Indonesia has an incomparable cultural diversity, both its stunning natural beauty and cultural richness. One of the Indonesian cultural tours that is quite popular and still survives today is the Ramayana Ballet. Since 1961, the Ramayana Ballet, which is often performed at Prambanan Temple, is a performance that combines dance and drama without dialogue. The dialogue in this ballet is replaced by choreography or meaningful movements such as gestures, hand movements, and heads. Raising the Hindu epic Ramayana story adapted to Javanese culture makes the Ramayana Ballet a slick dance. More than 200 professional dancers and local musicians took part in the Ramayana Ballet.
Did you know, Sahabat Javanologi? At first, the Ramayana Ballet was an idea as stated in the MPRS decree no 1/MPRS/1960 which stated “that to finance the development of government projects, a source of funds from the tourism sector is needed”. And one of these sectors is a plan or project to revive the tourism sector which will later increase foreign exchange earnings.
The Prambanan Ramayana Ballet comes from Fiber Rama, the most popular version of the new Javanese literary version of the Ramayana story among the public. According to Poerbatjaraka, Serat Rama macapat is the best contemporary Javanese book. However, he criticized the writer of Serat Rama who was considered to be lacking in Old Javanese language, so the parts that were not understood were composed.
The Ramayana Ballet tells the story of Rama’s struggle to save his wife Sinta who was kidnapped by Ravana, the King of the Alengka State because he considers Sinta to be the incarnation of Dewi Widowati, the woman he loves very much.
The Prambanan Ramayana Ballet is often held every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 19.30 to 21.30 WIB. This performance is performed on an open stage (Open Stage) only in the dry month, and outside of that the performance is held on a closed stage (Trimurti Stage). The beauty of the cultural-laden performances of the Prambanan Ramayana Ballet can be a means of education and entertainment for local and foreign tourists. So, don’t miss it, Sahabat Javanologi!.
Author: Renata Listya Kusuma Wangi
Source: https://borobudurpark.com/event/763/
