Javanese dancer portraying Rama at theater performance in Yogyakarta
About this photograph
- Creator
- Margery H. Freeman
- Date created
- Unknown
- Location
- Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- License
- This photograph copyright ©2006. Terms of use
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A Javanese dancer portrays Rama in a theatrical performance at the royal capital city of Yogyakarta, on the island of Java, Indonesia, in July 1986.
The dancer is positioned in a refined male dance pose, resting on one knee with the other foot bent forward in front. Both arms are bent and turned inward with the fingers curled. Rama’s right hand is held up in front of his bare chest while his left is extended and resting on his forward left knee. Indonesian classical dances are performed barefoot with toe positions as important as hand or eye movements.
The Javanese Rama character is recognizable by his costume. He wears a tall crown with a backward-extending upward curl, and a gold-trimmed green sash across his chest. The brown, black, and white batik sarong wrapped over his red print trousers is adorned with the “broken sword” design, which once was restricted to members of the Javanese royal family in Yogyakarta. Thus, the Indian epic’s king, an incarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu, can be envisioned in the Javanese royal courts as a model of their own royal family.
Like most of the Southeast Asian mainland, the main islands of what is now Indonesia entered trade relations with royal courts in India during the first millennium A.D. Contacts with Hindu Indian priests and scholars led to the arrival of Sanskrit scriptures and epics appreciated by local rulers who favored a vision of government where kings and their monuments were conceived as models of gods and heavenly perfection on earth.
Starting in the late 1200s, some maritime centers in the westernmost island of Sumatra began to be influenced by Islam. Hindu or Buddhist courts farther east gradually declined in power compared to Muslim ones, except on the island of Bali, which has retained a majority Hindu population to the present.
Elsewhere in Indonesia, Islam became the most prevalent religion, especially after Christian Portuguese and Dutch military incursions and competition between the 1500-1900s. Nevertheless, in Indonesian areas where Hinduism once existed, ancient Indian epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata are still appreciated for their drama and wisdom. Fascination for their heroes and intricate plots has never ceased.
