Bali Arts Festival XXI offers moral education

By Putu Wirata

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): This year's Bali Arts Festival XXI, which lasts from June 26 through July 17, features plays adapted from the popular Tantri folklore, the local version of 1001 Nights, as its theme.

The folklore is believed to come from the 13th century Majapahit kingdom on Java and has been modified to suit the local culture.

Tantri tells of a king named Aeswaryadala from the Patali empire. The king had a horrible habit: He would sleep with a different virgin every night.

However, one night when he ordered his prime minister, Badiswarya, to find him virgins, he was told there was not a single virgin left in the whole of Patali but one: Diah Tantri, the prime minister's daughter.

Tantri was a beautiful and bright girl. To make the story short, Tantri submitted herself to the king. On the first night, she was asked to massage the king's feet and tell him tales about animals. The animals she created were cultured, with human characteristics.

There were cows who had the qualities of monks, a lion with a knight's wisdom, a white heron who posed as a monk to deceive fish, a clever monkey, a stupid goat and so forth.

Tantri told the tales so cleverly that on the 30th night the ruthless king became aware of his evil deeds. After listening to her tales for so long, he announced he would take Tantri as his queen.

Ida Bagus Pangdjaja said the three-week festival would feature 98 folk plays, 94 of which are episodes from the Tantri.

Tantri remains highly popular among the predominantly Hindu Balinese. It is probably beaten in popularity by only the Ramayana and Mahabarata epics.

Tantri appears in wayang (puppet) shows, traditional paintings in Gianyar regency, reliefs at Batuan-Sukawati temple, and in songs sung in certain Hindu religious rituals.

Tantri herself is portrayed as an intelligent woman who successfully changed the evil king Aeswaryadala through her metaphoric tales about animals, which are popular characters in Balinese folklore alluding to human behavior.

In daily life on Bali, characters in Tantri are often used to allude to people's conduct. For instance, an unwise monk may be nicknamed "Pedanda Baka", after the white heron which devoured fish it "helped" remove from a pond it said would dry up very soon.

Someone who is bright but dishonest could be called "Kancil" (mouse deer) or "Lutung" (monkey), the animals who save their own lives by sacrificing their friends.

Somebody who is physically strong but unintelligent is called "Macan" (tiger), which was easily deceived by the weaker but cleverer monkey.

Tantri plays have always been used as a means to criticize the government, even during the authoritarian rule of Soeharto. The despot was notorious for repressing freedom of expression.

In last year's festival, the theatrical satires targeted top government bureaucrats, who were portrayed as corrupt and nepotistic.

For example a clown in an opera complained that his "village chief" kept saying "OK, OK" when an investor from Jakarta came to look for land to open business. The amused audience understood that the clown referred to Ida Bagus Oka, the then governor of Bali who was known to easily succumb to the demands of Jakarta's powerful people for property in Bali. He won the nickname "Mr. Oke".

Pangdjaja said the choice of Tantri themes was relevant today to remind leaders and the public alike of the need to live honest lives.

Nyoman Erawan, a Balinese avant-garde artist, said Balinese folklore provides a good "mirror" because it contains universal moral lessons.

"The arts festival also provides moral education for the public," he said.