'Puputan' anniversary revitalizes past spirit

'Puputan' anniversary revitalizes past spirit

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, bali

A haunting dance drama involving hundreds of performers and the
demanding question of how to revitalize the spirit of the Puputan
Badung, or the Battle of Puputan, on the 96th anniversary of the
event.

Two noted Denpasar artists, choreographer I Nyoman Suarsa and
composer Kadek Suardana, joined their artistic skills and
creative energy to produce the dance drama, which depicted
various events prior to and during the Puputan Badung.

The dance drama was performed on the evening of Sept. 20, at
the Puputan Badung square in downtown Denpasar, located right
across the street from the Bali governor's official residence, on
whose grounds the Puri Denpasar, or the palace of the King of
Badung, was previously situated.

Earlier, a formal ceremony was held in the square, attended by
civil servants from various offices in Denpasar and Badung.

Leaders of the Puri Kesiman, Puri Pemecutan, Puri Satria and
Puri Mengwi -- the descendants of the warriors who fought the
Puputan battle -- were present at the ceremony.

Suarsa and Suardana managed to turn the square into three
different venues, where some 300 dancers portrayed -- sometimes
simultaneously -- the Dutch merchant ship Sri Komala running
aground on Sanur beach, the king's refusal to bow to a Dutch
ultimatum and the preparations for the battle of Puputan -- the
battle that led to the demise of the king of Badung.

Government officials, including Denpasar Mayor AA Puspayoga,
who also happens to be a descendant of the royal House of
Denpasar, honored guests and the thousands of Denpasar residents
who attended the performance were entranced by the dance drama.

One particular dramatic moment was when female dancers, draped
in the ceremonial white and yellow garments of Balinese Hindus,
amid a thick fog caused by the enemy's shells, with their fists
raised high in the air, ecstatically stormed into the Dutch
battalions and embraced death in a courageous, yet melancholic
way.

"It was a very moving moment and I had to fight off tears
watching that moment. This dance drama succeeded in evoking the
emotional and deep sense of connection between us and our past
heroes," said a journalist for the largest daily newspaper in
Indonesia.

The evening was topped by the distribution of some 10,000
portions of free nasi jango for everyone -- both high-ranking
officials and common people -- in the square. Known as the
signature food of Denpasar, nasi jango consists of a handful of
rice, fried tempeh, a small quantity of fried noodle, a small
slice of boiled egg, a tiny fraction of beef or chicken meat and
a drop of very spicy hot sauce, all wrapped in a banana leaf.

Yet, when the ceremony ended and the square was deserted,
several questions posed by Balinese scholars about how to
celebrate Puputan in a manner that revitalizes its spirit were
still hovering in the air.

A noted cultural observer, I Ketut Sumarta, criticized the
tendency to turn the commemoration into a shallow event filled
with sports and poco-poco dance competitions, and tedious formal
ceremonies.

"The administrations of Badung and Denpasar should do
something better than that. The people's collective memory of the
Puputan Badung cannot be sustained solely by staging a yearly
formal ceremony. Instead, efforts must be made to translate and
publish the literary works of Cokorde Made, the heroic king of
Puputan Badung. Moreover, a reinterpretations of those works must
also be undertaken to ensure their pertinence in the present
situation," Sumarta said.

The late Cokorde Made was an avid reader, productive writer,
and an ardent student of Balinese classical texts on politics,
philosophy and spirituality. Cokorde Made's writings were typical
of a truth-seeker's literary works, richly filled with moral and
spiritual teachings, allegories and symbols.

"His works should be a living memorial, which would be a
source of moral, ethic and spiritual guidance for the people of
Denpasar, particularly for it's political leaders," Sumarta
added.

Separately, political scientist Anak Agung Gde Oka Wisnumurti
stressed that the Puputan Badung should inspire the local
government and people to work in unison to fight the current
enemies of ignorance, poverty and other social problems.

"Cokorde Made provided us with an exemplary model of
leadership. We must use it as a mirror, on which we can reflect
and judge all our efforts. Have we already showed the degree of
perseverance, political and moral courage, and an egalitarian
attitude that are on the same level as were shown by that young,
yet wise last king of Badung?" asked Wisnumurti.