Bali-performance-dance

Bali-performance-dance

JP/18/COK

Cok Sawitri reveals the spiritual path of Dirah

I Wayan Juniartha The Jakarta Post/Denpasar

Silence engulfed the darkened stage when three male performers made their presence in a carefully paced, slow stride. On their shoulders were three female dancers leaning sideward as if they were void of any vital energy. White wooden masks covered their faces.

The performers carefully placed the dancers at the center of the stage before disappearing back into the darkness.

Later on, the three dancers danced slowly, very slowly, in a series of movements and gestures that reminded people of certain yoga postures and signature motions of sacred Balinese dances of Sanghyang and Rejang Dewa.

In the background, the bamboo flute of Suling Gambuh let out a continuous, melancholic tune while Cok Sawitri reciting the ancient mantra of summoning Durgha, traditionally believed to be the Goddess of Death.

The hauntingly beautiful performance on the closing night of Ubud Writers' and Readers' Festival was the latest work of Cok Sawitri.

Titled Badan Bahagia (Body of Happiness), the play explored Sawitri's reinterpretation of Durgha as the Mother of Universe, the Shakti (creative force) of creation and enlightenment.

"In this context, Durgha is not the destroyer of the world nor the Goddess of Death, but the savior and care giver of the world," Sawitri said.

Badan Bahagia is the sub-chapter of Wisuda Bumi (The Induction of the Earth), the first chapter in Sawitri's play Pembelaan Dirah (The Plea of Dirah).

The last three chapters are Kawean, Namaku Dirah (My Name is Dirah) and Jalan Maya (The Path of Maya).

The performance was a small part of a long, arduous creative journey that Cok Sawitri has been taken since 1990 when the theme of Rangda ing Dirah (The Witch of Dirah) started haunting her mind.

"There was an obvious contradiction between the traditional interpretation of the story and the actual use of the story in the religious rituals of Balinese Hindus. That was the thing that motivated me in the first place to explore this theme," she said.

Traditional interpretation placed Dirah as the queen of black magic who wreaked havoc on East Java's kingdom of Kediri. It was said that Dirah, having been socially chastised and isolated by the people of Kediri, took revenge by releasing a deadly plague over the kingdom. Fearing that his kingdom would be decimated by the plague, King Airlangga sent his best warriors to assassinate her. Yet, none of them could match, let alone be defeated -- the supernatural power of Dirah.

In desperation, the king summoned the help of a powerful priest, Mpu Bharadah. Bharadah later sent his son Mpu Bahula to Dirah's camp to steal the sacred text, the source of Dirah's powerful magic.

Eventually, Mpu Bahula fell in love with Dirah's daughter Ratna Manggali. Dirah, out of her love to Manggali, gave the sacred text to Bahula, thus, surrendered her life to Bharadah.

This interpretation formed the main plot of Calon Arang, one of the most popular semi-sacred traditional dance drama in Bali. Filled with supernatural elements and taboos, Calon Arang was usually performed at the temple's courtyard during important religious festivals.

She has her own interpretation of Dirah. In 1992, Sawitri completed her poem Namaku Dirah (My Name is Dirah) and began to read it at various literary events. The poem portrayed a woman, whose life and family had been destroyed by a cruel king. Being a widow, Dirah, could do nothing when the king, with his power and influence, twisted the truth to suit his interests. Dirah could only use her blood, her life to purify her sufferings.

Four years later, a theatrical adaptation of the poem was performed in Denpasar under the title Pembelaan Dirah (The Plea of Dirah) providing the island's literary circle with a fuller picture of Sawitri's reinterpretation of the ancient texts.

"Rangda ing Dirah was a female Mahayana Buddhism priest, a practitioner of the Path of Awareness. Her teachings, which urged mankind to take the path of truth instead of the path of power, were considered as a threat by King Airlangga, whose early years as King of Kediri were marred by a series of rebellions," Sawitri said.

It was a battle between a feminine side of religiosity, which taught mankind to seek knowledge, spiritual fulfillment, peaceful and harmonious relationships with the Nature, and the masculine side of religiosity, which seek power, worldly possession and authoritative control over the Nature.

The king defeated Dirah in the traditional interpretation. Sawitri, however, stressed that Dirah's demise was a testimony of her firm belief in the Path of Awareness, which seeks victory through peaceful means -- through the light of knowledge. True victory would never be achieved through violent means.

"Dirah gave Bahula the sacred texts because she believed that the unity between Mahayana Buddhism and Siwa-Siddhanta, the feminine and masculine, would be achieved through Bahula and that would be the ultimate victory of the Path of Awareness," Sawitri said.

History showed that it was Bahula's grandchild Mpu Tantular, who in the golden age of Majapahit empire composed the important Buddhist text Sutasoma. The text proclaimed the unity between the two philosophies. The Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) motto on the modern Republic of Indonesia's coat-of-arms was derived from one of the verses in this text.

Sawitri treated the texts and the performance with utmost reverence.

"It is not just a piece of entertainment. It is my spiritual path, through which I train and discipline my body, heart and mind. Hopefully, it will make me a better human being. Hopefully, it will also spark a light of awareness among those who have seen the performance," she said.

To compose the play, Sawitri read five different versions of ancient Calon Arang lontar (palm leaves) texts. She also studied the esoteric Durgha Tantra texts, which detailed the ways and methods of summoning the power of Durgha.

Upon learning of Sawitri's fixation with the "black magic" texts of Calon Arang and Durgha Tantra, her royal family of Jro Gde Sidemen asked Sawitri to undergo a purification ritual usually reserved for a high-priest's candidate.

"They insisted to organize a Mewinten Agung ritual for me. The body and soul will be the vessel of the sacred text. Learning sacred texts without prior purification will damage the vessel," she said.

Sawitri also spent a considerable amount of time consulting Siwa and Buddha high-priests, the keepers and practitioners of the esoteric teachings of Durgha, in various parts of Bali.

Moreover, Sawitri also practiced numerous mental and psychical disciplines outlined in the ancient texts or suggested by the high-priest. The trainings included chanting, meditation and fasting.

"Even the masks and costumes have been prepared and purified in accordance with the ancient texts," she added.

It was no wonder that all the dancers fell under the state of trance during the performance. When, in the end of the performance, the masks were taken off, all of them still had that serene look -- eyes half-closed and they smiled benignly -- the look of happiness.

"The thing that set Sawitri apart is her firm belief and commitment to treat the spiritual teachings of Durgha not only as a source for creating art pieces but also as a manual for her daily life. In this sense, she comes closer to the ancient ideal of using literary texts as a tool of achieving spiritual realization," praised another playwright Mas Ruscitadewi.