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CHAPTER FOUR

SELECTED FEATURES OF BEDHAYA KETAWANG

Introduction

Indonesia is an archipelagic country of 17,508 islands of which 6,000 are inhabited,

stretching along the equator in South East Asia. Its population being the result of

various migrations is characterised by a rich diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and

languages which is exemplified in Indonesia’s national device : “Unity in Diversity”.

Moreover, from a relatively early era the trade has brought the local population in

contact with the civilisations of the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia and later

of Europe through Portuguese and Dutch colonialists. (Figure 21 ).

Several early Indian texts refer to a place in Southeast Asia called the “Land of

Gold”, Suvarnabhumi.lxxvi This name had a more general significance, referring to

anything that produces wealth as cloves and nutmeg since spices in which these

islands were rich, were so valuable to the people of the mainland that their worth

exceeded their weight in gold. The reputation of these islands as a land of opportunity

attracted a large number of fortune seekers whose arrival brought along the religious

beliefs, literature and culture of the Indian subcontinent.

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4.1 Indian influences on the archipelago

By the fifth century CE, the indigenous rulers of the islands of Borneo, Java and

Sumatra had all adopted the Indian model of kingship which must have appealed to

the local rulers because it reinforced the divine role of the sovereign in every aspect of

social life. However, the appeal of Indian culture was not due only to politics. The

natives welcomed this influence because it came as a refined extension of their own

religious ideas and principles, their worship of local mountain divinities and ancestral

spirits. Throughout the Indonesian islands megalithic structures have been discovered

on mountain tops featuring terraced stone platforms and large, roughly dressed stones

serving for rites and worship of ancestral spirits. Although their dates are not certain,

it is believed that they predate the Hindu and Buddhist periods of the archipelago. In

that sense, the case was not that of a borrowing but of a selected process of

assimilation of only those elements that suited the sensibilities of the indigenous

culture. Jan Fontein says,

‘Indian influence in Indonesia was not primarily the result of Indian efforts to expand

their sphere of influence and to export their own culture, but the fruit of Indonesian

initiatives to assimilate those Indian elements that appealed to them and that seemed

to fit best into the pattern of their own culture. The approach of the Indonesian who

visited the Holy Land of Buddhism and Hinduism was an eclectic approach, one of

picking and choosing instead of absorbing indiscriminately.’lxxvii

The fact that the Javanese adopted thousands of Sanskrit words at a time when

Sanskrit was already a dead language on the Indian subcontinent used only in

religious rites and compilation of scriptures, shows the important role the spiritual

teachers from India must have once played in these islands. The earliest dated stone

inscription discovered in the vicinity of Borobudur temple, bears a text composed

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entirely in Sanskrit. The inscription of Candi Canngal bears a Hindu calendar date,

equivalent to October 6, 732 CE. It was carved to commemorate the installation of a

stone linga known as the phallic emblem of Shiva by king Sanjaya.lxxviiiA second

inscription that dates from 782 CE and commemorates the founding of a Buddhist

temple was discovered in the South of Borobudur. The sponsor of this temple is the

king Sailendra and the temple it commemorates was dedicated to the Buddhist

goddess Tara, protector of sailors, merchants and travelers.

4.2 Religious influences in medieval Java

Among Indonesian islands Javais the most populous one and world’s thirteen

largest, lying between Sumatra to the northwest and Bali to the east. (Figure 22 ).

Comparatively homogenous in ethnic composition, it is inhabited by the native

Javanese, the Sundanese and the Madurese who inhabited it at a later only stage.

Javanese forms of art are among the best known in Indonesia and the whole

archipelago. The famous Javanese Wayang puppetry was influenced by Hindu and

Buddhist traditions and their repertoire is based on the epics of Ramayana and

Mahabharata. By the 4th century, Hinduism and Buddhism had already a long history

in India and when they reached Indonesia they had already gone through various

stages of development. From these two religions they were more particularly Hindu

Shaivism centered around the worship of god Shiva and Vajrayāna Buddhism that

exercised a long lasting influence on the Javanese psyche. This powerful impact is

evident in the development of the Bedhaya court dances.

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The fifteenth century Javanese text Arjuna Wijaya written by Tantular distinguishes

between the most frequently mentioned orders - the Shaiwa, the Rsi, and the

Buddhists. According to Judith Beckerlxxix, the term Shaiwa refers to a member of the

Shaivite order Shaiva-siddhānta and it was in a wider sense associated to the

Shaivāgama tradition as a whole, including several Tantric Shaivite orders but

excluding the Tantric Shaivite Pāshupatas or Rsi in old Javanese literature. Buddhism

on the other hand, is divided into three main branches: Theravāda, Mahāyāna and

Vajrayāna Tantric Buddhism. Tantric Buddhism, although not original form of

Buddhist practice and belief, was in several instances the earliest style of Buddhism to

become established in Southeast Asia.

Tantra entered Java as an integral aspect of Shaivism and Buddhism. Tantric

knowledge, beliefs and practices have been always kept secret in India as well as in

Java.Over the time and particularly after the ascent of Islam, tantric beliefs ceased to

be identifiable as a distinct ideology and blended into the general stock of Javanese

cultural beliefs and practices. Therefore, it is not strange that the world ‘Tantra’ is not

known in Java nowadays although there are patterns of beliefs which can historically

be identified as coming from old tantric practices.

As a spiritual path, Tantra, starts by the internalisation of divine power in oneself. It

emphasizes the cosmic polarity of the male and the female principles. Release,

moksha, can be attained by unifying the male and female principles and thereby

extinguishing the duality of the visible world.lxxx Vajrayāna texts called tantras are

distinct from the Agamic Shaivite texte, some of which are also called tantras.

Buddhist tantras include commentaries on early Buddhist texts stressing ethics,

morality and the training of the mind. In addition, Buddhist tantras share with

Shaivite tantras the meditation and ritual practices associated with mantra, mudrā,
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maņdala, yantra, and the theory of esoteric body and its associated centers of energy,

chakra. Because the Bedhaya choreography shows the profound influence of both

philosophical systems, it is necessary to understand their basic principles.

The central issue of Tantra as interpreted by Kashmir Shaivism is the recognition

(pratyabijña) of the self. The problem is that our real identity is different from what it

appears to be. What appears to be our identity is a state of imperfection or limitation.

We see ourselves but we don’t recognize, we don’t know the true identity of

ourselves. According to Tantra, the real nature of the self is Shiva, which is pure

consciousness, the state of freedom and perfection. We are really Shiva but we find

ourselves in the state of a poor, limited being (pashu).There is a self, a soul which

attains moksha and moksha presupposes bondage This soul or self is in bondage, for

only a bound person can become free. The nature of bondage is that of ignorance

(ajñana). The word ajñana literally means; absence of knowledge’ and is used in the

sense of ‘illusion’, not the absence of knowledge, but wrong knowledge. Wrong

knowledge means incomplete or imperfect knowledge, here the incomplete

knowledge of reality. It is duality (dvaita-prathā) – the sense of duality or otherness –

the sense that the people and objects of the world are different from or other than

oneself. Abhinavagupta says that the sense of duality is the real ignorance, and it is

this that really binds. Non-duality is the awareness that all are oneself or belong to

one, it is the state of one’s unity with all. What differentiates one from the totality is

the ego, the sense of being limited to one particular individuality. The entire universe

is one with the self, oneself, but ignorance keeps us unaware of this all-fulfilling truth.

Pratyabijña is the realization of the cosmic ‘I’ and brings the dissolution of the ego.

By ego, is meant the consciousness of the individual ‘I’ as different or separate from

others. Confining one to a particular mind and body, it is the principle of

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differentiation and limitation. the sense of ego stands as an obstruction to realization.

The self is all pervasive and in perfect unity with all while ego is just the opposite; it

keeps one confined to a particular individuality. As long as the ego persists, one

cannot realise the all-pervading self..lxxxi

Buddhist tantras are different from the Agamic Shaivite texts, some of which are

called tantras.Buddhist tantras include commentaries on earlier Buddhist texts with

emphasis on ethics, morality an discipline of the mind. But, Buddhist tantras share

with Shaivite tantras the mediattion and ritual practices associated with the use of

mantras, mudras, mandalas and yantras as well as the theory of the subtle or esoteric

body and its associated centers of energy called cakras or padmas in Buddhism.

In the Anuttarayoga tantras (the ‘supreme yoga tantras’) are found the teachings relate

dto the system of body-based meditation, the padma/cakra system, analogous to the

Tantric Shaivite kundalini system,

‘The Highest tantras (Buddhist) such as Heruka, Guhyasamaja, Kalashakra, Hevraja,

Yamantaka and so forth, teach a full range of tantric techniques of body-based

meditations in which the vital energies of the body are brought under control and

directed into the central energy flow. These energies are then focused upon mystic

pressure points of the body where the various energy channels meet, with the aim of

untying the knots that hinder the free flow of vital currents. Here one must gain

control over the primordial drop composed of male and female genetic substances

from which our body was originally formed and draw this through the pressure points

in order to purify and stimulate them… in the tantric view of things, the vital energies

are pure and subtle., one’s state of mind will be accordingly affected.’ lxxxii
 [122]

Tantra follows six of the eight steps, or eight ways for reaching Samadhi, or

enlightenment. Traditionally this eightfold way is given in Patanjali’s Yoga sutras as,

1. yama ‘abstention’

2. niyama ‘observance’

3. asana ‘postures’

4. pranayama ‘breath control’

5. pratyahara ‘withdrawal of the senses’

6. dharana ‘fixed-introverted-attention’

7. dhyana, ‘ contemplation’

8. samadhi ‘concentration, fixation’

However, according to Gupta, only six steps were followed in strict Tantric

circles.They are listed in Tantralokaviveka and are: pranayama, dhyana,

pratyahara, dharana, tarka and Samadhi. This list omits the first three steps of

Patanjali’s system and adds tarka which meant philosophical speculations about

the nature of phenomena.

Thus while Kasmir Shaivism added a theoretical background in Javanese spirituality,

Tantric Buddhism provided a more direct path related to practice . Both of them, as it

will be seen in the study of aesthetics as well as in the technique part, have exercised

a strong influence in the practice of Bedhaya.

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4.3 Bedhaya, a royal court dance

The Bedhaya performance is an integral part of the enthronement ceremony and

is considered as the embodiment of the Javanese royalty. As such it is

inextricably associated with the royal palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta. The

Yogyakarta and Surakarta Sultanates were formed in 1755 when the existing

Sultanate of Mataram was divided by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in two

under the treaty of Giyanti. Along with another female dance, srimpi, the bedhaya

epitomizes the elegant, alus, character of the royal court, and is, till today, an

important symbol of the ruler's power. The bedhaya has different forms in the two

court cities, the bedhaya Ketawang in Surakarta (Solo), and the bedhaya Semang in

Yogyakarta, the latter of which is no longer performed. The Solonese dance continues

to be performed once per year, on the second day of the Javanese month of Ruwah

(during May in the Gregorian calendar), to commemorate the ascension of the current

Susuhunan (prince) of Surakarta. Nine females, relatives or wives of the Susuhunan,

perform the dance before a private audience.

Some kind of female dance known as bedhaya existed in Java at least as early as the

Majapahit Empire. Indeed, some of the steps of the modern dance are said to be as old

as the third century. However, the modern form is traditionally dated to the court of

Sultan Agung of Mataram (1613–1645). Unfortunately there is almost no historical

evidence about the flourishing of the arts in Sultan Agung's courts, and the existence

of the dance is not clearly documented until the late 18th century. However, the

phenomenon of ritual group dances performed by women at the court of the

king has existed for several centuries at least, and was known in Java itself as

well as in other islands, such as Bali. The Dutch VOC envoy Rijckloff van

Goens reported such dances in the kraton of Mataram in 1656. Even though he
 [124]

does not call the dances he saw as bedhaya, the report confirms the Javanese

tradition attributes the creation of the ritual bedhaya Ketawang to the ruler

Sultan Agung (1613-1645). This dance is connected with the ritual of the king’s

coronation, has a continuity of several centuries and as such it has been a

focal point for all bedhaya dances.

Apart form these early dances, the bedhaya dances known at present were

composed between the middle of the 18th and the middle of the 20th centuries,

at the command of the ruler, to be performed on ceremonial occasions in the

kraton, or sometimes, at the residence of high Dutch officials. There is

evidence that high Javanese officials also maintained groups of dancing

women. The performers and their dance masters were the only who held the

knowledge of the dance form. All of them were attached to court either as

relatives of the ruler, as court servants, abdidalem or sometimes both.

A sacred heirloom

All bedhaya dances are said to be derived from one model, the Pusaka

Bedhaya Ketawang, called pusaka because it is a sacred heirloom. The guiding

principles for composition were two-fold : imitation of prestigious models and

variation in accordance with the taste and personal circumstances of the ruler

who had the right to organize a performance of bedhaya dancing. If we accept

the supposition that the bedhaya Ketawang as it is performed today, dates

back to the days of sultan Agung, and has been left unchanged over

approximately three centuries, we must attribute this preservation to the

continuous institution of kingship in Surakarta. (Figure 23). It is the foundation of

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a new kraton in Yogyakarta in 1755 that led to an intentional deviation, or

variation, of artistic practices, giving rise to an independent corpus of bedhaya

dances, based on the existing artistic tradition. (Figure 24). However, each time a

new composition was created like the Bedhaya Gadhung Mlathi, it was done

on the basis of the existing model. The Javanese refer to this process with the

term ‘mutrani’ : to renew, to recreate through imitation of a model. In the

course of time, this led to the development of a genre, of which no two

specimen are completely identical. (Figures 25-26 ). During the two or three

centuries of its existence, the genre of bedhaya dances has shown the creation

of compositions varying from the dances that stood as their model. On the

other hand, the continued practice of Bedhaya Ketawang probably caused the

continued unity of formal and structural characteristics of these dances. The

present study will focus mainly on the original composition of Bedhaya Ketawang.

All informations on 18th and 19th century dance practice are inferred from

indirect information in scorebooks, song texts and musical treatises in

combination with the living kraton tradition. (Figure 27).

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4.3.1 Genre of female dancing

The ritual bedhaya dances of the Javanese courts form a highly valued

expression of the Javanese culture. They are of a complex and refined nature

and demand a high proficiency form the part of the performers, whether these

are dancers, musicians or singers. However as C. B. Papenhuijzen explains, “It

must be emphasized that bedhaya is not just one particular choreography, but

a genre of female dancing.” lxxxiii

Sedyawati distinguishes three genres (jenis) of female dances, one of which is

the court dancing of bedhaya-srimpi. According to her, bedhaya dances have

three main characteristics :they are danced to a steady tempo of kethuk-kenong

( a kind of gamelan instrument) music.

1. they have an atmosphere of calm and dignity.

2. they are pure dance or ornamental dance, rather than dramatic. lxxxiv

In the song texts performed as an introduction to the dance, the dancers are

often described as ‘widawari’, nymphs descending from heaven. Their

movements are compared to fluttering insects or reeds quivering in the breeze.

Mangku Nagara VII gave a characteristic description of the impression the

dancers make on the Javanese audience :

‘pating glebyar pating calorat kados lintang asilih pernah wonten sanginggil

ing sanganten, makaten pepindhanipun para widadari, ingkang sami dhèmes

luwes anggènipun anjogèd, wilet runtut manut wirama sasolah bawanipun

tansah anorraga sajak rangu-rangu, sinamun ing solahing sampur ingkang

mamba kleperipun alus ing kupu..........’. lxxxv

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In translation, ‘all around they shine and sparkle like stars changing places

above the ocean, that is how the widadari look, when they dance elegantly

and gracefully, in complete harmony following the tempo (of the music), their

movements always looking sweet and demure, concealed by the moving dance

scarf which is like a gently flying butterfly……..’ (Figure 28).

C. B. Papenhuijzen sees in this rare fragment the summary of the main aesthetic

qualities of Javanese female dancing. These are :

 Dhèmes luwes, elegant and supple

 Anorraga sajak rangu-rangu, sweet and demure in appearance

 Alus, refined and smooth

 Wilet runtut manut wirama, evoking harmoniously following the

tempo of the music

 Sinamun ing solahing sampur, concealed or veiled by the movements

of the dance- scarf. lxxxvi

The sound quality of the songs performed as an accompaniment to the

dancing, and also the movements of the dancers are characterized as ‘wibawa’,

noble, sublime, luxurious, and as ‘wingit’, awe-inspiring. This awe-inspiring

quality is attributed in particular to the archaic pusaka songs, which are

accompanied by a special small gamelan ensemble and performed by a mixed

choir called pesindhèn bedhaya. They serve as a ‘charm for the state’,

tetumbaling nagari, diverting the destructive forces personified as the Queen of

the Southern ocean, called Kangjeng Ratu Kidul or Nyai Lara Kidul.
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4.4 Tari sacral - sacred dance

Often we see that Javanese and non-Javanese art specialists they use the

word ‘sacred’ in connection with the word bedhaya. Javanese art specialists

refer to bedhaya and srimpi dances as ‘sacred’ or ‘religious’. In this matter,

Koentjaraningrat classifies them as ‘dance with a religious background’ while

Winsoe Wardhana calls them ‘tarian sakral’, sacred dances, “ because they

cannot be performed at any time and place but are destined for special

occasions in the kraton, which forms the centre of Javaneseness, Kajawèn. The

dancers and musicians selected to execute these ‘sacred’ or rather ‘ritual’

dances feel they have a ‘tugas suci’, a ritual ‘pure’ task to perform, and

accordingly purify themselves before the performance.” lxxxvii

Papenhuijzen uses the word ‘sacred’ in a more restricted way, in the sense

of ‘being charged with supernatural power’. This quality is particularly

attributed to those bedhaya compositions which have been passed on as a

sacred heirloom, pusaka, from one ruler of the House of Mataram to his

successor. The dances are considered sacred, not only because they are

composed and performed for court ceremonies, but also because they are

assumed to embody esoteric spiritual values. The compositions are based on

Javanese concepts of mysticism, beauty and power, which are not usually

expressed in words, and certainly not to the uninitiated outsider, but are

treasured as an esoteric science ngèlmu. Their very sacredness made the dances

so inaccessible to the general public, that they were in serious danger of

falling into oblivion since the kraton lost their political function. Nevertheless, in

order to understand the special context in which the bedhaya dances are performed, it
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is first of all necessary to elucidate two concepts that occupy a central place in the

Javanese philosophy of life: the quest for harmony and the worship of kingship.

4.4.1 The quest for harmony

The importance of being in harmony is a prerequisite for the perfection of the soul

and this idea is in perfect harmony with the Hindu-Buddhist philosophy of life that

permeates Javanese thinking and its traditional art forms. In Javanese mythology

which is derived from the Indian epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata, life is

seen as a continuous battle between anarchy and order. In the Mahabharata

cycle, disorder is represented by the Kauravas; they symbolize arrogance and

self-glorification, lust, passion and desire egotism and vanity. They are the ones

who are not following the will of gods and who do not respect the great order.

They are opposed to Pandavas, the five brothers who stand for piety,

selflessness and trust in the righteousness and necessity of divinely ordained

order. When they prevail, the cosmos and life on earth will enjoy harmonious,

just and prosperous conditions. On the Bharat yuddha, the great war, the

Pandavas overcome the Kauravas and the order can be restored. This fught

between good and evil is the theme of Javanese shadow theatre, Wayang Kulit.

(Figure 29).

To the Javanese mystic, this model of the jagat gedbé or macrocosm, stands

as a paradigm for man, as jagat cilik or microcosm. Human beings are inclined

towards anarchy. This is apparent in their drives and emotions, their passions

and desires. These tie them to the lair, the “phenomenal” or “external” world.

On the contrary, their batin or “inner” aspects relate them to their origin, the
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ultimate meaning and moral order. In the mystical endeavor, people strive to

subject their outer being to their inner potential hoping to free their inner

selves in a quest for reunification with their origin and to experience the

oneness of being.

Order is the condition that should prevail. Order means harmony with the

cosmic purpose and in its deepest sense it means unity, the oneness of the all,

of created and creator, of sangkan-paran, origin and destination. To Javanese

mystics, life on earth is the art of this all-pervading unity of existence. In this

unity all phenomena have their place and stand in complementary relationships

to each others; they are part of one great design. This design is thought to

constitute a regulated order where events do not happen accidentally or by

chance but because of necessity. Somehow the law of history and evens has

been foreordained; it reveals itself because of the law of necessity, ukum

pinesthi.lxxxviii

The unity of existence is found in the all encompassing centre, in Sang

Hang -‘The One’, Yang Sukshma – ‘The All Soul’, that is, Urip – ‘ Life’, from

which all existence emanates and to which it has to return. It is life itself that

animates the order of cosmos and earth and constitutes its essence and secret.

This order is hierarchical, running from the grossest to the more refined

manifestations of existence. In that hierarchy human beings find themselves

somewhere in the middle, tied as they are, in the phenomenal world. The moral

task of all that exists and the noble purpose of the practice of mysticism would

then be the harmony with this ultimate principle of existence. Kebatinan,

Javanese mysticism, aims at training the inner core of man or batin to meet

with its divine origin. And a bedhaya performance endowed with a profound
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esoteric meaning, is meant exactly to serve this purpose, both for the dancers and for

the audience.

4.4.2 The Javanese concept of kingship

The bedhaya dances originated in the royal court and are thus directly

associated to the revered person of the king. In order to understand their role as

powerful symbols of royal power it is important to have an idea of the king’s role in

the Javanese society. Javanese kingship differs from western kingship, which is

essentially based on the idea of legitimacy from the people, democracy, or from

divine authority, god, or both. The Javanese kingdom is a mandala or center of the

world, in the sense of both central location and central being, focused on the person of

the king. He is called Sri Bupati, Sri Narendra, Sang Aji, Prabu and is regarded as a

semi-divine being, a union of divine and human aspects. On these grounds, Javanese

kingship is a royal-divine presence, and not a territory or population. The very

identity of the kingdom lies in the succession of semi-divine kings.

According to historical sources the cult of the god-king was peculiar to Southeast

Asia. According to Tantra the spiritually powerful jīvanmukta ‘one who is liberated

while still alive’ attains power over the phenomenal world, he becomes a siddha who

can act as Shiva himself.lxxxix This tantric belief in the possibility of realising the deity

as one’s self, and of thereby possessing the same powers as the deity, had a special

appeal to rulers in India and Java. Since this power is not qualitatively different

from the power of mystics, kings were considered to be among the most

powerful mystical elements on earth and thought to be receptacles of cosmic

potency. Their wordly power just reflected their divine gift, their supernatural
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mandate to rule, known as their wayuh or wangsit. Such a mandate was a

clear sign of association with and concentration of kasektèn or cosmic potency

which was thought to radiate as a beneficial magical force from their persons

to the people of the country ensuring the good and prosperity. The ruler’s

religious welfare has been always associated with the prosperity of the realm.

The palaces were constructed as model images of the cosmos, symbolising

their position in this world as centre of the universe. In harmony with this

thinking, the names of two of the contemporary sultans in Java, namely, Paku

Buwono of Solo and Paku Alam of Yogya translate as ‘axis of the world’.

From these, it can be seen that a close relation is thought to exist between

cosmic and wordly conditions. Man, because of his mystical potential can enter

in the realm of the supernature and so influence the life on earth and in society. If

man fulfils his religious obligations, harmony with higher existence will result

in beneficial moral and material conditions in this world. On the other hand, an

orderly society with justice and prosperity is the indication of a harmonious

relationship with supernature.

Javanese believe that although cosmic conditions may explain the current

situation, ultimately it is man himself who has the power to influence them by

his spiritual and moral behaviour. So, the king, who is called cakravartin, the

‘wheel-turning one’ - because he moves the wheel of his society - does not so

much project the cosmic conditions on earth as his own mystical, religious

behaviour. If he is a wise king, a real pandita ratu, his realm will enjoy

peace, justice, and prosperity; it will be like an ordered microcosmos that

reflects its unity and harmony with divinely ordained necessity. But if he lacks
 [133]

in wayuh being a weak king thirsty for power, this will reflect in the bad

condition of his kingdom.

4.4.3 The stories of origin

The harmony between the two realms, human and divine is itself supposed to be

ensured by the prosperity and welfare of the enthroned king and the bedhaya dances

are a part of the ritual which is performed for this purpose. Among various stories

related to the origin of this dance form, there are some that interest us more because

they offer a platform for the interpretation of the meaning(s) of bedhaya which have

been captured in their dynamic motifs. The major sources of these stories are

theoretical works on Karawitan, the traditional complex of instrument and vocal

music which, for the Javanese is not separated from dancing.

There are many myths explaining the origin of the dance. However, two basic

narrative patterns are seen to govern these stories : the first pattern includes those that

attribute the origin of the bedhaya to a deity like Shiva, Brahma, Visnu or Indra ; the

second attributes the origin of bedhaya to a legendary first encounter between the

founder of the Mataram dynasty (either Sultan Agung or his grandfather, Senapati)

and the goddess of the South Sea, Kangjeng Ratu Kidul. (Figure 30). In the former,

the nine dancers were the creation of a deity, who were brought to life, and offered the

dance to their maker in gratitude. In the latter, the dance was created when the spirit

Queen of the Southern Sea fell in love with the Sultan, and danced the bedhaya for

him.
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According to a story from the court library of the Mangku Negaran in Surakarta,

Brahma creates the widawari, ‘The God Brahma took it upon himself to create the

epitome of feminine beauty. Gathering all that represented that beauty, such as

flowers and jewels, he made a statue of a female creature, was pleased and made a

series identical to the first. Then he brought them to life. As an expression of their

gratitude, they began to dance, moving in unison around the god who gave them form

and life. These heavenly creatures were called widawari, the unsurpassable

unworldly epitome of grace and beauty. Swaying softly like flower buds in a gentle

breeze, their hands like the curling tendrils of vines, the god Brahma himself was

entranced by their perfection that he forthwith created three more faces for himself,

one facing each direction, so that he could fully see and enjoy the phenomenon he had

created. ’ xc

In the story found in Mangku Negaran, the widawari are emanations of the power

and glory of Brahma. According to it, the dancers are the creations of the god around

whom they dance. This accounts for the processional form of the bedhaya dance and

also explains why the dancers were usually “owned” by the ruler: they were his

concubines, his wives or daughters.

In one variant, Visnu who creates the linggot Bawa, polished diamonds who turn into

widawari, heavenly dancers who also circumambulate the seated Vishnu, ‘According

to the knowledge of the late Gusti Pangeran Harya [royal titles] Koesoemodiningrat,

it was Bathara Wisnu who created linggot bawa while sitting at Balekambang. He

created seven beautiful polished diamonds that, one by one, became beautiful,

graceful, and charming widawari. Then, in a line, in a clockwise direction, they

encircled Bathara Wisnu who sat at Balekambang. Because of the great beauty of the
 [135]

dance and the dancers, Bathara Wisnu watched them passionately. As king of the

gods, it was not appropriate for him to be constantly turning his head, so he created

eyes placed all over his body.’ xci

In these stories the term linggot bawa sometimes reffers to diamonds, sometimes to a

heavenly radiance that becomes the heavenly dancers. Linggot bhawa is the Javanese

transcription of the sanskrit lingodbhava and referrs to an iconographic representation

of Shiva (lingodbhava murti), found in South India, Cambodia, Vietnam and Java.

This icon is an illustration of the trimurti of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu with

dominance of Shiva. There are affinities in the stories related above. A divinity

creates the dancers, the dancers are transformed from a diamond radiance into a pillar

of light descending from the sky. The dancers are beautiful and charming and exist for

the pleasure of gods. They are anonymous nymphs existing in a world of male deities.

However, there is a second category of stories differing from the first, referring to the

love affair between Sultan Agung or his grandfather Senapati and the goddess of the

South Sea, Kanjeng Ratu Kidul. (Figure 31). In these stories in which intense feelings

and emotions are involved, the king and the goddess fall in love, consummate their

love, suffer the pain of separation and experience the joy of reunion. In all versions of

the story it is the goddess who longs for the sultan, she who is irresistibly drawn to

him and who comes to his palace every year : “ The Bedhaya Ketawang expresses

finally the passionate love of Roro Kidul [Kanjeng Ratu Kidul] for the Susuhunan; for

Senapati, with whom she is said to have united, or for Sultan Agung, or yet for the

present susuhunan. In effect, the dancers are all dressed as young brides and each of

their movements, each gesture of their hands or their wrists (ukel) as they play with

the sonder, [a] long scarf tied around the waist, is like a sign of the love suffered by

the Queen. In certain passages of the sung text, the invitation is manifest ”.xcii
 [136]

It is worthwhile noticing that while in the first kind of stories the dancers are

creations of the central godly figure while in the second they are representatives of an

independent, external force. Shakti, the cosmic female energy is not a creation of the

male deity but must be attracted to him, be drawn to him from outside of himself. The

stories where the goddess is an equal and independent force ascribe themselves, as it

will be seen, to the tantric tradition.

4.5 The Queen of the Southern Sea

The cosmic female energy or shakti attracted to the male deity which is the

embodiment of consciousness according to the tantric tradition, is personified by this

queen, whose court title is Kangjeng Ratu Kencanasari, ‘Flower of Gold’ or ‘Essence

of Gold’. She rules over the Javanese spirit world from her marvelous palace in the

depths of the Indian ocean, off Java’s southern coast. She is popularly called Nyai

Rara Kidul or ‘Venerable maiden of the South’. A wondrous character of terrible and

marvelous powers, this Queen of the Southern Sea is still venerated and feared by

many Javanese. There are many and varied tales concerning the origins and early

history of Ratu Kidul. According to one of the better known and more widely

repeated versions of her past, she was born a human daughter of Prabu Sindhula, the

supernaturally endowed legendary thirteenth-century ruler of the West Javanese

kingdom of Galuh. Later, as a result of her intense asceticism and her chosen chastity,

this princess of Galuh transformed to spirit, and became queen of Java's spirit world.

Moving to her numinous kingdom in the depths of the Southern Ocean, she would

henceforth be called Kangjeng Ratu Kidul, ‘Queen of the South’. From her palace

deep beneath the waves of the Indian ocean, she was to reign over Java's spirits,

demons and all dark creatures for all time.

 [137]

Another major variant of her story holds that this transformation followed upon her

suicide by jumping off a cliff into the sea after being stricken with a horrible skin

disease. Virgin for centuries, the spirit queen was destined in the ‘last age’ finally to

‘marry’, taking as her mate a great and mighty Muslim king, and after him each of his

successors - all the kings of the last age - until the end of time. ‘Marry’ is the best

word which could characterize this union, a profound spiritual and physical union

which was never, however, to be subsumed under the codified laws of mortals. Since,

according to Javanese traditions, it was that marriage which would determine royal

power in the last age, Ratu Kidul’s relationship to Javanese kingship in this period is

veritably organic. These kings of the last age are the Mataram dynasts. Thus, from the

very beginning, the reign of the Mataram kings has been, by definition, intimately

related to the Queen of the Southern Sea. Despite the weakened status of Javanese

kingship in contemporary Indonesia, the relationship continues in some form or

another. It is still reactualized annually in the mandatory ritual performance of the

complete bedhaya Ketawang at the kraton Surakarta upon every anniversary of the

Susuhunan's ascension to the throne. Judging from the prescribed bridal clothing worn

by the dancers, the annual commemoration is a periodic ritual confirmation of the

marriage of the ruling king with Nyai Lara Kidul.

 [138]

4.5.1 The spirit queen and other goddesses

Nyai Lara Kidul, the queen of the southern ocean is a chthonic deity. According to

R. Wessing, Nyai Lara Kidul is partially identifiable with the rice goddess, Dewi Sri

or Nyi Pohaci. xciii (Figure 32). Furthermore, Nyai Lara Kidul who, as Jordan claims,

is a serpent deity, ‘lives in a palace of gold and silver, the courtyard is full of pebbles

of rubies, which associates her with wealth and thus with the rice goddess.’ xciv

At the same time, Nyai Lara Kidul may be identifiable with Nyai Blorong, an

evil spirit on the south coast. Blorong is portrayed as a mermaid with golden scales.

She grants wealth to those who marry her, appearing to her husband, who has to

prepare a special room for her, as a beautiful woman with a long snaketail. In the end

he pays for the wealth and pleasure by becoming her slave. (Figure 33). Thus, there is

a relationship between Nyai Lara Kidul and Dewi Sri/Nyi Pohaci on the one hand

and Nyai Lara Kidul and Nyai Blorong on the other. R. Wessing says,

"Dewi Sri, also the goddess of fortune, born as Laksmi at the churning of the ocean

where the serpent Vasuki was used as a rope, in the Sundanese rice myth is cursed by

her father to become a snake in the rice fields. Jordaan mentions that Nyi

Pohaci/Dewi Sri can incarnate as a snake, while he cites Cock Wheatley for the fact

that Tisnawati, yet another name for the rice goddess, is the sister of Lara Kidul. On

the other hand, nagas, the guardians and controllers of water, may at night become

women. They live under the earth (underworld) in great splendor ." xcv

All these deities are chthonic and as such, are always ambiguous in that they may

bring blessings and injury, life and death, health and sickness, wealth and ruin. It is

possible to see in the rice goddess the positive aspects of Nyai Lara Kidul, and Nyai

Blorong as depicting the negative ones, while Nyai Lara Kidul combines the good and
 [139]

bad aspects of these two in her person. According to R.Wessing, “Lara Kidul then is

precisely the ambiguous serpent queen mentioned by Hidding In the form of an ipri
xcvi
or Nyai Blorong she lures the unwary into ruin with promises of easy money, while

as the consort of rulers and perhaps as the rice goddess she brings prosperity. The

difference between the two ways of dealing with her is a matter of controlled vs.

uncontrolled use of cosmic powers.” xcvii

In this respect, the Javanese king’s ‘marriage’ to the spirit queen equals to the

summoning of her blessings and protection for the land and the people.

According to Jordaan, Ratu Kidul is the same as Dewi Sri, the fertility goddess.

However, in the origin story of the bedhaya, she is neither a life-giving force nor an

agricultural deity. She is rather magnificent, beautiful and destructive. Her kingdom is

the realm of demons and disasters. That is why if a bedhaya performance and the

preceeding rehearsals do not follow the prescribed procedures such as the proper

offerings and the purification of the participants, it is firmly believed that some

misfortune will befall the palace and the participants. Her involvement with the ruler

of Mataram is essential for sustaining the monarchy and the prosperity of the realm.

When the destructive, regenerative power of Kanjeng Ratu Kidul is brought within the

sphere of the king, it serves to support both king and kingdom.

Many scholars have assimilated Kanjeng Ratu Kidul to Durga and Dewi sri. Accoding

to J. Becker, she is closer to Durga as destroyer than she is to Dewi sri, the earth

goddess. As Durga is the shakti of Shiva, Kanjeng Ratu and her embodiment of the

nine bedhaya dancers, all identically dressed, represent the shakti of the king, the

female energy that must be drawn to him and incorporated into him for his success as

a ruler and as a man.

 [140]

4.5.2 Ratu Kidul and the Mataram Kings

Ratu Kidul’s relationship with the Mataram kings begins with Panembahan

Senapati, the late sixteenth-century founder of the Mataram dynasty. This version of

his story is derived from the major Surakarta Babad, a history of Java which

developed from a variant of the Babad Tanah Jawi, textual corpora which was

supposedly codified at the kraton of Surakarta in the years between 1788 and 1836.

Often attributed to the Surakarta court poet, R.Ng. Yasadipura I (1729-1803), this

babad's version of the romance of Ratu Kidul and Mataram's founding king is related

to the bedhaya ketawang litany,

‘The first of the Mataram kings, Panembahan Senapati (1585-1601), was not yet a

king when he first met the Queen of the South. Shorty after the wahyu (divine light)

of kingship had fallen upon Senapati as he lay sleeping upon the black stone of Lipura

near Java's southern coast, he was borne by the waters of the Opak river, and by the

king of the fishes, to the edge of the Southern Ocean. There, at the portal of the then

still obscure Spirit Queen's fabulous kingdom, Senapati meditated. Because of the

hero's excess of power, it is said that his meditation caused the oceans to churn and

boil, smiting the fish and the creatures of the sea. Thinking perhaps that Judgment

Day had come, Kangjeng Ratu Kidul came forth from her watery palace. What she

found instead was a solitary man of prowess meditating on the shore of the ocean.

Apparently recognizing her destined mate, the queen fell at Senapati's feet, entreating

him to cease his meditation lest, foolishly, he utterly destroy her realm. She in turn

pledged her troth to him, promising that henceforth she would forever be his vassal

and he forever would enjoy overlordship of all she ruled. Senapati did cease his

meditation, and the creatures of the sea were restored to life. The hero then followed

Ratu Kidul home to her golden palace in the depths of the sea, where she entertained
 [141]

him in her fabulous jewel-encrusted halls. The beautiful spirit queen—said to be like

unto the Goddess of Love in appearance—and the handsome hero fell in love and

soon thereafter into bed with each other. Senapati remained in the underwater palace

of his lover for three days, during which time it is said that the spirit Queen taught

him the knowledge of kingship, the secrets of authority over both human and spirit

realms. When the time came for Senapati to take his leave, Kangjeng Ratu Kidul

tearfully instructed him how to summon her. When in need, he was to assume a

posture of meditation and to gaze up into the heavens (tawang), and she and her spirit

legions would come to him. Walking on the surface of the ocean, Senapati returned to

shore. In the wake of his leaving, the distraught Ratu Kidul retired to her bed chamber

to mourn this separation from her beloved. Flanked by bolsters (guling) and covered

with [his] dark red skirts (kampuh jinggane) she was blinded by tears. It was not long

before Senapati heeded his lover's instructions; his need for her came during the

Battle of Prambanan where he was faced off against his foster-father and erstwhile

overlord, the Sultan of Pajang. With the assistance of Ratu Kidul and her armies,

Senapati defeated the Sultan, eventually succeeeding him as ruler of all Java.Thus

established was the supremacy of Mataram.’ xcviii

Senapati's grandson, Sultan Agung, was Mataram's third and mightiest king ( 1613-

46). Of Ratu Kidul's subsequent relationships with Mataram's later rulers, it is upon

the one with Agung that the Javanese historical traditions tend to dwell. According to

the Major Babad the Queen of the South was so devoted to Sultan Agung that shortly

before his death, she tempted him to cheat fate and remain forever with her under the

sea. When he refused, as a Muslim king with human obligations, she asked him to

exorcise her enduring spirit reality to mortal humanity. But, as she was fated for all

time to a spirit form, the Sultan explained that he was powerless to help her. However,
 [142]

the king promised that at time's end, upon Judgment Day, she would be returned to

her originally human reality; at that point, he said, they would be reunited. Sultan

Agung then carried the sorrowful spirit queen off to gardens and bed where he

consoled her with tender love-making. When it came time for him to return to his

earthly palace, she asked and was granted permission to accompany him. She stayed

with him in the palace of Mataram for a short time before returning to her underwater

realm. Stories concerning that momentous visit, the first of the underwater queen's

countless journey's to her earthly lovers' terrestrial palaces, are still repeated in the

Kraton Surakarta today.

4.5 3 A powerful symbolism

The meeting of Sultan Agung with the Queen of the Southern Ocean is
xcix
described in the Titi Asri, in relation to the creation of Bedhaya Gadhung

Mlathi. Here, the unification of male and female energies which is a central feature

of both Tantric Saivite and Tantric Buddhist cults, appears in the most evident

analogy of a sexual imagery, the at time physical and transcendental union of the

Sultan and the goddess. In the texts of the singers, pesindhèn, which accompany the

bedhaya, the erotic attraction of Kanjeng Ratu Kidul to Sultan Agung is underlined.

In all the versions of the story it is she who longs for him, she who is irresistibly

drawn to him and who comes to the palace every year.

43. It so happened that once the king

went out with all his followers

all the masters accompanied him

 [143]

they did not follow him very far

going down into the Southern Ocean

he already entered into the depths of the sea……..

52. The second part of the text

gave rise to sweet rapture

they felt inspired to make love

the sweeteness of embracing

aroused harmonious mutual love

as the gods Kamajaya and Ratih

53. Then they united, full of affection

and had intercourse

after they had been lying down

the king went away

taking leave to return to the land

and she who resides in the water,

 [144]

54. Enchanted she was carried away

following him

as far as the shores of the sea

she appeared in a pitiful state

weeping in a most lamentable way

the king seeing her beat his breast

what did she do who was left ?

55. The queen rubbed her feet

all over with sand

her weeping was as plaintive

as the wailing of a captive hawk

this is what has been taken

as text for the composition.

In the tantric cults sexuality plays an important role. As an analogy or symbol of the

union of opposites, sexual imagery has more impact than any other iconic

representation. Eroticism in art and literature that serves a religious purpose is both

metaphoric and not metaphoric. Figures of deities in the act of love are

simultaneously both literal and iconic. The representation of the act of love is to be
 [145]

understood as the physical act itself. At the same time, it is also an icon of the union

of opposites and the powerful creativity that such a conjoining can generate. The

shakti of Shiva, his female opposite, is the force that allows Siva to bring forth the

creativity of the Universe. The sexual union of Kanjeng Ratu Kidul and the

Susuhunan represented by the bedhaya dancers and the encircled ruler is an enactment

both symbolic and not symbolic. In a mystical sense, the union must occur. At a

metaphoric level, as an icon, the dance performance is a substitute. The bedhaya

origin stories emphasize the sexuality of the performance and the sacredness of the

event. The two are inseparable both in dance and in the religious systems that fostered

the dance.
 [146]

4.6 Aesthetic and spiritual correlations in the Bedhaya performance

In the collection of Indonesian manuscripts kept in the Leiden University

Library, there is a prose fragment on Javanese dance written in Dutch. It is a

rather free translation of the first section of the Javanese treatise on the art of

dancing from the Mangkunagaran court in Surakarta (IV). As to the reason

why Javanese people dance, he remarks : “ de jogged is voor den Javaan een

genot, en bovendien van opvoedkundigen aard ” : the joged is a pleasure for

the Javanese, and moreover of an educational nature. This remark is further

explained in the following passage on the background of the Javanese dance :

“According to the tradition of the wayang purva theatre, the gods first gave

rise to the art of dancing, named Lenggotbawa or mataya. In former times the

mataya was an instruction in the manners that should be observed during

religious meditation and when performing a sembah. Transgression of these

manners was considered a sin, and of the guilty ones it was said that they

had trampled upon the shadow of the Supreme God, for which they were

punished by being expelled to earth in the shape of a giant or of an animal. ” c

Further, the well known art critic Atmadibrata characterizes the function of the

dance as follows : “ First one should however realize that dance is not just

beautiful and rhythmical physical movements that appear in a performance,

being executed by a group of performers and received by a group named the

audience. Does not dance arise primarily from the human need to discover

harmony with the surroundings, in order to keep oneself alive ? Thus, the Dance

developed in order to unite oneself with the hidden forces which control

human beings and their environment. ” ci

 [147]

In the Javanese language the idea of harmony is expressed by the word laras.

This word is frequently used as a term in the performing arts, especially in

music and dance. According to the Wedhataya, the first action executed by the

dancer after standing up from the initial sitting on the floor is called laras. Its

performance and significance are described in the opening section of the book,

in the following manner : ‘Then stand up and perform the pattern named laras,

walk to the left then to the right and back to the centre. This symbolizes that,

once a person understands the place of the Only One, he/she should be in
cii
harmony, with clear insight both externally and internally.’ The concept of

laras is further explained as the essence of living, that is, to achieve perfect

harmony in one’s own body, both externally and internally.

The classical dances in Java are not only appreciated for their performance

value, nor are they necessarily experienced as a means whereby an individual

dancer may impress the spectators. According to the esoteric Yogyakarta dance

philosophy, Joged mataram, discussed by the late dance specialist G. B. P. H.

Suryobrongto, the art of classical Javanese dance should be practiced as a

spiritual training, inducing a number of desirable mental qualities such as :

concentration (sewiji), conducting dynamic impulses into movement (greged),

self-confidence (sengguh) and perseverance (ora mingkuh). This is often expressed

in the texts as there is reference to the preciousness, nobility and sublimeness

and the awe-inspiring qualities of the performance, denoted by the term

“wibawa”. When impersonating a particular dance role, a well-trained dancer

should abandon the usual personal awareness and perform in a state of “ total

concentration” which is virtually in a state of ecstasy in which his entire

mind is focused on what is happening on the stage and on nothing else.

 [148]

Another famous expression for this mental state of the dancer is : kothong

nanging kebak, “empty yet full.”

4.6.1 Aesthetic rapture

Asian performing arts associate closely two levels of experience, the aesthetic and

the spiritual. The way this association is experienced by the Javanese is quite similar

with its Indian counterpart centered around the theory of rasa. Javanese writers refer

to bedhaya dances with the qualification of ‘kelangenan dalem’, royal

entertainment, or rather delight. Clara Papenhuijzen says that ‘ the beauty and

rapture created by this ‘ kelangenan dalem’ are a result of the combination of

various sensual impressions : of the harmonious mingling of stylized sounds,

movements, colors and perfumes.’ ciii

The word ‘kelangenan’, may also be used for anything creating intense

pleasure. It derives from the word ‘langen’ which is the modern Javanese form

of the Old Javanese ‘langö’, of which the derivation ‘kalangwan’ has been

used by Zöetmulder to characterize old Javanese poetical literature. Discussing

about the poet and his royal patron, Zöetmulder elaborates the meaning of the

word ‘kalangwan’ as follows : ‘…a feeling that is perhaps best rendered by

‘rapture’. It is a kind of swooning sensation, in which the subject is

completely absorbed by and becomes lost in its object, the appeal of which is

so overwhelming that everything else sinks into nothingness and oblivion. All

intellectual activity ceases; the perception of the object itself becomes vague,

and in the experience of oneness that blurs the distinction between subject and

object, consciousness of the self vanishes too.’ civ

 [149]

The concept of ‘ lango’ , has both a subjective and an ‘objective’ aspect due

to the common element in both subject and object, which makes them come

together as one. Thus, ‘the word ‘lango’ refers at the same time to a trance like
cv
experience and to the quality in the object which causes it’ The palpable

media used by a yogi to achieve oneness with the god may also be

recognized as important elements in bedhaya dance practice.

These are:

Beksan - choreography using stylized physical movements and

spatial patterns

Pesindhèn – poetic songs performed in unison by a mixed choir,

also called pesindhèn

Gendhing – composition for gamelan instruments accompanying

the dancing and singing

Sajen – offerings of flowers, clothes, food and incense accompanying

the performance of pusaka bedhaya; fragrant flowers,

jewellery and special costumes are used for all bedhaya

performances.

Speaking about the quality by which an object appeals to the aesthetic sense

Zöetmulder remarks that ‘ …it does so not by clarity and immediacy of its

beauty, but, on the contrary, because it seems distant, half hidden and

apparently inaccessible; because it is suggestive, but does not reveal itself

 [150]

fully; because it allures, hinting as yet unrevealed riches, so that the seeker
cvi
after beauty is consumed by longing and the desire to reach it’ The same

seems to apply to the bedhaya compositions of the Javanese courts which

‘strive to affect all the senses in a pleasurable manner, dissolving any discord

or disharmony through a sensation of supreme and sparkling, yet distant

beauty. ‘To achieve this end, all movements and sounds are arranged into

stylized and attractive patterns, flowing almost continuously without sudden

interruptions or changes. During the performance the dancers keep aloof, never

looking directly at anything or anybody around them, but keeping their eyes

cast down; they appear to be an enchanting vision in the brilliance of jewelry

and gold-painted costumes, which is reflected in the polished marble of the

floor, while the sweet perfumes of jasmine and musk mingling with the wafting

clouds of incense envelop the senses of all the participants.’ cvii

Further, Zöetmulder says that the goal of the old Javanese poet is the seeking

of mystical unity through the path of beauty. The writing of beautiful poetry

becomes an act of yoga, ‘because it unites him with the god who is beauty

himself ’ and also ‘because by constant practice he will attain final liberation,

moksha in this union’. Court dancers and musicians believe that the practicing

of bedhaya compositions is an ‘act of worship’. It is a way of performing ‘

semèdi ’ - (often equivalent to ‘sembahyanh’, divine service or worship) - the

Javanese form of the Sanskrit word ‘samadhi’ meaning both religious

concentration and its result, mystical union.

 [151]

4.6.2 Mystic aspects of the aesthetic experience

Bedhaya dances mirror and manifest a central system of thought, experience, and

belief in Javanese culture: mysticism. Mysticism has long been a focal point in

Javanese culture, so it is not surprising that Java’s dance is organized, at least in part,

to support, manifest, and express that system. The link between Javanese dance and

mystic traditions is through the concept of rasa. There are parallels between the uses

of dance and music in the rituals of the religions of Tantric Shaivism and Tantric

Buddhism and the statements made by older Javanese musicians concerning their own

traditions. Javanese musicians use the word rasa, translated in Javanese as ‘emotion’,

‘taste’ or ‘essence’ in order to translate the feelings, the intentions and ideas that a

dance performance, a song or a poem can communicate, “one of the strongest

undercurrents of meaning in the term rasa is a religious sense, a feeling of unity with

the world beyond religious sense, a feeling of unity with the world beyond oneself, a

transcendental experience invoked by an artistic event. ” cviii

In Javanese language, ‘rasa’ is not only a term applied to sensory experiences

implying a particular aesthetic effect, but also a cognitive organ, used actively within

mystical practices. This connects us to the original concept of rasa in Sanskrit

drama and poetics, which must have reached Java together with Sanskrit

language and literature, religion and mythology, from the tenth century. As a

part of Shaivism and Buddhism, tantric cults entered Java but tantric beliefs ceased to

be identifiable as a distinct ideology and blended with the Javanese cultural beliefs

and practices. As we saw in the case of Abinavagupta who was himself a Shaivite,

tantric philosophy has a special concern with aesthetics. Its tenets can be better

understood if the original meaning of the greek term aisthētikos, ‘of sense
 [152]

perception’ is taken instead of the english term ‘aesthetics’ which stands for the study

of the basis of evaluating objects designated as ‘artistic’.

Here, the idea is of a special kind of perception, of paying full attention in the present.

To see things as they are without precognition or judgment is therefore to perceive

aesthetically. This is what was expressed as ‘mindfulness’ in Buddhist doctrines

relating not only to artistic events and objects but also to every day action. The

Tantric philosophy of medieval India linked the study of perception, cognition,

aesthetics, and spirituality. Refinement of perception, according to it, can lead to a

refinement of cognition and dissolution of the boundaries between oneself and the

thing perceived.

4.6.3 Kebatinan and the experience of rasa

According to Clifford Geertz, rasa is the connecting link between the three major

components of religious life: mystical practice, art, and etiquette. This is especially

true for the priyayi, the aristocratic elite. The person who truly understands ultimate

reality—rasa sejati —can express that understanding through gestures in dance,

sounds in music, or words in poetry.cix Such a person is naturally refined (alus) in his

or her outer behavior. The concept of rasa is important not only to the priyayi but to

many other Javanese as well. In Javanese "rasa" is not only a term applied to sensory

experiences, implying a particular aesthetic effect, but also a cognitive organ, used

actively within mystical practices.

 [153]

In Indonesia there are many movements, informal and formal, which are seen as

extensions of an indigenous tradition of spiritual wisdom, rather than as offsprings of

different religions. These mystical movements, termed as kebatinan are, to varying

degrees, national in orientation, but most are primarily Javanese in both origin and

composition.

Sumarah is among the more prominent national organizations. It was founded in the

mid 1930s in the court city of Yogyakarta by Sukinohartono. The Javanese word

‘sumarah’ means "the state of total surrender," and apart from its official name as

a movement, it points at the practice which provides its focus. In the absence of

any outward rules binding the members, their commitment to total surrender and

the degree they can internalize it in their consciousness, is the only criteria for

being in the group. Sumarah does not profess faith in the authority of an external

teaching or teacher. Inner life evolves through introspection (máwás diri) and self

correction and the only source of knowledge is the recognition of the truth in

one’s own consciousness. Sumarah is not reserved to a spiritually gifted elite. It

is considered that any individual can develop his/her spiritual capacities through

meditation. It emphasizes openness to the world around us even in the initial stages

of practice, rather than withdrawal from it with the suppression of sense stimuli.

This openness to all individuals and to the world is similar to the way of

bhakti which, against the brahmanic elitism and the yogic ascetism embraced

people from all stratas of the society and encouraged them to experience God

in the heart of life. According to Sumarah practice, meditation begins with

relaxing the body and shifting the attention from thoughts to physical sensations and

to feelings. The purpose is to free oneself from the usual form of consciousness,

which is believed to center on the obsessive replaying of thoughts about the future or
 [154]

the past. The practitioner focuses on the feelings experienced in the present: perhaps a

physical sensation or an intense emotion that floats to the surface of the

consciousness, a feeling that is normally hidden by the barrage of constant thoughts.

‘We begin with entering the realm of meditation . . . here we use the work

"dirásáfcán" meaning to feel the state rather than to understand it. To begin with the

meditation has to be felt in much the same sense that we feel when we are physically

enjoying something, listening with pleasure or eating tasty food.’ As stillness and

concentration deepen, one is more able to ignore the thoughts constantly rushing

through one’s head, while focusing awareness on a deeper, stiller, nonverbal part of

oneself. Gradually, it is thought, the practitioner becomes aware of another level of

being, termed rasa sejati, which Stange defines as “the absolute or true feeling [or] . .

. mystical awareness of the fundamental vibration or energy within all life.” cx

When this occurs, according to the members of Sumarah, one is able to perceive a

fundamental truth: that all people, even all things, are essentially one. Since in the

phenomenal world, there appear to be distinctions between the material and spiritual,

the Javanese identify two aspects of reality: lahir and batin. Lahir (from Arabic

zahir), literally, “outer reality,” consists of habits, behaviors, the material world, and

surface phenomena. Batin (from Arabic batin), or “inner reality,” is the inner spiritual

life of an individual. Batin is accorded more value, for whereas surface forms reveal

only the appearance of reality, batin is the essence. The two are related, for features

apparent in the phenomenal world are regarded as manifestations of the inner reality.

Because of the fundamental unity of all things, lahir and batin are not really opposite,

but merely different expressions of reality. They are ultimately identical. One attains

spiritual empowerment by grasping the essential oneness of all things. That

understanding, called rasa in the text, is the ultimate reality, the absolute truth. One
 [155]

who has attained that knowledge has grasped the ultimate of rasa that is Reality.

To be more specific, in Indonesian the word rasa means "feeling," both in the

physical and emotional sense; it also means "intuitive feeling." If mind is the tool

through which we register and process information received through the five senses

from the outer world, alam lahiriyah, while rasa is the tool through which we

apprehend inner realities, alam batiniyah. According to Stange, "Rasa is at once the

substance, vibration, or quality of what is apprehended and the tool or organ which

apprehends it. In this context the sense of "rasa" I am concerned with is that of the
cxi
"organ" or "agent" of perception, or, if you like, the "function" of "intuition."

Concerning the word ‘rasa’ itself, Gonda comments that the Javanese have combined

the original Sanskrit meanings associated with ‘rasa’ (‘taste, flavor, essence,

enjoyment, sentiment, disposition, meaning, etc.’) and ‘ráhásyá’ (‘secret, mystery’)

within their use of the term ‘rasa’ In commenting on the use of the term within old

Javanese texts, Gonda clarifies both the varieties of usage and depth of meanings

associated with it: it is not easy exactly to say what connotations were meant by these

mystics when resorting to the favourite term rasa. It often served to translate the

Arabic sir, ‘secret, mystery’, which refers to the most subtle and most hidden and

latent elements in the human heart in which God is said to reside, the ‘spot’ where

God and the soul are in contact. In Javanese mystic texts this divine principle is also

called rasa, ‘but not the ordinary rasa’, ‘it is not the rasa (feeling) which we feel in our

bodies, but the rasa which is felt in the heart.’

 [156]

4.7 Tehnical aspects of the Bedhaya performance

In the traditional Javanese institutions, the students receive dance training inside the

square of the dance pavillion (pendhapa) to the accompaniment of a gamelan

orchestra. (Figure 34). Young students are not instructed the practice of simple basic

steps or units of movements but they start by performing a complete basic

choreography. The learning occurs through direct imitation during practice time.

Usually the students form rows with the most experienced students standing in front

giving the example to the younger students who are standing behind them. Thus,

traditional Javanese dance has not been transmitted in an analytical manner; dance

movements are experienced as a part of a complete choreography, as a unity of dance

movement and gamelan music. cxii

After studying dance for a relatively long time, the student realises that each

choreography has a definite form and structure and consists of a number of different

sections. In turn these sections are composed of movement phrases, determined by the

structure of the accompanying gamelan music, in particular by the regular strokes of

the gong and the kenong. This shows the close relationship between the

choreographical and musical phrases. The choreographical phrases consist of

movement patterns, which in turn are formed from the combinations of different

movements, poses and positions of various parts of the body. As Clara Brakel-

Papenhuyzen rightly observes :

‘Therefore the arrangement of Javanese dance composition may well be compared to

linguistic structures, and the learning of the art of dancing to the learning of a new

language. Just as in an unknown language one must first start learning to distinguish

the words and word groups from the stream of sound, similarly in dance one has to
 [157]

learn and subdivide the ‘flow of movement’ of an unknown choreography into basic

positions, movement patterns, phrases and even larger sections.’ cxiii

Each movement and pose is distinguished by its own qualities. The terminology of

the Javanese dance points at these qualities which are often indicated by the original

sense of the Javanese word which functions as a dance term. An example of this is the

term anaraga, ‘humble’ which points at the quality of respect implied in the position

of the arms and body to which it refers. The flow of movement is slow, gentle and

continuous, like the flowing of water in a stream. In the Surakarta dance tradition the

quality of movements performed in female style is assimilated to that of the flowing

water, (m)banyu mili.

The attitude of dance masters or guru and dance students or siswa are aware that the

arrangement and stylisation of classical Javanese dance movement is based on

aesthetic and philososphical ideas that have been derived and are linked to religious

practices. That is why a bedhaya performance is preceded by religious offerings.

(Figure 35). According to the Serat Wédhataya,cxiv the art of dancing fulfils the role

of yogic exercise for those who strive to improve themselves. In this view, the body is

regraded as the temporary dwelling place for the soul, and its right and left sides are

the location of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ urges struggling for domination in each individual.

This may explain the preoccupation in Javanese dance with the alternation of

movements to the right and left sides, especially by the arms and hands. Thus, while

the dancer is still seated on the floor, she performs some special hand movements to

the right and to the left side of the body, which in the Wédhtaya are described as

follows :
 [158]

‘Then one moves the left and the right hands, the two middle fingers are linked, the

left and right hands act as though they are trying to take each other’s place, each in

turn being conquered, until finally the left hand is obscured by the right. This is a

symbolic action : moving to the keft means bad, and to the right good. So, when good

is able to outd bad, then one may take rest and worship The One [God]. But that

which is bad must be put into place, and that which is good must be turned to face

downward. Therefore after finishing sembah the left hand is returned to the left

[side,] while the right hand is put with the palm down on the right leg. This is the

proper way.’cxv

In Bedhaya the movement is refined and stylised, displaying what is considered as the

ideal, typical kind of feminine behaviour in Javanese culture. The dancers dance with

downcast eyes, their movements are supple and elegant. The arms are kept closed to

the body, the knees are frequently flexed and the legs are kept together at all times,

even when the dancer kneels or sits down. This body posture is enhanced by the dance

costume which consists of one single cloth wrapped tightly around the waist and legs

(sinjang), a piece of cloth covering the upper body and a long scarf tied on the waist

(sampur), (figures 36-37 ).It is also dictated by the general protocol of the royal court

and its refined aesthetics. (Figures 38-39) .

When walking, the dancer moves forward, backward or sideways taking small and

elegant steps, always keeping the spine erect. And although the body weight may be

swayed to the sides, the hips and shoulders do not move independently. Moving the

hips in an undulating fashion is considered vulgar and inappropriate for a classical

dancer. The only shaking body movement accepted in the female style is a gentle

horizontal shifting of the rib cage. The head may be gently turned to the sides, usually

with a slight curve. In the female style, all body movements tend to have a swaying
 [159]

quality, either sideways or up and down, through alternatively flexing and stretching

the knees, or shifting the body weight to one isde. The overall impression of the dance

movement is restraint, ease and gentleness. The female court dancers are full of grace

and suppleness and their dance has been likened to the wilting of withering flowers.

In Bedhaya, the dancer’s hand movements are delicate and continued, a continuity

owed to the flexible use of wrists. The hand gestures are purely decorative and most

of them are in fact mudras borrowed from Buddhist rituals and yogic mediative

practices. In Bedhaya, there are only pure dance sequences; there is no dance portions

with dramatic expression. The absence of abhinaya is attributed to the sacred

character of these dances and it is believed that the Bedhaya litany is so sacred that

any attempt of dramatisation would result to sacrilege (figures 40-47).

In her work, Classical Javanese dance- The Surakarta tradition and its terminology,

Clara Brakel-Papenhuyzen offers a classification of the dance movements, simple

and complex (kembangan) in bedhaya, according to the Surakarta artistic tradition.

Based on her descriptions and on observations of the performance, an account of the

basic features of the technique is given hereby.

The basic feet position is the sikap sempurna or the ‘perfect position’ in which the

feet are placed next to each other, with the heels touching and the toes pointing to

sideways, forming a figure V. The stretched arms hang down to the sides, near the

thighs, the fingers are in ngithing. The head is held straight, the eyes are downcast

with the gaze fixed on a point in front of the feet.

 [160]

[The dancers standing in sikap sempurna with the knees bent, the hands dancing with

the sampur]

Another basic position of the feet is tanjak or ‘to stand erect’ in which the dancer is

standing upright, with the knees flexed and the feet pointing sideways. In female

styles the heel of one foot is placed in front of the big toe of the other foot (mager

timun). When standing in the tanjak pose with the right foot in front it is called tanjak

kanan, tengen –‘right pose’ and since this pose is always used at the beginning of a

clasiscal choreography, it is also called tanjak purwantaya (‘opening of the dance).

Tanjak kiri, kiwa (‘left pose’) is standing in the tanjak pose with the left foot in front.

The feet can be placed one in front of the other like in Géyul-giyul where one foot is

placed in front of the other with the heel is raised above the toes of the other foot, and

in mager timun, (‘like the (lattice work) fence around a cucumber field’) in which

one foot is placed in front of the other in a diagonal position, with the heel of the front

foot near the big toe of the back foot. Thus, the right foot is pointing to the right, and

the left foot is pointing to the left. When walking forward, one advances along a

straight line.
 [161]

Gedrug

One foot is placed on the ball of the foot, just behind the heel of the other foot like

stamping on the ground in Gedrug – ‘to stamp’. In sèrèt - ‘to drag’ , standing in

tanjak kanan, the right foot is drawn toward the inside of the left foot, until the heel

touches the toe or the heel of the left foot. Generally, there seems to be a preference

for touching the toe, but some people also differentiate according to the movement

that is to be performed next : if the following movement starts in tanjak, the foot is

drawn toward the ankle and if it involves stepping forward, the foot will be drawn

toward the toe.

 [162]

Laku telu

In Laku telu - ‘three step’, the right foot steps forward somewhat diagonally, the left

foot is crossed over the right foot (the knees are kept closely locked), then the right

foot is placed backward behind the left foot. Finally the left foot is quickly drawn

backward and placed on tiptoe in front of the right foot. Followed by a short rest. The

leg remain in plié, the rest is accentuated by a deep flexion of the knees/ This is

repeated in reverse, and the whole movement is repeated several times, often in

changing directions. Following the direction of the feet the head is turned to the right

as the right foot steps forward, and to the left as the left foot is drawn backward. The

hands may be holding the sampur near the chest (rimong), or the right arm (holding

the sampur), may be alternately bent in front of the hip and stretched to the side.
 [163]

There are several ways of walking, advancing forward, backward and sideways.

Kapang-kapang ‘to approach eagerly’

 [164]

Solemn entrance (or exit) of female dancers, walking in a file. The feet are placed

down simultaneously, one exactly in front of the other. The arms are stretched down

along the sides, the palms either facing the body, or turned to the back, with the

fingers in ngithing. The body is held erect, the head, with downcast eyes, is not turned

to the side, but held erect.

Lancak gagak - ‘a small hop’, is a special forward or sideways step : standing with

the feet in one line, the right foot is placed forward, immediately followed by the left

foot, being placed next to the right foot again; the heels are slightly raised from the

floor, followed by a short rest. Then the step is repeated. In combination with this step

the hands are usually held in front of the body, the right hand in ngithing with the

palm facing down, held over the left hand in ngrayung with the palm facing forward.

Kicat – ‘to walk on a hot surface’ is walking sideways, crossing the left foot behind

the right foot when going to the right, and vice versa crossing the right foot behind the

left foot when going to the left. When the feet are lifted, they are kept parallel to the

floor, imitating a person walking on a hot surface.

 [165]

(trap) sila (putri) - sitting decently (on the floor)

The appropriate way to sit in a formal situation such as the beginning of a dance

inside a pendhapa: sitting cross-legged, with the right leg in front of the left. The

hands should also be kept in an appropriate position : female dancers have the hands

on the knees, either crossing the right palm over the left hand or with the left hand on

the left knee and the right hand on the thigh.

 [166]

Another main characteristic of Javanese dance is the swaying of the body weight

from right to left and vice-versa, which gives rise to a smooth undulating movement.

This sideways shift or shuffle’, called gèngser-kèngser or ‘shifted, fled’ consists of

lifting the heels and the toes alternately, and standing with the feet next to each other
 [167]

or in tanjak. Thus, the footsoles are always in (partial) contact with the floor. Usually

the knees are slightly flexed, and the body remains in an upright position.

léyot – liyut

It is complimented by léyot - liyut – ‘to cling, to sway’ in which the body weight is

slowly swung from the centre to the right side and then over to the left side (or the

opposite direction ). The head follows the swaying of the body with the kalpika

motion. The swaying of the body resembles the swaying of a palm tree.
 [168]

Genjotan

Genjotan or ‘the action of moving up and down’ or; it is the repeated movement of

the thighs, causing the body to bob up and down, with the emphasis on the upward

motion.
 [169]

Hands

The hands are used in a quite refined and elegant manner and the fingers are locked

in mudras which, however, are only decorative, as the Bedhaya performance is

limited to sections of pure dance with the dramatic element being absent. Following

are descriptions of some fundamental single and double hand gestures.

Modra – ‘ritual gesture’

Position of the hands: the right hand is held with the palm facing down above the left

hand, which has the palm facing upward. The tips of the middle fingers are joined, the

other fingers are bent.

 [170]

Ngithing – ‘to bend the fingers’

the tip of the thumb is joined to the middle finger, meeting either the tip or the second
joint of the middle finger. The other fingers are bent, the little finger is susally drawn
up somewhat higher than the other fingers.

ngithing trap puser

 [171]

Gandhul

Gandhul - ‘to hang down’ the hand hangs down with palm turned to the side, usually

in front of the hip, the elbow being flexed sideways.

 [172]

Menjangan ranggah – ‘like a deer with antlers’

Position of the hand, imitating the shape of the antlers of a deer : the hand is held near

the shoulder, the fingers are stretched and point upward, while the thumb stands out at

a sharp angle, its tip touching the outside of the shoulder. The wrist and the elbow are

flexed, the upper arm being near the side of the body. The position may be performed

by just one or by both hands.

 [173]

Adu jari tengah – ‘to oppose the middle fingers’

position of the hands ; the right hand is held over the left hand with the palm facing

downward, the tips of the middle fingers are joined, the palm of the left hand is facing

forward. The palms may also be held facing each other.

 [174]

ngrayung ngrayang (rimong sampur kanan)

ngrayung – ’like reed’

Position of the hand all fingers are fully stretched, while the thumb is bent and

touches the palm.

 [175]

ngoré réma (putri) - ‘to loosen the hair’

the hands are held to one side of the body, on a level with the neck and shoulder, on e

above the other. The fingers are in ngithing with the palms turned toward the body. If

the hands are at the left side of the body the movement usually starts with the right

hand on top or vice versa. The hands are moved up and down in opposite directions,

the lower hand moving upward and the upper hand moving downward. The upward

movement stops near the ear, the downward movement stops at brest level. The wrists

are flexed backward as the hand goes down and forward as the hand moves up. This is

repeated several times. The movement is usually performed to the right and to the left
 [176]

side, to the accompaniment of a specific drum pattern. It symbolises the combing of

the hair.

(m)blarak sempal – ‘(like) a dry, broken-off coconut palm frond’

the arm is held straight to the side of the body, with the wrist well flexed an dthe

fingers pointig downward, all held in a tight an drather stiff position.

In Penthangan - ‘the action of stretching’ : the arm is stretched, moving gradually

and in a horizontal line from the centre of the body to the side, until the elbow is

completely straight. During the stretching, the wrist often remains bent (forward). At

the end of the motion the wrist is bent backward, so that the hand points upward from

the lower arm.

In Javanese dance, the wrist is used a lot in hand movements, it is often rotated, a

movement denoted by the term ukel – ‘to turn, twist’ , -that is- the hand is turned

around. In ukel mbuka- first part of a complete ukel, the wrist is being rotated away

from the body until the palm faces upward or forward. During the rotation, the fingers

are usually flexed but when the hand is turned forward the fingers may be stretched.
 [177]

On the other hand in ukel dadi, second part of a complete ukel, the wrist is being

rotated toward the body, until the palm faces downward. During the rotation, the

fingers are usually flexed. The motion may be modified by simply turning the hand

and the lower arm toward the body. In ukel pakis –the hands are held in front of the

stomach, the left hand in ngithing with the palm facing downward. The right hand is

rotated below the left hand, the palm is turned upward and downward in a continuous

manner. Usually this motion is performed in combination with other body movements

and to the accompaniment of rhythmic drum patterns. The sampur is an integral part

of the arm and hand movements and requires maximum plasticity of the wrist.
 [178]

There are a number of specific terms referring to its use such as jimpit (sampur) – ‘

to pinch (the sampur)’: to hold the sampur between the thumb and the middle finger,

or between the tips of the index finger and middle finger, gebyag-kebyak (sampur) -

‘to flip, turn over (the sampur)’ : the end of the sampur is whisked off the hand by a

swift rotation of the wrist, moving away from the body, so that the palm faces

upward, gebyog –kebyog (sampur) – ‘ to whisk (the sampur)’ : the end of the

sampur, which is held between the fingertips, is whisked over the back of the hand by

a swift rotation of the wrist, turning the hand toward the body, so that the palm faces

downward, cul (sampur) – ‘to free, loosen (the sampur)’ : to drop the sampur by

simply opening the fingertips holding the edge of the cloth, kolong (sampur) – ‘to

grasp the sampur’ : to hold the sampur between the thumb and the middle finger ( in

the same way as a bunch of freshly cut rice stalks), with the palm facing upward or

downward, etc.

Lémbéyan –lémbéhan ‘swinging the arm(s)’

 [179]

The arm moves horizontally in front of the body, from the hip to the side, until the

elbow is stretched sideways at hip level. Then the arm moves back toward the body,

the wrist leads the movement and is flexed first, until the hand is once again in front

of the hip, with the elbow flexed and the palm turned downward. This movement may

be performed by just one arm or by the arms simultaneously swinging either to the

right or to the left side, one arm being flexed as the other arm is stretched. If

performed in combination with forward stepping, the right arm swings to the right

side as the right foot moves forward.

Gajah ngoling sampur - ‘swaying elephant’s trunk with sampur’

Complex movement performed several times in succession: the arms are swayed

simultaneously to the right and to the left side in front of the chest. The hands holding

the sampur are turned alternately, one hand throwing the sampur over the back of the
 [180]

hand, as the other flicks the sampur off the hand. The head follows the movements of

the arms, alternately to the left and to the right. The body also follows the movement

of the arms: the body is raised and the arms are swayed up to flexed as the arms are

lowered to the right –and vice versa. The right hand holds the sampur raised near the

right temple. The hand is moved in front of the face, from the right side to the left, the

wrist being bent backward, then swayed back to the centre, now with the wrist being

flexed forward. The head, shoulders and trunk follow the swaying motion of the arms.

Finally, the sampur is dropped in front of the face. The movement may be performed

in the same manner in the opposite direction, or without sampur.

keputrèn - ‘in feminine fashion’

Arm movement characteristic of female types, performed in combination with

lumaksana : the left hand is held in front of the hip, with the palm turned downward.
 [181]

The right arm is stretched to the side, also with the palm turned downward. As the

leftleg steps forward, the right arm moves horizontally toward the body, the wrist

being flexed and leading the movement, until the hand is in front of the right hip. As

the right leg steps forward, the right arm is stretched again.

Nglayang - ‘to float, glide’

While the dancer is kneeling down in jèngkèng, the right arm is drawn backward

along the side of the leg, and the body inclines to the right side. The right arm, leaning

on the back of the hand, reaches as far backward as possible without toppling over.

The head is also turned to the right side. Then the head is turned forward first,

followed by the arm being drawn toward the knee, with the back of the hand brushing

the floor. The body leans over to the right, and gradually rises as the hand reaches the
 [182]

right knee. Usually the right hand draws the sampur across the floor. This movement

may also be performed to the left side but in this case the body cannot be inclined

sideways very much.

nglela (sampur) - ‘to soothe, dandle (the sampur)’

The left end of the sampur is held on the flat, upturned palm of the left hand,

somewhat to the left side of the shoulder. The right hand holds the part of the sampur

which is close to the stomach, thereby stretching the material between the hands. The

head is turned to the left, the gaze is fixed on the palm of the hand holding the

sampur, the head may be gently moved to the sides.

ngapuyk – ‘to cast, to throw’

While the dancer is kneeling down in jèngkèng, the right hand takes up the sampur

and, by turning the wrist forward, gently casts the sampur in front of the right knee,

finishing with the palm close to the floor. Simultaneously, the left hand is also rotated

forward but the palm is turned upward. The (upper part of the) body follows the

movement and also leans forward.

For the Bedhaya dancer, the costume is an integral part of her hand or leg movement.

She holds the edge of her kain with her fingers when she walks in a procession,

throws and twists the sampur in myriad ways and throws elegantly with a swift move

of her foot the rear part of her kain. Following are some examples of these

movements.
[183]
 [184]

The head and neck generally follow the movements of the hands and move softly in

harmony with the whole body movements. Following are some examples of some

basic head and neck movements.

The head is moving in half circles first to the right and then to the left forming the
figure of eight.
 [185]

pacak gulu ‘adjusting the neck’: first the head is somewhat tilted and moved to the

left side, then the head is tilted and moved to the right side, once again the head is

tilted and moved back into the centre, with some emphasis at the final adjustment.

(ng)grageh lung ‘(like) the tendrils of a creeper’ : special type of head motion : the

head is moved in an undulating manner to the right and to the left, first with slow and

relatively wide movements to the sides, then increasingly faster and with smaller

motions, in imitation of the curling end of a tendril.

lenggut – ‘to nod’: head motion performed by female dancers : when kneeling down

(jenkeng), the head is moved forward first, then lowered and drawn toward the body

in a slow and graceful circular motion. Following the movement of the head, the

upper part of the body is first inclined forward then straightened again. This head

motion may also be performed while standing up.

kalpika – ‘ring’ : special type of head motion : as the head is turned to the left, it is

first tilted (to the right), then moves in a circle down to the right, and back up to the

left again, the chin leading the motion. The head motion is performed in combination

with the swaying of the body (to the right, and back to the centre) in liyut.

To depict the movement of the eyes, the term mucang kanginan - ‘ like a palm tree

swaying in the wind’ is used, the eyes and the (upper part of) the body follow the

movement of the arms, swaying lightly in the direction of the arm movement.
 [186]

4.7.1 The esoteric meaning of the composition

The bedhaya Ketawang from the Surakarta court is presented in three sections.

Every section is composed of a series of dance formations that change slowly in an

ordered sequence. These formations are preceded and also concluded by a

processsional to and from the dance area. A name is given to each of the nine dancers,

a name that also indicates a particular position in the changing choreographic patterns.

These names and numbers assigned to the dancers tend to vary from writer to writer

but they all agree to the basic formations of the bedhaya and to the position of each

dancer in the different formations. After a procession who from a room behind the

audience hall, the dancers assume the opening position, all of them facing the

Susuhunan who is seated on the throne.

Throne

↑ ↑

6 8

right arm right leg

↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑

1 2 3 4 5

desire head neck chest genitals

↑ ↑

7 9

left arm left leg

Position 1 (Based on Hostetler) cxvi (Figure 48 )

 [187]

Based on the writings of Hadiwidjojo, Soedarsono and Tirtaamidjaja, Judith Becker

lists the names according to the numbers assigned to the dancers :

1. èndhèl/ èndhèl ajeg – ‘desire’, ‘constant/fixed desire’

2. pembatak/batak-‘head’, ‘mind’

3. gulu/jangga- ‘neck’

4. dhadha -‘chest’

5. buncit/bunthil -‘tail’, ‘genitals’, ‘lower end of spinal column’

6. apit ngajeng/apit ngarep - ‘right arm’, also ‘right flank’, ‘front flank’

7. apit wingking/apit mburi -‘left arm’, also ‘rear flank’

8. èndhèl weton/endhel wedalan ngajeng/ èndhèl jawi - ‘right leg’ also emergent

desire’, ‘front emergent desire’, ‘outside desire’

9. apit meneng/ èndhèl wedalan wingking - ‘left leg’, also ‘quiet flank’, ‘rear

emergent desire’. cxvii

The dancer bearing number 1, èndhèl, translated here as ‘desire’ may also be

translated as ‘attachment’. Attachment is the main obstacle to meditation and

spiritual emancipation. It has various manifestations like attachment to oneself or

others, attachment to own’s property, one’s duty, one’s world view, all of which

point at the illusory solidness of one’s ego. The first formation of a bedhaya

ketawang represents the subtle body as this has been described in the tantras.

Dancers numbered 2 for head, 3 for neck, 4 for chest and 5 for genitals

correspond to the four energy centres, cakra, of the head, the neck, chest and the

lowest cakra located at the base of the spine. Numbers 6 and 7, right and left

arm, and numbers 8 and 9, right and left leg, complete the representation of

human body.
 [188]

In the second dance formation, the dancers are divided into two opposite groups. The

left side group consists of the leader and principal dancer number 1, named ‘desire’

and numbers 6 and 7. The right side group consists of its leader and principal dancer

number 2 (head) with numbers 3,4,5,8 and 9, (neck, chest, and genitals plus right and

left leg). Right and left arm join ‘desire’ in opposition to the Tantric body.

Throne

group 1 group 2

6→ ←8

right arm right leg

1→ ←2 ←3 ←4 ←5

desire head neck chest genitals

7→ ←9

left arm left leg

Position 2 cxviii (Figure 49)

 [189]

These two oppositional groups are sometimes interpreted as conflicting forces within

each person : the grouping of three led by desire (number 1), the groping of six led by

‘head’ or ‘mind’(number 2). The metaphor is extended to include subtle

choreographic differences. The movements of ‘desire’ are livelier than those of

‘mind’.This alignment, grouping the legs with the four body cakra, suggests the

possibility that the feet were considered as a fifth cakra centre after head, neck, heart,

and genitals. Though it is not one of the more common formulations of the cakra, a

five cakra system of the positions of the trunk plus feet is found in the Pindikrama

sadhana by the eighth century Tantric Budhdist Nagarjuna, and also in Guhyasamaja

tantra, one of the most influential of the anuttarayoga tantras.cxix

If a five-cakra system is implied in the bedhaya dance, then there is a consistency in

the alignment of the feet with the other four cakra and the hands aligned with ‘desire’.

This division of the nine dancers into two groups of three and six occurs repeatedly.
 [190]

In the third dance position ‘desire’ is incorporated in the tantric body and ‘head’

stands at the front of the line. The earlier, oppositional grouping of three headed by

‘desire’ becomes undifferentiated and absorbed in the line formation. In the second

large section of the bedhaya dance, the same three positions given above are repeated

with slight variations. cxx

Throne

↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑

2 8 3 1 9 4 5 6 7

head right neck desire left chest genitals right left

leg leg arm arm

In the third large section, the formations are basically the same as in the first two

sections with the addition of an encounter between ‘desire’ and ‘head’ alone while the

other dancers assume a squatting position.cxxi

Throne

group 1 group 2

6→ ←8

right arm right leg

1→ ←2 ←3 ←4 ←5

desire head neck chest genitals

7→ ←9

left arm left leg

 [191]

The Yogyakarta variant of this position puts ‘head’ and desire’ in the centre of a circle

of squatting dancers.

Throne

↑ ↑

7 6

left arm right arm

↑ ↑

5 1 → ← 2 4

genitals desire head chest

↑ ↑

9 8

left leg right leg

Neck

cxxii
Bedhaya Semang, Yogyakarta
 [192]

The fourth and final dance position, which comes at the end of the third large section,

is called rakit tiga-tiga ‘by threes’.

Throne

↑ ↑ ↑

1 2 8

desire head right leg

↑ ↑ ↑

6 3 5

right arm neck genitals

↑ ↑ ↑

7 4 9

left arm chest left leg

Position 4 cxxiii
 [193]

The body formation and the conflict between ‘desire’ and ‘head’ dissolve as the

dancers line up around the three upper cakra centers, the same three whose names

indicate the keys of the gamelan instruments, barang, gulu, and dhadha. Rakit tiga-

tiga is considered to be a position of perfection and completion cxxiv and has the same

spatial arrangement as the offering places at the palace of Majapahit in East Java in

the fourteenth century. According to Brotodinigrat, a Yoganese court dancer, the final

formation rakit tiga-tiga means ‘three become one’,that is :

1. water essence

2. earth essence

3. air essence

Trimurti becomes pramana, pramana has already become the subtle body, which

stands for the physical body. Also Tripurusa, the three powers connected they become

one called triloka, that is

1. brain

2. heart

3. genitals

The Javanese call them as Ngèndraloka, Guruloka, and Janaloka. In Islamic

terminology, Betalmakur, Betalmukuram, and Betalmukadas.

From the beginning to the end, the bedhaya dance is a visual, metaphoric

presentation of detailed and specific Tantric teachings. The dance can be imagined as

a narrative. In the first position it is the Tantric body plus desire, in the second the

Tantric body in opposition to desire, in the third, it is Desire absorbed and in the

fourth and final position, it is Perfection, when body and desire are dissolved, the

three main cakra become the universe, the three worlds, Ngèndraloka, Guruloka, and
 [194]

Janaloka. The esoteric interpretation of the choreography of the dance suggests that it

may have been used as a yantra, as a vehicle for the descent of a deity during

meditation. The performance may have been part of a religious practice as well as part

of meditative training. The dancers as a human body acting out the struggle with

‘desire’ and ‘attachment’ is an esoteric interpretation which is not intended to be

comprehended by the unitiated. A bedhaya dance can be appreciated on many levels,

without any conflict between instances of interpretation. Apparently, there is no

connection between the esoteric interpretation of the dance sequence according to the

tantric tradition and the actual theme of the dance revolving around the love

relationship of the Goddess of the South Sea with a venerated royal ancestor.

However, a careful look shows that they both deal with the harmonious ‘marriage’,

the union of the physical and the spiritual in which the desire is not rejected but

sublimated and transformed.This brings us back to the religious tenets of the tantric

path which, in opposition to the rigid ascetism of the brahmanic religion, saw the

physical body as potentially divine and considered it as a vehicle for spiritual

transformation. The dance performance being the re-enactment of this divine union

between the Goddess and the Sultan is a religious practice and at the same time an

active practice of meditation. (DVD Ref. 7).

 [195]

4.7.2 Gamelan – music for the Bedhaya performance

The musical accompaniment of bedhaya dances developed in the course of

the 19th century from predominantly choral singing to predominantly orchestral

gamelan music in which singing, though still an important element, became

integrated with the total flow of sound. The shimmering sound of the gamelan

has fascinated and delighted visitors to Indonesia for half a millennium. Sir

Francis Drake, who visited Java in 1580, described Gamelan music as music

‘of a very strange kind, pleasant and delightful’.

Mythological origins

The gamelan has an old and mysterious origin. The instruments developed into their

current form during the Majapahit Empire. Apparently, it predates the Hindu Buddhist

culture that dominated Indonesia in its earliest records and instead represents a native

art form. In contrast to the strong Indian influence in other art forms, the only obvious

Indian influence in gamelan music is in the Javanese style of singing. In the Wéda

Pradangga, his author K.R.T. Warsodinigrat (born 1886 AD), a distinguished

musician of the Surakarta court narrates the origin and history of the gamelan
cxxv
: ‘ In the beginning, the gamelan was first created by Sang Hyang Guru,

who had then been incarnated as the ruler of the land of Java, residing on top

of mount Maendra, in the realm called Medang Kamulan. This mount Maendra

is now called mount Lawu, and forms the border between the kraton of

Surakarta and Madiun. The creation took place in the year 167, with the

chronogram : sound is famous in the world. Its name was gamelan Lokananta

or Lokanata; according to the explanation of G.P.H. Hadiwidjaja of Surakarta,

 [196]

editor of the magazine Pusaka Jawi, the gamelan Lokananta comprises only five

instruments :

1. endingh, which is the kemanak

2. pamatut, which is the kethuk

3. sauran, which is the kenong

4. teteng, which is the kendhang (large drum)

5. maguru, that is the gong… " cxxvi ’

In the writer’s opinion, the heavenly creation of the gamelan is directly

connected with the creation of female dancing, also in heaven :

‘ In the year Iwa 256 of the solar calendar or 265 of the lunar calendar there

were jewels that fell into heaven, right in the month of Manggasri; which

means that there was a radiance as of precious jewels. Thereupon all the gods

performed a ritual over them, and they turned into seven nymphs. Then they

had to perform a dance. That is to dance and circle around the heavenly ocean.

Then they had to perform bedhaya, that is to dance in (a) line(s) accompanied

by the lokananta gamelan (playing kemanak pieces.), together with kidung

singing in kawi metres or sekar ageng. That is the origin of bedhaya in Java.’
cxxvii

In a second story in the Wéda Pradangga, we have the earthy origin of the

gamelan attributed to the historical Sultan Agung of Mataram,

‘ His Royan Highness Sultan Agung was sitting all alone in the middle of the

night, absorbed in worship and clarifying his thoughts. In the night there was

no sign of life, the whole world looked quiet and motionless, and all that was
 [197]

heard was the rustling of the leaves in a sudden breeze, resembling the sound

of the kemanak of the Lokananta gamelan. Softly audible in the wind was the

mysterious sound of beautiful, sublime melody, possessing such great power of

enchantment, that His Majesty became dumbfounded. For a while this melody

remained clearly audible in the sky, the king fixed it in his memory, until he

knew it by heart. Hi s Majesty recalled the time of the gods, the heavenly

dances of the seven nymphs performing bedhaya to the accompaniment of the

Lokananta gamelan and the singing of poetry. Until daybreak the king did not

sleep. The following morning he sent for his music masters : …… his Majesty

related what had happened that night, very accurately. Hence the king got the

idea of creating a bedhaya dance, and he commissioned that melody to be

made into a musical piece to accompany bedhaya dancing, to be embellished

by the playing of the kemanak of the Lokananta gamelan.’ cxxviii

 [198]

4.7.3 Gamelan instruments

The word gamelan comes from the Javanese word gamel, meaning ‘to strike or

hammer’, and the suffix ‘an’ makes the root a collective noun. The instruments of the

Javanese gamelan can be categorized as follows: (1) vertical hanging gongs of various

sizes, (2) horizontally suspended gongs (resembling upside-down kettles), (3) keyed

instruments played with one or with two mallets, (4) drums, (5) a two-stringed fiddle,

(6) a bamboo flute, (7) a stringed zither. In addition, there are female solo vocalists

and a male chorus. Gamelan music allows for improvisation by some of the

instruments (bronze xylophone gender played with two mallets, the rebab fiddle, the

suling flute, the wooden xylophone, gambang), the female vocalist (pesindhen) and

the two-headed kendhang. The improvisations are based on a basic melody called the

balungan (literally, bones) played usually on every beat by the keyed instruments

using one mallet (slenthem, demung, saron, saron panerus). This balungan is also

embellished by the double-rowed horizontally suspended kettle-gongs called bonang

and the one-octave higher bonang panerus. The result is multiple layers of sounds

interacting with each other - one leading, sometimes following and everyone coming

to agreement on the final gong note of the balungan. (Figures 50-51 ).

Gamelan music is characterized by relative pitch, stretched or compressed

octaves, non harmonic intervals played on instruments with predominantly non

harmonic overtone structures. A flexible sense of pitch is needed to

accommodate the different tunings of the various gamelan ensembles. Any

theoretical concern derived from preference for mathematically simple tunings

based on the harmonic properties of vibrating strings seems to be irrelevant for

practicing Javanese musicians, who learn to sense, appreciate, and adapt to

 [199]

individual tunings without the aid of mathematical models or even a complex

terminology or categorization.

Although different gamelan may vary slightly in their tunings, all gamelan must be

in one of two basic intervallic structures--namely, the 5 - tone slendro or the 7- tone

pelog. Neither of these tunings is compatible with the western music tuning system.

For this reason, gamelan may sound ‘out-of-tune’. Each gamelan actually comprises

two complete sets of instruments, one in each of the two tunings of slendro and pelog.

Slendro resembles roughly the raga Mohanam or Hindustani Bhoopali and pelog

resembles Gambheeranata. Each player sits between two instruments and switches

positions depending on the composition being played.

The positioning of gamelan of instruments and performers favors the musical

interaction. Its most important aspect is an orthogonal layout in which all

instruments are parallel or perpendicular to each other and to the front of the

performance area. Instruments tuned to the pelog scale are placed at right

angles to slendro instruments of the same type so most of the musicians in the

ensemble are facing the same direction at any given moment. The elaborating

instruments are generally placed toward the front, the skeletal melody parts in

the middle, and the colotomic parts in the back. The softer instruments are

usually grouped in one area while the louder ones are in another.
 [200]

4.7.4 The Lokananta gamelan

In the Yogyakarta kraton, where the dance is no longer performed as ritual, the

complete gamelan is used as accompaniment, sometimes even featuring cornets.

However in Surakarta, instead of a full gamelan, the only instruments used are the

colotomic instruments, kethuk, kenong, and gong, the kemanak, and drums, kendhang

ketipung and gendhing; there are no balungan instruments and only sometimes other

melodic instruments such as gambang and gendér. It is the Lokananta gamelan of the

origin stories. (Figure 52). In a bedhaya performance, the percussion instruments

like gong, are the leading instruments keeping the timing and rhythm. The

dancer does not dance on the basis of the song melody, but counts her

movements on the beats and the sub-beats of the gong. The cycle of the

dancer’s movement coincides with a cycle of the colotomic structure.

The gamelan music for a bedhaya performance is structured over a regular series of

beats (multiples of 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, and even 256) in a cycle. The end of the cycle is

marked by the biggest hanging gong. The gong cycle is subdivided either by two or

four, marked by the big horizontally suspended kettle-gongs called kenong. The

medium-sized hanging gongs called kempul mark the middle of those subdivisions,

depending on the particular form. In between the kempuls and kenongs, there is a

possible further subdivision marked by the small horizontally suspended kethuk. This

whole time-structure is called the colotomic structure and is the basis of all gamelan

music. The oldest and most revered classical pieces usually have the longest gong

cycles (128 or 256 beats).

 [201]

A typical colotomic structure of the most popular light classical form known as

gendhing kethuk 2 kerep is as follows:

…T …. …T …K

…T …. …T …K

…T …. …T …K

…T …. …T …G

where T is the ketuk, K is the kenong, and G is the gong while kempul is not used in

this form).

Colotomic structures are played in various tempos. Like Indian Carnatic music, there

are different speeds. First speed is called irama lancar, the second speed, irama

tanggung, the third, irama dadi, and the fourth, irama ciblon. There is a fifth speed

called irama rangkep. Unlike Carnatic music, the subdivision of the beat is always by

four. There are no timings in five, six, or seven beats and so forth. The changes in

speed are gradual. At certain points prescribed by the music form, the whole group

slows down little by little until there is enough space for the improvising instruments

to double up. At that point, everyone glides effortlessly into the next speed. In order to

end the piece, the tempo will speed up until the improvising instruments can no longer

play comfortably and are forced to drop down in speed. At the very end, when

everyone is approaching the final gong, there is a slowing down. When the last gong

is played, everyone waits a split second until the gong sounds and then they play their

note.
 [202]

A gamelan has been described as ‘one instrument played by many people’. The

Javanese musicians interact musically with a common goal : the aesthetic

fulfillment derived from a perfect blending. There is also concern with

correctness, ensuring that everything fits together and is balanced properly. In

religious ceremonies like the bedhaya performance, this element of harmony

may be insisted upon by the demands of ritual rightness. However, the musical

structure can be flexible. This flexibility is often necessary to ensure

coordination of disparate activities. In a gamelan performance the sequence of

events may be fixed but the progression through that sequence often varies and

so music is adapted to these needs.

 [203]

4.9 Kidun : the singing of poetry

In Pustaka Raja, a book of the 19th century, the author Ranggawarsita defines

bedhaya as dancing in rows to the accompaniment of songs,

“…they had to perform bedhaya, that is to dance in (a) line(s) to the musical

accompaniment of kidung singing.” cxxix

This shows how essential is, according to the Javanese authors, the singing of

poetry, called “kidun” or “(se)singir” in the bedhaya performance. It is essential

in creating the proper atmosphere of sound in which the dancing takes place

and in keeping with the charged environment of the kraton and of the royal

presence. The instruments of gamelan ensemble are responsible of the rhythm

and time cycles of the performance . ‘As for the melody of the composition,
cxxx
this comes from ‘kidung singing in kawi metre or sekar ageng’ . The terms

sekar kawi and sekar ageng refer to Javanese poetic texts set to metres of

Sanskrit origin, sung to a Javanese melody.

The songs serve as a source of inspiration for the performers. This is

cxxxi
beautifully expressed in the introductory song of the Yogyakarta Srimpi

Renggawati, ‘pinuja mantra sinukmeng galih, ri sang murti adining kusuma’,

which translates as, the mantra being offered (in performance) penetrates into the

heart of (the dancer who is) the incarnation of the noble princess, i.e.

Renggawati. Here, the song is refered to as a mantra, indicating its ritual

character. In fact, the terms kidung and especially (se)singir refer to singing

associated with religious, magical or ecstatic experiences. In many passages of

the Seart Centhini there are descriptions of gatherings in which ‘Javanese

singir’ are sung. Dance may also be a part of these sessions which are rather
 [204]

wild, leading to ecstatic and sometimes erotic, magical and religious

experiences. cxxxii

In most 19th and early 20th century manuscripts, the Javanese term for the

songs performed in accompaniment to bedhaya dances is ‘(pe)sindhèn bedhaya’.

These are songs of complex structure, often compiled from a number of

fragments from previously existing poems. Some parts of these texts may in

fact consist of such short fragments that one song text may have several

different and often unrelated topics making it impossible to determine its

central theme. Almost all the early pusaka compositions are examples of this

type. That may be one of the reasons why Dutch officials, when enquired

about the meaning of a bedhaya dance they attended, often got the answer that

the songs were too difficult to understand.

However, there are also several song texts composed especially for one

particular dance and devoted to one particular theme, like the song text of the

Surakarta Bedhaya Elaela. Later Yogyakarta song texts like the one for

Bedhaya Jatiwarna are almost always consistent in their treatment of a theme.

 [205]

4.9.1 Songs for the bedhaya performance

The structure of the song texts can only be understood and described in

relation to the function they fulfill in the dance performance. Although the

performance of Bedhaya Ketawang is a complex ritual event, its structure is

not so complicated. The three main components dance, song and music run

parallel throughout the performance. A tripartite structure characterizes the

composition. The entire performance is divided into three main movements and

the central part of the composition proper is again subdivided into three

sections. The structure of the performance of the Bedhaya Ketawang

composition may be divided into three main phases :

a. processional entrance walk from the royal dalem into the center of the

pendhapa

b. facing the throne – performance of the composition proper

c. processional withdrawal from the royal presence and back into the

dalem

During the dancer’s entrance walk, a male choir solemnly chants an introductory

song called sulukan pathetan lima gedhé, which may be accompanied by a

few softly playing instruments like rebab, gender, gambang, suling. It is a

chant in slow tempo and free rhythm and it is not bound by colotomic

instruments like gong, kenong, kempul, kethuk or by drum beating.

When the dancers have arrived in the centre of the pendhapa, they sit down

on the floor crosslegged facing the throne, waiting for the musicians to start

the song text proper which is typical for this particular composition. The first
 [206]

part of the first line of text is sung by a leading female singer. It is considered

to signal the opening of the piece and is called buka celuk. After the eighth

syllable, with the sound of the deep gong the whole group of both singers and

instrumentalists join in. From this point the colotomic musical structure with the

appropriate drum beats sets in, making the piece a gendhing, an organized

sound with a specific musical structure.

The instrumental accompaniment to the choral singing is performed by a very

small ensemble, called gamelan Lokananta by the Wéda Pradangga. It consists

of instruments providing the interpunctive, temporal and rhythmical structures

of the music. Its characteristic feature is the two kemanak which are struck

alternatively in simple, repetitive patterns, first the one tuned 3, then the one

tuned 2, again the one tuned 3, following by a rest. Since there are no purely

melodic instruments played, the songs performed by the mixed choir provide

the melodic aspect of the composition.

At the first beat of the gong the dancers seated on the floor perform a

solemn salutation with the palms of the hands joined in front of the face. The

hands are in the anjali hasta of Indian dance. This salutation is called

mangenjali or sembahan. The song text of this opening section of the

composition consists of three stanzas of poetry in Durma metre, which belongs

to the category of ‘small metres’ (tembang cilik/sekar alit) or macapat, in

contrast to the ‘large metres’ (tembang gedhe/sekar ageng/sekar kawi). In this

opening section, the song talks of a hero called Joyengsekar, appearing for an

important occasion. When the first three stanzas have been completed, the

singers and musicians stop (suwuk), and the dancers perform another sembah

marking the end of the section, and kneel down on the floor for a short rest.
 [207]

Here, it is to be mentioned that the movements of the dancers do not interpret

the song text, in fact they seem to be quite unrelated to it. They only follow

the punctuated moments of the musical instruments. However this aspect of the

dance seems to be in perfect harmony with its sacredeness. The Dutch scholar

van Leyveldt in his book on Javanese dancing expressed the opinion that

bedhaya dancing was ‘misused’ if it interpreted the song text and the

accompanying music. cxxxiii

The second part of the composition opens by a solo female singer who sings

the first line of poetry, ‘semang-semang as area let guguling’. The singers,

musicians and dancers join in at the gong beat on the second last syllable

‘gu’. The musical structure differs from that in the first part. In the first part

the gong was struck throughout at each 16th musical beat (keteg) – marking the

composition as ketawang – hence the name Bedhaya Ketawang. In the second

part the musical structure appears more complex with a first movement,

mérong followed by a second movement, (m)inggah. Here the kethuk beats are

frequent and so the structure is called kethuk loro kerep. These two movements

are played alternately in part two, with their appropriate drum and gong

patterns. In this second part, the singers have to sing in two alternate scales

from pélog to sléndro and back several times.

In the beginning of the second part the dancers again perform the opening

salutation at the first gong beat, then stand up and dance uninterruptedly.

Many of the dance patterns of the first part one are repeated in the second.

The song text of the second part is not in macapat metre but consists of sets

of wangsalan lines, a kind of literary riddle, expressing feelings of love and

devotion towards the Susuhunan. This is emphasized in the refrain : ‘ning Wong
 [208]

Agung Susuhunan’ referring possibly to Sultan Agung. At the end of the

second part the musicians stop, the dancers kneel down in front of the throne

and perform the sembah.

The third part of the performance is again opened by a female solo voice

singing the first line, the musical structure is ketawang with the singers

continuing in sléndro. The choreography of part three has a duet piece between

the two leading dancers batak and èndhèl. The song text is irregular with lines

containing eight, seven, nine or eleven syllables, interspersed with refrain lines
cxxxiv
as Susuhunan ndhé or Panembahan ndhé . It contains mainly praises to the

ruler and ends in a rather unexpected way with a question about death :

“when you die, where do you enter, Kyai? .

At the end of this part, the dancers arrange themselves in a group of three

times three, and turn to the four directions of the pendhapa, before sitting on

the floor to perform the final sembah. This marks the end of the composition.

After a short pause, the male choir chants pathetan as before, while the

dancers withdraw from the royal presence, solemnly in a single file.

 [209]

4.9.2 Pesindhèn bedhaya : singing style

Choral singing in Java is performed in two ways :

a. Syllabic chanting (sulukan panthetan, lagon) by a male choir, usually of a

small number of (non-metrical) poetic lines

b. Melismatic singing by a mixed, but predominantly female choir, usually of

(metrical) verse, or of wangsalan lines.

The musicians and singers are seated in an adjoining hall, also to the south

of the large pendhapa. The pesindhèn behdaya use the second type of singing

style. The chanting by male choir is only an introductory feature and non-

specific for bedhaya compositions, as it also occurs in different artistic contexts

such as battle dances or wayang performances. The very slow pace of the

singing coupled with extremely long passages of sustained breath, during which

a syllable is also sustained, often with slowly evolving melodic embellishments.

In some of these long passages, the singers may take turns in continuing the

singing, so that the person starting the passage may get time to take a breath

in the middle and then sing on to carry the passage to its end. In such

passages, the singers do not at all times perform in unison, but more in an

overlapping manner. The melodic patterns of the singing and the

interpunctuating patterns of the instrumental music do not run parallel : vocal

patterns precede the colotomic structure which is dominated by the gong, and

also last longer than gong phrases, so that the melody could be said to

embrace the instrumental phrasing structure. A rather curious melodic feature is

the change of scales from pélog to sléndro, executed in a few phrases during
 [210]

the two concluding wangsalan groups in the second part of the lyrical text;

the sléndro part is characterized by the interjection ‘andhé’

Poetic features

The early pesindhèn behdaya are composed of a number of different textual

fragments, parts of which were probably selected from existing works of

poetry, while other sections are made up of groups of wangsalan. Each of

these parts, sections or lines, may have an identifiable content or message, but

these are not always clearly connected semantically. The combination of the

different parts into a whole section of the text may be suggestive in a certain

symbolic manner, as a kind of pasemon. Some of the later bedhaya texts are

completely devoted to one specific theme that could derive from all kinds of

literary works, such as Panji stories, historical writings (babad), wayang stories

or romances like the Ménak Amir Hamza. The three Surakarta pusaka

compositions Bedhaya Ketawang, Gadung Mlathi and Sumreg, all have a

similar structure.

The singing of wangsalan is a distinguishing feature of 19th century Surakarta

pesindhen bedhaya. Wangsalan are not restricted to the domain of pesindèn

bedhaya or to poetry but may also be used in conversation, particularly in

situations of flirtation or playing games. Some of them are so well known that

are used as expressions. A wangsalan is a short of “answering riddles”. The first

line of the riddle may comprise a "nonsense" phrase, containing an old Javanese word

which sounds like another old Javanese word which is not present in the text. In the

second "answering" line of the riddle then may come the modern Javanese

"translation" of the absent old Javanese word. Or perhaps an obscure reference may
 [211]

evoke an image, which suggests a modern Javanese word, which word in turn sounds

like a old Javanese word which is to follow in the subsequent "answering" line.

Typically they consist of two parts :

1. an expression that contains a paraphrase of a natural phenomenon, a

plant or an animal for example ‘witing klapa’, coconut palm. This

paraphrase or riddle has a ‘solution’ in this case the word ‘glugu’, a

particular type of coconut plant.

2. a word or expression serving as the ‘ángsal’ or ‘jawab’, the outcome or

answer pf the first part, by sound association or assonance, such as the

word ‘saluguné’ meaning “actually”. Thus, witing klapa through a

semantic similarity suggests glugu, which in turn suggests through sound

similarity saluguné.

The wangsalan of the pesindhèn bedhaya have been set in independent

formalized structures or wangsalan lampah. These consist of two lines with

twelve syllables forming a pair. The first line contains the paraphrase or riddle

and the second one the message or answer. Each line of twelve syllables is

subdivided into two parts or gatra, the first gatra having four syllables, the

second gatra eight.

1a) 4 + b) 8

2a) 4 + b) 8
 [212]

Here is an example used in the second section of Bedhaya Ketawang :

1a) balé atma b) tunjung alit sinaroja

2a) lamun kangen b) tumuntur pundi parannya

Here the two gatra of the first line are not semantically connected and are

often separated in performance by a pause in contrast to the two gatra of the

second line containing the actual message of he wangsalan.

1a) seat of the soul , i.e. angen- angen (thinking, thoughts)

1b) small double lotuses , i.e. palutur (a type of lotus flower)

The first gatra of the first line is here related to the first gatra of the second

line. The expression ‘balé atma’ points to the batangan (solution) ‘angen-

angen’, seat of thoughts, intellect, mind which, in its turn suggests the word

‘kangen’, longing, in the second line. The expression ‘tunjung alit sinaroja’ may

be regarded as a paraphrase of ‘palutur’ which again by its sound structure

suggests the word ‘tumuntur’ in the second line. Now, it is the two gatras of

the second line that contain the actual message of the expression :

‘when (someone is) longing, he/she will follow wherever (the

beloved) goes ’.

The two wangsalan lines may be considered to carry the same message. The

first is doing it in an indirect and the second in a direct manner.

The use of wangsalan in tripled or coupled pairs of lines with twelve syllables

each are common to the mystical suluk treatises and to the pesindhèn bedhaya

texts. In the Serat Centhini, wangsalan are also sung in accompaniment to

 [213]

dancing by professional dancing boys, transvestites dressed as women, who have

been educated in unorthodox mystical muslim practices. This occurrence of

wangsalan in mystical treatises and in the Serat Centhini connects them with the

spread of Islam in Java, during whch choral singing by groups of religious

practitioners, called slawatan, santiswara, lebangan kèdung or sesingir became

popular.

The litany of Bedhaya Ketawang

Tirtaamidjaja wrote in his article ‘although the dance itself has no plot or story to

tell, the litany sung by the female choir conveys the essential meaning of the whole
cxxxv
ritual.’ The Bedhaya Ketawang litany is not a narrative poem. Written in a

cryptic style, this song is not meant to tell a story. Rather, the Bedhaya Katawang

lyric suggests the mysteries of erotic transport, kingly power, and ultimately of death

and eternity. The litany is complex and difficult. A major portion of the song is

composed in wangsalan which tend to work through several levels of sound and

sense association and often between and across languages. The translation of the

song that follows will help us to understand the important role of

wangsalan. The language of the poem is an archaic form of literary modern Javanese,

with a great admixture of old Javanese, or Kawi, vocabulary. Its lyrics, due both to

their premeditated obscurity and their antiquity, are largely unintelligible to Javanese

today.

The Bedhaya Ketawang litany is composed in traditional Javanese verse. Written in

both Kawi (or sekar ageng) and Macapat (or sekar alti) metres, the song is divided

into three sections, as is the musical accompaniment and the choreography. The initial
 [214]

section, in macapat verse, is composed in the impassioned and sometimesmartial

seven-line Durma metre. It describes the richly adorned figure of a Javanese hero

setting forth—as if to battle—on (or perhaps from) an erotic encounter. The second

section is composed in the Kawi meters Candrawilasita, Suraretna, and Retnamulya.

This second section, the most arcane of the song, is written almost entirely in the form

of wangsalan. The riddles evoke the depth of Kangjeng Ratu Kidul’s passion for

Panembahan Senapati and his royal successors, as well as the profundity of her

despair and sorrow upon separation from these her serial lovers. The final section of

the song, in the Kawi Salisir meter, sings Ratu Kidul’s praises for the sexual, political,

and ultimately metaphysical potency of her lovers, the Susuhunan.

cxxxvi
The text , presented here, is transliterated from a Javanese script manuscript

produced at the Kraton Surakarta nearly 130 years ago. That manuscript, Serai

Pasindhen Badhaya: Kagungan-dalem ing Kadipaten Anom ingkang kaping IV, was

copied by a noble of the Kraton, R.M.Panji Ranaasmara, from a manuscript which

had belonged to his king, I.S.K.S. Pakubuwana IX (1861-93), prior to his accession to

the throne. The manuscript copy is dated 26 Sawal Je 1790 (April 26,1862).
 [215]

Sindhèn Bedhaya Ketawang

Raka pakenira sampun atengara

sira puniki kari

angling Jayèngsekar

lah bapa tengoroha

tumulya tengara nitir

sumreg atata

saparannya ngajap sih

Alancingan pethak alus kampuh jingga

sabuk pathola wilis

akris cinitrèng mas

sengkang maniking toya

binapang ing mas angrawit

sekar cempaka

gegonda amrik minging

 [216]

Akekacé cindhé binggel mas rinengga

ya urap-urap sari

jamang mas tinatrap

ing retna adikara

asumping swarna lar rumbing

sumarsana-bra

sumer gandanya amrik

(Mendhak muni kenong arang) cxxxvii

Semang-semang asaréya let geguling

déwa dharat apit-apit ing gapura

kadrawasan guguling angglar ring jogan

ning wong agung Susuhunan

Sapa baya kang ngawelasa ing brangti

pandamingrat kusuma dinanurwènda

kawistara nanging sira ing papreman

ning wong agung Susuhunan

 [217]

Danu madya ambara lali sih jiwa

dèn-asamar awèta anuwun pada Susuhunan

Léléwané yèn prapta geteri ati

wiyanggaίit rondhoné sira tilarsa

dèn-alilih salira sapa darbéya

ning wong agung Susuhunan

Poma-poma yèn babar aja nglingsiri

tuduhena gèn manira angawula

sun anuwun pada baya

sunbalinga yèn katona dadi lara

dadi édan baya

Susuhunan

Kapan baya wong agung babo sun apanggih

ing papreman ning wong agung

balé atma tunjung alit sinaroja

lamun kangen tumutur pundi parannya

 [218]

Saturuné wong agung babo ing papreman

pramadya tangis nimbok dhangur

cinawisa saraga temah wiyoga

bok langak temah wiyoga

tan apanggih yèn boya sor raga-jiwa

(Nunten mendhak nembah mungel kenong arang)

Bebagusé wayuha sanambang

dhé

sindura pinipis pindho

Susuhunan

anglawat akèh rabiné

Susuhunan

dhé

anglawat kathah garwané

Susuhunan

dhé
 [219]

sosotya angglar ring méga

Susuhunan

kadi lintang kuwasané

Ananangis tumengèng tawang

dhé

kadya lintang pakartiné panembahan

tanu astra kadi ta agni urubé

kantar-kantar kiyahi

yèn mati ngendi surupe kiyahi

 [220]

In translation:

I.

Your brother has sounded the signal

You are left behind

Jayengsekar cxxxviii spoke

O Father, give the sign

Then the signal sounded

In ever clashing clamor

All along the way mad with love

Clad in fine white trousers, in skirts cxxxix of deep red hue cxl

With dark green silken belt cxli

With gold encrusted kens

Brilliant diamond earrings

Set in fine gold filagree

Frangipanni blossoms

Of redolent fragrance sweet

 [221]

With flowing sash cxlii of cindhé cxliii silk, adorned with golden bracelets

Yea, annointed with fragrant balms

[His] golden diadem studded

With rarest precious jewels

And gracing his ears, gossamer wings of gold

Frangipanni blossoms bright

So redolent of fragrance sweet

Π.

Heart veiled with care, when [we together ] lay parted by a pillow

Earth-descended gods aflank a mighty gate

All is lost—the pillow lies fallen on the floor cxliv

O mighty Susuhunan

Who then shall take pity on the transport of [my] love?

Light of the world, flower of enlightenment:

Manifest bright are but thou in the bed cxlv

O mighty Susuhunan
 [222]

The enthralling arrow soars to oblivion in soulful love cxlvi

Secreted deep within the heart; ever may [I] fall before the Sunan's feet cxlvii

The allure of his approach stirs my heart

Little frog, thou tilarsa leaf

Be [thou] calmed; to whom then does [my]self belong? cxlviii

Oh mighty Susuhunan

Oh ! Never once risen let [it] set again

Show me how to serve [thee] cxlix

1 shall beg to lie beneath [thy] feet perhaps

Were it manifest in truth I would fall sick

Perhaps [I would] go mad

Susuhunan

When, O Mighty Lord, shall I meet [thee]

In the bed, O Mighty Lord?

Seat of the soul, little lake-borne lotus bloom

When lost in longing, whither must [I] call? cl

 [223]

All thy scions, O Mighty Lord—Ah! in the bed

Blinded by tears is she Dhangur cli

[Her] body wholly yielded, it is but sorrow in the end

[And] to stand with head held high means but sorrow in the end

There is no meeting save surrender body and soul.clii

IΠ.

O! His beauty, may a thousand be his wives

As if

His crimson sash is edged on either side cliii

The Susuhunan

Wanders, cliv many are his wives

The Susuhunan

As if

Wandering, many are his queens

The Susuhunan

As if

Jewels strewn among the clouds

 [224]

The Susuhunan

His power is like the stars

Weeping [I] gaze upon the heavens

As if

Like the stars, thy works, Panembahan

The arrow's shaft, like fire its blaze

A rage of flames, My Lord

Should death come, where in shall it steal,clv My Lord?

 [225]

Conclusion

Contrasted with the male warrior dances expressing the fierce character of the ruler

toward the enemies of his kingdom, the Bedhaya dance, delicate, exhuming an

otherwordly grace, expresses the all-protective aspect of kingship.The welfare of the

realm and its people is sensed to be ensured by the renewal of the bond between the

Queen of the Southern ocean and the king, realised in the annual performance of

Bedhaya in the royal kraton. Nurtured by the esoteric principles of Shaivism and

Buddhism and supported by the living tradition of Javanese mysticism (Kebatinan),

the aim of its performance is to create beauty and harmony, both external and internal;

to create delight but a delight that touches and transforms the soul both of the

performers and the audience.

The manifestation of inner beauty in the external form through the medium of dance,

seems to be the preoccupation of yet another female dance style, the third and last in

this journey. Originated in yet another island of South-east Asia known for its

longlasting tradition in Performing arts, Japan, Kamigata Mai is a very elegant dance

form, shaped under the feminine court aesthetics of the Heian period and the ascetic

ideals of Zen Buddhism. On the stage the mai dancer has an otherwordly beauty: on

her mask like face, her eyes betray the secret flame of passion consuming the entire

dancing body.