Unveiling Rama in Indonesia

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta

From the Indian soil where he originated, prince Rama "traveled" across the oceans for 20 centuries, and made his way into the heart and mind of Indonesians. His life story, as recorded in Ramayana by Indian poet Valmiki around the seventh century BC, has undergone many transformations over the years.

But one thing that persists throughout the recurrent transformation in Java and Bali is the perception of human values inherent in Ramayana's characters and, most importantly, its philosophical concept that governs human relationships that are but universal ideals.

The transformation -- as a result of the cross-cultural exchange between India and Indonesia through trade dating back as early as the beginning of the first millennium AD -- and the many faces of Rama that were reconstructed by ancient Indonesian poets and scholars, are documented by Vinod C. Khanna and Malini Saran in their new book, The Ramayana in Indonesia.

Indonesia is no stranger to Khanna and Saran, both residents of New Delhi. Khanna was India's ambassador in Indonesia from 1985 to 1988, while Saran lived for more than a decade in Southeast Asian countries, including five years in Indonesia. Most of the photographs that appear in the book were taken by Malini Saran's late husband, Ajit.

The way in which Rama has been depicted so pervasively in literature and temple sculptures across Java and Bali enchanted Khanna and Saran.

"I am deeply impressed by the creative manner in which Indonesians had adopted many elements of Indian culture," Khanna said in a recent interview in Jakarta.

Saran said that many other domestic and international scholars shared their interest in this subject, prompting the Indian Embassy in Jakarta to hold a series of discussions beginning in 1986.

In their book, the authors argue that the term "Indianization" -- coined by historian George Coedes in Indianized States of Southeast Asia (1968) -- is inappropriate to explain the waves of Indian culture that swept across Indonesia's archipelago through maritime contact. Ramayana, originally an oral composition, was one of many cultural ideas brought about through the exchange.

In light of this, the authors demonstrate that Ramayana has actually been "localized" to suit social and political circumstances, producing an "acculturation" rather than an "Indianization".

"We don't like the word (Indianization), but still it was so commonly used in literature on the subject. (In our book), we put the word in inverted commas. We had the feeling that there were a certain lack objectivities: On the one hand, there were many Indian scholars -- particularly the earlier generation of the beginning of the 20th century -- who exaggerated the nature of India's influence," explained Khanna, who was educated in Bombay and Queen's College at Oxford, England.

"On the other hand, there were some other Dutch scholars and other scholars who, perhaps, underestimated it. We felt Ramayana particularly a good example for something that originated in India that had became completely Indonesian, completely Java, because of the manner in which poet, artist and painters transformed it," he said.

Ramayana, tells the story of prince Rama of Ayodhya kingdom in Kosala. He is said to be the incarnation (avatara) of Vishnu, the preserver of the universe in Hindu mythology. One day, his father King Dasaratha wants to install Rama as his successor, but palace intrigue leads to Rama being expelled from the kingdom for 14 years. He leads a simple life in the forests with his beautiful wife Sita and his brother, Lakshmana.

Elsewhere, there lives the invincible, evil giant Ravana who rules the kingdom of Lanka. Ravana is fascinated by Sita's beauty and, after some effort, he manages to kidnap her and ask her to be his queen. The rest of the story is about Rama's quest to find Sita and destroy Ravana, and Rama becoming Ayodhya's king and of his seeking proof of Sita's chastity and loyalty. Along the way, Rama befriends other characters.

Khanna and Saran write that in India, there are various versions of Ramayana other than Valmiki's, which was written in Sanskrit. Some of these works stray from Valmiki's original Ramayana, but the authors retain most of the characters.

According to Khanna and Saran, the ancient Indonesian scholars were much influenced by Bhatti's version of the Ramayana, the Ravanavadha (The Slaying of Ravana) or Bhattikavya as the poem was known. The Javanese poem Ramayana Kakawin, written in the ancient Javanese language of kawi by an author only known as Yogiswara, is one such example.

The popularity of the Kakawin lies in the chapter where Rama gives Wibhishana, Ravana's youngest brother, some advice on good leadership, or statecraft as Khanna preferred to call it, popularly known here as Ashta-brata (Eight Virtues).

Khanna and Saran note that this exchange has never appeared in any of India's version of the Ramayana, calling this sort of creative initiative the "Javanization" of Indian themes.

The Ashta-brata, as well as chapters of the Ramayana, are often depicted in wayang (shadow puppet) performance to remind the kings and presidents of Indonesia, particularly during the reign of former president Soeharto, of their obligations in the service to the people, and sometimes their likely fate.

Khanna and Saran quote Marshall Clark, who observed the cultural expressions preceding the fall of Soeharto in 1998, as saying that on the night of May 20 when Soeharto decided to resign, a nightly wayang wong (dance drama performed by humans which follows the conventions of wayang kulit) performance in Senen, Central Jakarta, "happened" to feature the plot of the Kumbakarna Gugur (The Fall of Kumbakarna). Kumbakarna is another of Ravana's brothers, but he sides with the evil giant to defend Lanka, on the grounds that "right or wrong, it is my country".

The authors further write that the Ramayana in Indonesia was also adapted to comply with Islamic values. The Serat Rama by multitalented poet Yasadipura I, a Javanese Muslim, is considered a "retelling" of the Kakawin in macapat (Javanese sung poetry). Of the many transformation of India's Ramayana, Khanna and Saran conclude that Serat Rama is the closest to Valmiki's Ramayana.

Through the transformations, Rama has become a fully Indonesian hero. This is so evident that Khanna and Saran, in their closing words in the book, recall an old Javanese Muslim woman in Jakarta who asked them in all innocence: "Do you also have a Ramayana in India?"

Khanna and Saran believe that the values and concepts embedded within the Ramayana will stand the test of time.

"It will be here to stay," said Saran, who holds a postgraduate degree in art history.

She added that universal values like patriotism, friendship, loyalty, etc. will make Ramayana endure in Indonesia.

The authors say they spent 15 years researching and writing the book. This was partly due to the fact that Khanna and Saran were rarely residing in the same country during this period.

"The real difficulties were our shortcomings; we don't know so many languages, so we had to depend on translations and we had to work hard to get close to every word," said Khanna, an Emeritus Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, and a trustee at the Pratham Delhi Education Initiative.

However, he asserted that their book was one of the most comprehensive on the Ramayana's development in Indonesia.

Khanna and Saran have also coauthored a study of Kakawin, which appeared in the Dutch journal Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde in 1993.

The Ramayana in Indonesia is published by Ravi Dayal of New Delhi and is available at major bookstores in Jakarta.