband.\"<\/p>\n
Smoke fills the stage, covering the monkey and out jumps Guru
\nMinda, restored to his human form. He reaches out for the
\nprincess's hand and both become just rulers.<\/p>\n
Saini K.M., who wrote the script, said almost all pantun
\nstories deal with ethical subjects. Those that are sacred, are
\nusually read when rituals are conducted.<\/p>\n
One of the most important rituals is the rite of initiation.<\/p>\n
\"In certain communities in Irian Jaya and Kalimantan, when a
\ngirl starts to menstruate, her face will be smeared with sooty
\nmedicinal powder,\" said Saini, who also heads the Directorate of
\nArts at the Ministry of Education and Culture.<\/p>\n
\"She will then be sent to the jungles to fast and pray, and on
\nreturning from the jungle she will be respected as a full woman.\"<\/p>\n
Boys too go through a period of initiation.<\/p>\n
\"Like Guru Minda, when a youth experiences a wet dream, he is
\nready to become an adult. He is sent to the jungle to fight wild
\nanimals and to hunt,\" Saini said.<\/p>\n
When Guru Minda fights the bull to ensure his beloved wins the
\ncontest, the depiction is to be taken more symbolically than
\nliterally, he said.<\/p>\n
\"He is not fighting an actual beast, but the beast within
\nhim.\"<\/p>\n
Most Sundanese myths are outlined with archaic patterns which
\nserve not only as a blueprint, but also as characterized symbols
\nat three different stages.<\/p>\n
First, the hero and the heroine will receive their divine
\ncalls -- a problem that awakens their moral sensibilities,
\naspirations or simply uneasiness. In the second stage, the hero
\nand heroine enter a transcendental world symbolized by a jungle
\nor Buana Padang.<\/p>\n
\"Both of them are then tested following a series of trying
\nevents, and they will pass those tests. The third stage is when
\nboth characters return to the everyday world with heavenly boons,
\nenabling them to make the kingdom peaceful and happy.\"<\/p>\n
When Purba Sari told Lutung that he was fit to be her husband,
\nthe change of his beastly form into a human being signified
\nsomething really deep, Saini says.<\/p>\n
\"Some psychologists say that a girl first accepts the presence
\nof a boy as a personality. He could be a friend or a colleague,
\neven a sympathetic member of the family,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"However, once she accepts him as a sexual being, a beast,\" he
\nsaid smilingly, \"she's ready to marry.\"<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, when Purba Sari accepted Guru Minda as a monkey
\nand as her companion, she is ready to marry him.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lutung-kasarung-defines-symbolism-1447899208",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}