The Emory Javanese Gamelan Presents: Javanese Shadow Puppetry, April 13, 2024.

Lakon: Bima Bumbu
This episode comes from the Mahabharata, one of the oldest Sanskrit epics. The Mahabharata story tells of a conflict between two sets of siblings, the Kurawas and the Pandawas, over the kingdom of Hastina. The Kurawas are ninety-nine brothers and (in the Javanese version) one sister, born to Gendari and Destarada after Gendari’s two-year pregnancy and with help from the Hindu goddess Durga. The Pandawas are five brothers born to Kunthi and Pandu. Pandu and Destarada are brothers and both heirs to the kingdom of Hastina, making the Kurawas and the Pandawas cousins. The Kurawas were raised to rival and take over Hastina from the Pandawas. The origin of the family feud lies in an archery competition.
During the long course of the epic, the Kurawas play many tricks to sabotage and eliminate the Pandawas. One night, the Kurawas throw a festive party for the Pandawas and their mother, Kunthi, as a sign of friendship. After the party, the Kurawas burn the villa in which the Pandawas are sleeping. The eldest of the Kurawas, Duryudana, believes that the Pandawas all burned to death and becomes the new king of Hastina. However, the Pandawas miraculously escape from the fire and return to reclaim the kingdom. Surprised and furious, the Kurawas declare war against the Pandawas.
Thus begins tonight’s episode, Lakon Bimo Bumbu. As the Pandawas flee the burning villa, they find refuge at a village, called Manahilan, which sits at the outskirt of a powerful kingdom, Ekacakra. Ekacakra kingdom is ruled by Prabu Boko, a raksasa (giant ogre), who has taken a liking to eating human meat. Prabu Boko used to only eat the criminals but as he ran out of the criminals, he commanded the surrounding villages to surrender their villagers, one by one, to feed his great appetite. At Manahilan, the Pandawas meet Ki Deman Ijirapa, the head of the village, who is profoundly sad because he must send one of his villagers as a human sacrifice to Prabu Boko. The mother of the Pandawa asks Bima, her son and the strongest warrior of the entire realm, to end this cruel practice. So, Bima, accompanied by his younger brother Arjuna and Ki Deman Ijirapa, willingly goes into the Ekacakra to confront Prabu Boko.
At his palace, Prabu Boko waits for his human meal. Irritated that it has not arrived, his female servant, Emban Kepet Mega, suggests that his ogre army descend on the village of Manahilan to demand a human sacrifice. On the way to the village, the raksasa are challenged by Bima, Arjuna and Ki Deman Ijirapa. They battle in the forest. Bima triumphs and continues to travel deeper into the Kingdom. He enters the palace and finds Prabu Boko dancing happily as he anticipates his long-waited human meal. Challenging Prabu Boko, Bima uses his divinely endowed weapon-his powerful magical nails-to fight a duel and slay Prabu Boko. Peace is restored in the kingdom and its surrounding villages as no more humans will be turned into meat! With this problem solved, the Pandawas continue to travel back to their home kingdom of Hastina, where many more adventures await them.
This evening’s performance by dalang Darsono Hadiraharjo stops here. However, the story of the Mahabharata does not end peacefully. Each time the Kurawas wage war against the Pandawas, ambassadors of peace (such as the Hindu god, Krishna) intervene. Many attempts at diplomacy fail, and the Pandawas and the Kurawas start the great war of Baratayuda. The conflict kills all of the Pandawas’ children and their families, and all of the Kurawas, with the exception of the eldest brother, Duryudana. At the very end of the Javanese Mahabharata, the grandson of Arjuna, the third eldest Pandawa brother, finally becomes the king of Hastina.
Tonight’s concert is blessed with the presence of our guest musicians: Anne Stebinger (co-director of the Gamelan Kusuma Laras, NYC), Phil Acimovic (director of the Yale Gamelan Suprabanggo), Wayne Forrest (American Indonesian Culture and Education Foundation, and Gamelan Kusumo Laras, NYC) and Genevieve Tauxe.
The purpose of the Emory Javanese Gamelan Ensemble Paksi Kencana (Sacred Eagle) is to provide students and community members with the chance to learn about Javanese music and culture through performance. The learning experience is our primary consideration - not the giving of concerts - and as we are all beginners, we would like to emphasize that our performance is only a shadow of the real thing. The instruments arrived on the Emory campus in 1997.
We are grateful to Emory University’s Department of Music, First Year Flourishing Initiative, LINC initiative, Emory Arts, and the Provost Initiative fund for supporting our performance this evening.
Finally, special thanks go to American Indonesian Cultural and Educational Foundation (AICEF) which has granted the funding to purchase and own a whole set of Javanese shadow puppets.