Ramayana ballet The Ramayana has long been rendered on the Balinese stage through the Wayang Wong, a classical dance drama enacting scenes from the Hindu epic in sequel performances over a period of three or four days, A few years ago, a new dance interpretation of the Ramayana, was introduced the island by Kokar, the Conservator of Instrumental Arts and Dance.
Accompanied by the gamelan gong orchestra, the Ramayana Ballet is a unique mixture of traditional dace technique and modern motifs of slapstick comedy. The story opens in the forest, of dandaka where Rama, Laksmana and Sita have transformed their banishment into a peaceful life in the woods. Because of their ideal beauty, women usually dance the royal brothers: Rama wearing a golden crown and Laksmana a black headdress. Their manner is stately and heroic the refined, style of dance reserved for regal personal. In contrast to their noble bearing, the demon king Rawana takes large, dynamic steps a fiery mode of dance, which shows the grandiloquent arrogance of a tyrant.


Frequently, it is the animals of the Ramayana Ballet who steal the show. In Balinese theatre, animals have license to improvise fantastic dance styles of their own. One remembers the golden deer that gaily prances before Rama yet always manages to slip from his grasp, the brave Jatayu bird that vainly attempts to rescue Sita, and, of course, the inevitable monkey business. Freed from social, the monkeys may wheel about creating the most comical situations. Hanuman, the monkey general, outwits two horrific cleverly maneuvering out of their way, so that they end up knocking each other out. Aside from delighting in this comic relief, the Balinese are extremely tolerant of their performers a charging monkey, by mistake, fall on his tail, he is all the more hilarious to his attentive audience.
The two great Hindu epics, the Ramayana (Story of Prince Rama) and the Mahabharata (War of the Bharatas), have been dear to the hearts of Asians for over a thousand years. Translated from Sanskrit into Kawi, the old Javanese language of literature, these Immortal poems continue to inspire the arts and stimulate the imaginations of Indonesians with a world of heroism and adventure. In Bali, artists reinterpret the epics in stone relief’s, woodcarvings, ink drawings and paintings. Delighted crowds gather to watch the Wayang Kulit puppets cast shadows of mystical princes and monsters across the screen, to the chanting of a storyteller. In the classical play Wayang Wong, in the contemporary Ramayana Ballet and in the choral drama of the modern Kecak, or Monkey Dance, the tales from these epics are re-enacted with great enthusiasm and appreciated by viewers who find beauty in their many interpretations.
The reason for the popularity of the Ramayana and Mahabharatha goes deeper than mere entertainment. One main theme of Hindu literature in Bali is the symbolic struggle between absolute good and absolute evil. The principal characters and their allies are defined on a moral basis. Rama, hero of the Ramayana, is a reincarnation of Vishnu, the Preserver, and embodies the ideal of manly virtues: strength, endurance, love and devotion to truth. His wives, Sita, are the ideal of womanly faithfulness and marital love, while his companion and brother, Laksmana, personifies fraternal courage and loyalty. Ramas antagonist, Rawana, the many headed demon king with a retinue of giants, revels in lust, deceit, and hatred. The opposition between hero and fiend could be no more extreme.
Where the Ramayana illuminates the ethics human relationships, the Mahabharata sings of the glorious exploits and deeds of battle in the war of the Bharathas (an ethnic name for he ancient, warlike races of Northern India). The verses ring of dazzling feats of warriors unconquerable, tournaments of princes, daring escapes from death, and mercy-less revenge in a bloody feud between two rival royal houses. The heroes of the epic are the noble Pandawas, five brothers of divine birth who are the models of goodness and virtue. They fight against their hundred cousins, the perfidious Korawas. Led by their wicked king Duryodana, the Korawas are the apotheosis of greed and jealousy.
As the adventures of a wandering prince exiled from his kingdom, the Ramayana can be likened to the Odyssey of ancient Greece; while the Mahabharata, as a saga of fiery episodes based upon a great historical war, recalls the Iliad. In both Hindu epics is woven a thread of high moral purpose the ultimate triumph of virtue and subjugation of vice. Every episode performed on stage or portrayed in art is, in away, a parable relevant to present-day Indonesia. Heroes of the epics are much more than fictional characters to the people. Each defines both a personality and a way of behaviour. Many times an Indonesian describes a friend by likening him to a mythological hero, as he is powerful and strong willed, like the warrior Bima (hero of the Mahabharata).
The oldest version of the Ramayana, attributed to the Indian sage Valmiki, was written around the 3rd or 4th century B.C. The Mahabharata, ascribed to the poet Vyasa, probably reached its present form in the 4th century A.D., though parts are many centuries older. Through the ages poets infused the theme of the epics with additions, until they grew to monumental proportions. The present version of the Ramayana in India consists of 24,000 verses divided into 500 songs; the Mahabharata, probably the longest single poem of world literature, is nearly 90,000 stanzas in its final form. The Indonesian translations written during the Hindu era in Central and East Java are among the most beautiful poems in Old Javanese literature. The following are brief synopses of the epics, in prose. Quotations are from translations by the late Romesh C. Dutt.
STORY OF PRINCE RAMA In the kingdom of Kosala, nears the Himalayas. Reigned King Dasarata who had four sons Rama, Barata, Laksmana and Saturgna. Raised in wisdom and righteousness, the princes lived always in harmony and were an endless source of happiness to the king and his people. At a great age, Dasarata realized lie must give up his throne. He told his subjects to prepare for the coronation of his eldest son, Rama.
The populace joyously embellished the capital with decorations for the momentous occasion. Yet there was one unmoved by the general enthusiasm. Kekayi, Dasaratas second wife and mother of Barata, fostered secret ambitions for her own son. Urged by her wicked servant Muntara, she reminded the king he owed her two, unfulfilled vows. Now she made her demands: that Barata must be king and Rama banished for fourteen years to the forest of Dandaka.
The king, trembling, with sorrow and rage could not revoke his promises and, forthwith announced Kekayis requests as royal commands. Rama, respectfully obeying his roya father, prepared to go. As he was leaving, Sita, ran to the gate, begging permission to accompany him. Rama refused because of the danger, and hardships of the forest, but Sita replied from her heart

For my mother often told me And my father often spake, That her home the wedded woman Doth beside her husband make, As the shadow to the substance, To her lord is faithful wife And she parts not from her consort Till she parts with fleeting fife.

Laksmana also insisted on following. Finally Rama consented and the three started for the forest.
The kingdom of Kosala grieved. The king overcome by sadness, soon fell ill and died everyone went into mourning Kekayi too mourned, but only in pretence. As soon as time permitted, she approached their son. Much to her dismay, Barata steadfastly refused crown and ruled the kingdom only as Rama