'Gedhog' puppet tradition has a tale to tell

By Kartika Bagus

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): It's a tale to match anything that Shakespeare produced, telling of heroic battles, a test of fidelity and love that ultimately conquers all.

Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Kediri lived a happy newlywed couple, Panji Inukertapati and his beautiful wife, Dewi Sekarlangit, the daughter of Prabu Lembu Hamijaya, Kediri's ruler.

Inukertapati wanted to put his wife's love and fidelity to the test. He went to a village called Dadapan and disguised himself as an ugly young man called Jaka Bluwo.

This tale was used by shadow puppet master Bambang Suwarno recently for a rare gedhog performance at Puro Mangkunegaran palace. Once a fixture of wedding ceremonies, the perfomance has become a victim of paired down ceremonies in modern times.

A gedhog performance usually lasts from the evening until the following morning. This show, put on mainly to satisfy the community's longing to see the art form performed again, only lasted two hours. Nevertheless, it drew a large audience eager to see the master puppet at work.

Jaka Bluwo is a love epic peculiar to the gedhog tradition. As Jaka Bluwo, Inukertapati tries to win Dewi's hand after she has been seemingly deserted by her husband. She in turn sets difficult requirements, such as he must bring a decoration from the abode of the Hindu gods, and a set of special gamelan instruments which make sounds in the sky.

Inukertapati resorts to meditation, seeking divine inspiration from gods and goddesses. One of them, Bathara Narada, fulfills Jaka's request, providing him with a magic wand.

However, on his return to Kediri, Inukertapati is waylaid by troops of Prabu Klanajaya from Bantarangin kingdom, who seek to steal the magic wand because he also seeks Dewi's hand.

With all his magic power, Inukertapati is able to defeat the troops, proceeds to Kediri and marries the reluctant Dewi. At the wedding party, Prabu Klanajaya emerges again and Inukertapati is engaged in another battle. Only after he wins does he reveal to his wife his real identity, now convinced that she is faithful to him.

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The performance of the gedhog puppet show was unusual because the public today is more familiar with wayang purwo (classical shadow plays), wayang golek (wooden puppets) and wayang orang (the Javanese stage show).

The gedhog puppet show was once performed as part of a series of events at a traditional Javanese wedding ceremony (at Pura Mangkunegaran, it is performed for the Selapanan and Midodareni rites). During the show, the puppet master will usually give pieces of advice to the newlyweds on how to have a long and happy marriage.

Its popularity in the community has dimmed, acknowledged Bambang Suwarno, as more modern forms of media have taken over.

Today, he said, it survives only within the palaces of Kasunanan Surakarta, Pura Mangkunegaran and Pura Pakualaman in Yogyakarta.

"Even at these places, gedhog is only ever performed on certain occasions," he said. Suwarno has inherited from his own father, Ki Patmacarita, the skill of acting as the puppet master for a gedhog puppet show.

Many find the gedhog puppet show as attractive as traditional wayang. There is a special captivating charm in the beauty of the movement of the puppets, which are made of goat hide, in expressing the traits of characters of the figures in the Hindu epic story Mahabharata. The puppet master moves his hands in tune with the sound of the accompanying music in such a way that the performance becomes lively and dynamic.

The accompanying music is from a gamelan music group called Langen Projo Pura Mangkunegaran. All the members are courtiers from Pura Mangkunegaran. RMT Romosuripto, 65, the coordinator of the gamelan music group, said that the group was set up at the time of Mangkunegoro II during the Dutch colonial period.

At that time the gamelan music group was usually assigned to welcome the arrival of the Dutch governor general at Pura Mangkunegaran and to accompany all cultural performances at Mangkunegaran. Membership in the group is passed down from one generation to the next.

In its recent performance the group appeared with 17 musicians and four singers (usually called sinden). The musicians donned the palace costume of grandeur known as beskap (Javanese coat) and carried kris in the back of their garments.

In recognition of the rarity of the occasion, the air was heavy with reverence, both from local audience members and foreign tourists who came to see the show. The evening was evidence that Java is still rich, not only in customary traditions, but also in the traditional arts which live on in Surakarta.