Abstracts for the Workshop. Jointly organized by

Transcription

1 Abstracts for the Workshop REPLAYING THE PAST PERFORMANCES OF HINDU TEXTUAL HERITAGE IN INDIA AND BALI 31 January 1 February 2013 Jointly organized by Asia Research Institute (ARI) & Religion Cluster, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences National University of Singapore

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Pañcakuśika and Kanda Mpat: From a Pāśupata Myth to Balinese Folklore ANDREA ACRI 3 Rājayoga: e Reincarnations of the King of All Yogas JASON BIRCH 4 Creative Rivalries: e Utsawa Dharma Gita Competition and the Contemporary Evolution of Balinese Textual Singing HELEN CREESE 5 Puja Tri Sandhyā: Indian Mantras Re-composed and Standardized in Bali SUGI LANUS 6 e Vedamūrti: Embodying the Veda in Contemporary Maharashtra BORAYIN LARIOS 7 Why I Have Chosen the Wayang-Style of Balinese Painting I GUSTI NYOMAN MIRDIANA 8 A Very Present History in the Land of the Gods: Modern Māhātmya Writing on Uttarākhaṇḍ ANDREA MARION PINKNEY 9 Popularising Religious Values through Textual Singing on Interactive Radio and TV Programs in Bali I NYOMAN DARMA PUTRA 10 Purana Pravacana and Harikatha: Perspectives from a Field Study in Karnataka ANANTH RAO 11 e Legend of Devi Tulja Bhavani: Re-scripting in the Service of Pilgrimage Economy KIRAN SHINDE 12 Singing the Past into the Present: e Memory of Marathi Kirtan in Tamil Brahmin Bhajana Practices DAVESH SONEJI 13 Yoga in Bali: Old Texts and Present Practice MICHELE STEPHEN 14 1

3 Stories of God : Contemporary Oral Performance of Bhāgavata-kathā MCCOMAS TAYLOR 15 Re-imagining the Mahabharata in Bali ADRIAN VICKERS 16 Ārudra Darśanam Mahotsava in Contemporary Cidambaram ALEKSANDRA WENTA 17 e History of a Narrative: e Story of Prince Aja and Princess Indumatī in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Bali PETER WORSLEY 18 2

4 Pañcakuśika and Kanda Mpat: From a Pāśupata Myth to Balinese Folklore Andrea Acri Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore ACCORDING to a widespread Balinese belief, four older mystical siblings, or kanda mpat, accompany each human baby at birth in form of the amniotic fluid, blood, the umbilical cord, and the placenta and throughout his life until, and even a er, death. Speculations and practices around the kanda mpat have been transmitted on the island not only through oral folk-lore, but especially through innumerable texts of varying date of composition (premodern or modern), supports (lontar, mimeographed pamphlets, printed books), and genres (religious, magical, medical, ritual, etc.). Insofar as they provide the link between the micro- and macrocosmos, man and God, natural and psycho-physical elements and their corresponding supramundane realities, they constitute a key element in framing the identity of Balinese individuals on a spiritual level as well as in society. e kanda mpat represent an objectivisation of the Self, whose essence is identified with a fi h the youngest, yet foremost sibling. e resulting pentad is homologised to other several pentads known in Balinese Śaivism. One such pentads is the one constituted by the five siblings called pañcakuśika or pañcarṣi (Five Kuśikas or Five Sages), themselves children of the Supreme Lord. e mythology of the pañcakuśika is narrated in the Pūrvaka Bhūmi, an Old Javanese cosmogonical text that is traditionally transmitted and performed on Bali by the Rṣi Bhujāṅga priests, and which is also preserved, and recited, among the Hindu minorities of Tĕṅger in East Java. But the origin of the pañcakuśika stems from far beyond that island: the first four siblings correspond to the four traditional masters of Pāśupata Śaivism known from Sanskrit epigraphical and textual sources from the Indian Subcontinent, whereas the fi h sibling, Pātañjala, appears to be the Nusantarian counterpart of their primeval guru, Lakulīśa. In this paper I aim at historicizing, through a text-historical method, Balinese discourses on the kanda mpat and pañcakuśika. I trace the origin of this cultural theme back to an Indic Pāśupata myth, which was transformed and adapted in Java by the 10th century AD, and further localized on Bali. In so doing, I intend to emphasise the trans-regional character of what has o en been described as an uniquely Balinese manifestation of orthopraxis, magic, and popular religiosity, but which in fact stems from a sophisticated tradition of Śaiva speculations, beliefs, and related ritual practices. As discourses on the kanda mpat/pañcakuśika are anchored in, and therefore constitute an interface between, both text and practice, they provide an opportunity for trying to bridge the hitherto seemingly unsurmountable gap existing between text-focused/diachronic and practice-focused/synchronic disciplines in the study of Balinese culture and religion. 3

5 Rājayoga: e Reincarnations of the King of All Yogas Jason Birch Oxford University THIS PAPER shall focus on the replaying of Rājayoga in Indian yoga traditions from the twel h century to the present day. Rājayoga is generally used today as the name for those types of yoga whose practice is based more on meditation than physical techniques such as postures (āsana). e origin of this distinction is found in medieval Sanskrit yoga texts in which the term rājayoga was used in two ways. Firstly, it was a synonym for meditative absorption (samādhi) and, secondly, it denoted a type of yoga that was considered superior to all other systems of yoga, in particular Haṭhayoga which relied on physical practices to achieve samādhi. e latter meaning is based on the definition (nirvacana) of Rājayoga as the king of all yogas. As various medieval yoga traditions vied with one another for supremacy, different systems and interpretations of Rājayoga have emerged since the twel h century and thus, it is not possible to identify a consistent tradition, nor even a typology of Rājayoga. In the twentieth century, the eosophists and prominent Indian religious leaders such as Swami Vivekananda and Swami Shivananda of Rishikesh, developed their own systems of yoga based on Patañjali's Aṣṭāṅgayoga and called it Rājayoga in order to promote it as superior to physical methods of yoga which they associated with Haṭhayoga. Also, there are two institutions in Singapore (the Brahma Kumaris and Sri Ram Candra Mission) which promote their yoga as Rājayoga for the same reasons. A few ironies will emerge from this study: the Sanskrit texts which are now designated as the authoritative sources of Rājayoga are not those which first taught and promoted Rājayoga in medieval India. is confirms that Rājayoga represents more the permutation of meditative yoga traditions rather than the teaching of an ancient meditative practice called Rājayoga. And though recent systems of Rājayoga are consistent with previous traditions of Rājayoga insofar as they emphasize meditation over physical techniques, the real impetus behind the current use of the name owes more to the connotations of its original nirvacana. 4

6 Creative Rivalries: e Utsawa Dharma Gita Competition and the Contemporary Evolution of Balinese Textual Singing Helen Creese University of Queensland THE SINGING and interpretation of Balinese religious and literary texts has undergone an extraordinary revitalisation in the past quarter of a century, not only in its literary and customary ritual contexts but also in its transformation into a vibrant form of popular culture in the broadcast media. As part of a three-year project funded by the Australian Research Council, my Balinese colleague, I Nyoman Darma Putra, and I are exploring all dimensions of this cultural-religious phenomenon. In this paper, I will focus on one aspect, namely the institutionalised textual singing of sacred texts or masanti one of many terms used to describe textual singing but one that emphasises the sacred nature of the texts being sung. A dedicated semi-government authority, Widhya Sabha, established in the early 1970s, today actively fosters textual singing in Bali s 1485 traditional villages (desa pakraman). Widhya Sabha has specific responsibility for developing masanti and its associated activities within the desa pakraman and for preparing groups (pesantian) to participate in textual singing competitions. Government-initiated school co-curricular and holiday programs ensure a new generation of performers, eager to pit their skills against each other, is being developed in educational settings such as schools and universities. Even as textual singing has flourished in Bali and the number of its adherents and practitioners has mushroomed, its institutionalisation has created and fostered more homogenised forms of vocalisation and more prescribed textual choices, including the incorporation of Sanskrit śloka and textual works that were not traditionally part of Bali s textual heritage. At the same time, masanti retains much of its creative aesthetic. My paper will consider the interplay and tensions between orthodoxy and creativity in masanti and the ways in which high levels of official support and the culture of competition have shaped its development in recent years at local, regional, provincial and national levels. My fieldwork site for this study is the Utsawa Dharma Gita (UDG) competition in which outstanding pesantian groups from throughout Bali are showcased at the annual provincial-level competition and at the triennial national UDG in which diasporic Balinese communities domiciled outside Bali are also able to continue to participate actively in textual singing. 5

7 Puja Tri Sandhyā: Indian Mantras Re-composed and Standardized in Bali Sugi Lanus Institut Hindu Dharma Negeri Denpasar THE BALINESE HINDU did not have a standardized mantra for daily pray until the 1950s. e Balinese Hindu followers did not spell mantras mantras are privileges of the priests and their religious practices relied on ngaturang bakti (praying with Balinese language while presenting offering) which following the Balinese calendar, temple festivals, and other special occasions. e publication of the booklet containing the Puja Tri Sandhyā (a formula of Sanskrit mantras performed three times a day) and Kramaning Sembah (mantras and instructions for communal pray in the temple) in the 1960s had changed the religious practices in Bali. Initially Puja Tri Sandhyā was introduced in a school in Denpasar, and later followed by the other schools in Bali, it was performed before they started their morning classes. In , Puja Tri Sandhyā became puja for the educated circles. From the 1950s until 1991 Puja Tri Sandhyā had been revised both in grammars and manners of praying and finally re-authorized and standardized by the Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (Indonesia Hindu Dharma Council) by the Decree of Mahasabha VI in 1991, which provided procedure for implementation to be used as a national standard guideline. Nowadays, local televisions and radios broadcast Puja Tri Sandhyā three times a day and in some places, people play the Puja using loudspeakers. Generally the Balinese do not remember that Puja Tri Sandhyā was re-composed in the 1950s. According to the public memory, Puja Tri Sandhyā is an old custom, based on the Vedas, which was inherited from generation to generation. is paper explores: a). e source manuscripts of Puja Tri Sandhyā s mantras, b). e process of re-composing Puja Tri Sandhyā, c). e key persons behind the process of re-composing the mantras, d). e process of disseminating the practice and the mantras in schools and communities in Bali, e). e development of the adoption and standardization by Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia, and f). e acceptance of the non-balinese Hindu to the practice of Puja Tri Sandhyā. 6

8 e Vedamūrti: Embodying the Veda in Contemporary Maharashtra Borayin Larios Heidelberg University IN THIS PRESENTATION I would address the title of vedamūrti (embodiment of the Veda) commonly used among Brahmin reciters in Maharashtra to analyze the relationship between text and performance/embodiment in contemporary India. Here I would discuss how, traditionally, in order to become a vedamūrti a complete socialization in the gurukula system of knowledge transmission is required. is presentation would address the topic of the Workshop and try to elucidate, with this particular example, how the dichotomy of text and practice is an unnecessary oxymoron. 7

9 Why I Have Chosen the Wayang-style of Balinese Painting I Gusti Nyoman Mirdiana Universitas Hindu Indonesia THE ART OF PAINTING IN BALI, either explicitly or implicitly, possesses within it a framework of religious philosophy. e relationship between human self awareness and the world around us is a spiritual connection. e art of Balinese painting requires the contemplation of a self and a cosmology that is inspired by the traditions of Hindu Bali. When human beings begin to understand and be aware of the existence of the buana alit (the microcosmos, the self) and the buana agung (the macrocosmos, the world outside the self) then consciousness arises in one s self along with the questions: Who am I really? And what is the connection between myself and the universe? And from where do I come? In such ways were my own artistic feelings influenced in producing Balinese paintings of the wayang style. My interest in the traditional wayang style emerges from my early experiences watching community entertainments with my grandfather when I was about four years old. at was the first time I saw what they called the shadow puppet theatre (wayang kulit). My grandfather li ed me onto his shoulders so that I could see more clearly the shadow puppet performance in the midst of the crowds of people watching it. e performances of the shadow puppet theatre consisted of episodes of stories from the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, Tantri Kamandaka, Sutasoma, and folktales about children s lives, and their happy and funny games. ose stories at that time were very popular because there were few other forms of entertainment available. Wayang-style paintings cannot be separated from religious activities, and in my opinion form guidance to conduct our lives as human beings both in the world of physical reality (sekala) and in the spiritual realm (niskala). rough working in the wayang style of painting I am able to search further and more widely and more deeply to understand my real self and this world. 8

10 A Very Present History in the Land of the Gods: Modern Māhātmya Writing on Uttarākhaṇḍ Andrea Marion Pinkney National University of Singapore THE MOST IMPORTANT Indian Himālayan pilgrimage circuit is collectively known as the 4-Dhām, or the Four Abodes and is located in the north Indian state of Uttarākhaṇḍ, also known as devbhūmi, or the Land of the Gods. e circuit is only open a few months a year, when the snows of the Himālayan winter recede, yet it now consistently attracts more than a million visitors annually who make the arduous journey from the plains to the glaciers. Of the many visitor services that cater to this consistently growing market, one of the most notable is the mass-produced and inexpensive pilgrims manuals known as māhātmyas, in reference to a genre of Sanskrit encomium literature that typically extolls sacred sites. To read about the sites in these contemporary pilgrim manuals, one might safely expect to meet the saints and heroes of Hindu scripture upon visiting them, for the texts bring together site history, travel logistics, basic geography and vivid retellings of Sanskrit mythological narratives. In this paper, I consider how the mythology of Uttarākhaṇḍ is interpreted for contemporary visitors in these pamphlets through a range of māhātmyas from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Based on my reading of these texts, I show how these texts have come to incorporate an increasing sense of cosmopolitanism and commercialism, while maintaining a consistent concern with the ancient past of Hindu antiquity. In doing so, these texts reveal a unique cachet for Uttarākhaṇḍ as a sacred Hindu land that is thoroughly modern. 9

11 Popularising Religious Values through Textual Singing on Interactive Radio and TV Programs in Bali I Nyoman Darma Putra Udayana University PARALLEL to the growing popularity of interactive textual singing on radio and television programs in Bali in the last decade or so, many ordinary Balinese like to talk about various aspects of their religion through electronic mass media. is is an interesting phenomenon in the reformation era, because, during the New Order regime, religious programs on TV and radio known as religious forum or mimbar agama were usually delivered or performed by representatives of government-acknowledged religious organizations or government-commissioned groups of performers. In practice, the script or outline of the story for a mimbar agama had to be approved by the Department of Religion to ensure that the programs were free from provocative or sensitive issues. But since reformation, government-sponsored mimbar agama have disappeared and religious-related programs are delivered by individual popular figures and performer groups through a variety of programs, including radio and TV programs of interactive textual singing and interpretation (kidung interaktif ). is paper addresses several aspects of the religious values and rituals o en sung and discussed in kidung interaktif programs. It argues that, apart from its significance in preserving Balinese textual singing heritage, kidung interaktif programs have also emerged as a popular venue for ordinary Balinese to popularise and discuss various aspects of their religious values and rituals against the backdrop of ongoing social and cultural changes. 10

12 Purana Pravacana and Harikatha: Perspectives from a Field Study in Karnataka Ananth Rao Australian National University IT IS A WELL-UNDERSTOOD FEATURE of Indian literary heritage that the highest form of expression one can give to a literary text is through oral performance of the text. e oral rendering or recitation may be done by the author or, as is the case more o en, by a professional performer. is workshop presentation focuses on two traditional oral performance styles known as purana pravacana and harikatha respectively. In the purana pravacana, stories are told using actual textual material from the epics usually from the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata and the eighteen Puranas. e presenter is a scholar of some standing and the textual material in Sanskrit is recited and then interpreted in the vernacular. is style with its reliance on Sanskrit textual tradition is regarded as being in the mārga (pan-indian) tradition. e harikatha style of storytelling, sometimes known as katha kalakshepa style, also draws its stories from the epic and puranic texts. However, rather than relying predominantly on Sanskrit texts, the performance relies more on musical rendering of songs in the regional languages, principally from the bhakti (devotional) literature. It may therefore be regarded as being in the desi (regional) tradition. is presentation offers perspectives on the two performance styles as observed in Karnataka over a period of time. e purana pravacana, relying on Sanskrit scholarship, still retains the orthodox ethos of the traditional elite. However, there appears to have been a gradual broadening of the themes covered to include not only the traditional message of piety and devotion but also other academic types of themes such as the historical content of the Rāmāyaṇa, psychological interpretation of the Rāmāyaṇa and so on. As to harikatha, there is a general perception that the art form is suffering a worrying decline in patronage in recent times. While this may appear to be so in the major cities, harikatha appears to be enjoying lively patronage in the regional and rural areas and the performers appear to come from a wider population sample than just the traditional elite (as used to be the case in earlier times). is paper elaborates on trends in the two performance styles, a er providing some background material. My views have been informed by observations from two vantage points: as a member of an audience, principally in the state of Karnataka in India, and as a performer for three decades in Australia and India. In this sense it is a personal account; however, it is suggested that the observations are of more general validity and may even apply to a region geographically wider than Karnataka. 11

13 e Legend of Devi Tulja Bhavani: Re-scripting in the Service of Pilgrimage Economy Kiran Shinde Bharati Vidyapeeth (deemed University) HINDU GODDESSES are known for their prowess to maintain the cosmic order by combating evil forces. Consequently they are widely worshipped across India in different forms such as Durga, Amba, and Kali and so on. One such regionally popular goddess is Devi Tulja Bhavani whose temple is located in the pilgrim-town of Tuljapur in Western India. Shrouded in mythological origins, the temple of Tuljapur gained prominence during the reign of King Shivaji (17th 18th century) as his warriors and courtiers patronised worship of the goddess and also accorded her the status of the Family Deity (kuldaivat or kulswamini). Religious functionaries of the period articulated the framework of rituals and performances for the worship of the goddess generating a cultural economy of pilgrimage based on hereditary patronage system. Although there has been a consistent growth in the numbers of devotees, this growth has been more dramatic in last two decades as revealed from the findings of my fieldwork in Tuljapur. At present this small town of 35,000 residents receives more than four million visitors annually. It seems no coincidence that a er the legend of Tulja Bhavani was scripted for a film in 1986, and then adapted for a television serial, and tailored to develop Video CDs showcasing traditional performances such as jagran-gondhal the goddess and her temple became even more popular. However, how has this popularity influenced pilgrimage economy in Tuljapur? Answers to this central question are sought in this paper by discussing the findings from interviews of key actors involved in re-scripting these legends. Detailed interviews with the traditional custodians of mahatmya literature (religious scriptures describing legend of deity and place), promoters and makers of the new media, and sellers and vendors of VCDs and audio CDs, who are central to pilgrimage economy reveal two significant influences. One, to ensure engagement of visitors in ritualised performances for running the pilgrimage economy, traditional religious actors modify the contents of the legends of devi and her devotees to contextualise them in modern times and to appeal to contemporary sensitivities. Second, democratising of medium of transmission of legends and its widespread reach has contributed to a regular influx of devotees in Tuljapur. However, a good proportion of visitors purchase and consume new representations but may not necessarily embrace elaborate rituals and limit their engagement to a short trip and the act of darshan only. e paper argues that new representations of traditional religious literature generate new forms of consumption central to religious tourism. 12

14 Singing the Past into the Present: e Memory of Marathi Kirtan in Tamil Brahmin Bhajana Practices Davesh Soneji McGill University MARATHI VARKARI and Ramdasi kirtan was brought to Tamil-speaking South India during the earliest phases of the establishment of Maratha power in anjavur at the end of the seventeenth century. ese practices survived largely through institutions known as Ramdasi maths in anjavur city and nearby Mannargudi, which received patronage from Brahmin Marathas in the region and also from the anjavur court itself. In this presentation, I consider the process by which Marathi kirtan was indigenized by the Tamil smarta Brahmin community in anjavur by focusing on the development of a uniquely cosmopolitan practice that today is known as bhajana sampradaya. e codification of this multilingual, hybrid musical practice was no doubt a mirroring of the anjavur court s own culture of literary polyglossia, and indeed Sadguru Svami of Marudanallur ( ), a founding figure of the Tamil smarta Brahmin bhajana tradition, is popularly believed to have initiated King Serfoji II into this practice. is paper focuses on how Tamil Brahmin music traditions mediate the presence and meaning of Varkari and Ramdasi kirtan in modern South India. e songs of Namdev, Chokhamela, Tukaram, Janabai, Samarth Ramdas and others are brought into a world of not only uniquely South Indian ragas and singing-styles, but also into a the distinct ritual and mnemonic culture of Tamil Brahmins that includes life-cycle events, temple-style domestic puja, purity laws, and contemporary identity politics. Today, the memory of Marathi kirtan is put to the service of the public identity of segments of the Tamil Brahmin community, largely through one of the community s most cherished expressive forms, namely classical Karnatak music, fully inflected with all its nationalist socio-historical resonances. I argue that the making of modern Karnatak music and the caste-based aesthetic it engenders cannot be disassociated from its Marathi kirtan and bhajana roots. I propose a complex genealogy for Karnatak music that foregrounds the co-opting of Marathi musical and literary traditions and takes seriously the powers of polyglossia in the world of Brahmin music. 13

15 Yoga in Bali: Old Texts and Present Practice Michele Stephen (Formerly Latrobe University) THE TERM yoga has become part of western popular culture and carries its own particular meanings in that context. In Bali today one comes across all kinds of yoga, most of which originate from outside sources and are geared to tourist needs and tastes. Balinese interest in this imported yoga is attested to in the many popular publications on the topic in Indonesian to be found in supermarkets and books shops throughout the island. At the same time, yoga is a term that occurs in Balinese contexts far removed from recent western influences, most saliently in the Balinese written tradition of sacred texts. Confusion inevitably arises, even amongst Balinese themselves, since not only is the term yoga used quite differently in these different contexts, but also because the yoga referred to in the Balinese lontar texts was, and still is, essentially esoteric knowledge not available to the general populace. us the majority of Balinese, who are unable to read the languages in which the old texts are written, are confused about, or simply unaware of, what might be the nature of the yoga referred to in the Balinese scriptural sources, and how such might relate to the ideas and practices described as yoga by the many foreigners who come seeking it in Bali. is paper examines a number of esoteric practices which clearly predate modern reformism, arguing that they constitute nothing less than the backbone of a distinctively Javano-Balinese yoga grounded in Śaiva Tantric doctrines derived from South Asia. e basis of discussion is a text, the Tutur Aji Saraswati, recently (2004) transcribed and translated into Indonesian by the Dinas Kebudayaan Bali. My perspective is not that of a textual scholar or philologist, however, but of an anthropologist seeking to place the text within its cultural context of meanings and present usage. e text is examined under the following headings: 1) e Origins of the Dasaksaras and the Cosmic Significance of Sound; 2) Yamas, Niyamas and Pranayama; 3) Investing the Body with the Emanated Universe; 4) Reabsorbing the Body and Universe; 5) Using the Rwa Bineda in Life; 6) Dissolving the OṂ and facing death. 14

16 Stories of God : Contemporary Oral Performance of Bhāgavata-kathā McComas Taylor Australian National University ORAL PERFORMANCES known as bhāgavata-kathā or Stories of God are a popular and important feature of the religious landscape wherever Hindu communities are found. ey centre on the Sanskrit text of the great Vaiṣṇava classic, the Bhāgavatapurāṇa, and an exponent who provides a vernacular commentary to the faithful. ese events vary in duration from an hour or so to more than one week, while the audiences range from half a dozen to tens of thousands. is paper is a review of bhāgavata-kathā practice and scholarship in three parts. First, it provides an empirical introduction to the typical features of these events. Second, it presents an overview of the theoretical and analytical approaches that have been applied to bhāgavata-kathā. ese include the impact of modernity on traditional practice, the ways in which the text functions to empower discourse in performance, its role as a locus of power and focus of ritual action, and an exploration of Sanskrit verses as perlocutionary speech acts. Finally, it indicates current gaps in the study of bhāgavata-kathā and suggests directions for future research. 15

17 Re-imagining the Mahabharata in Bali Adrian Vickers University of Sydney BASED ON Balinese paintings covering a period of 150 years, this paper considers two sources for Balinese understandings of the Mahabharata. e first is the texts in Kawi or Old Javanese which are ancient translations and adaptations of the Mahabharata, and which select and emphasise only certain narrative incidents, such as conflicts between Brahmans and Ksatriya in the Adiparwa, key parts of the conflict between the Pandawas and Korawas, and ways of emphasising dharma. Some aspects of the textual tradition, for example the Bhagavad Gita, were not given much attention in Bali. Looking at the presentations of these narratives in the arts shows why there was great continuity between ancient Javanese and contemporary Balinese interpretations. Nevertheless a second set of sources, taken directly from India in the late twentieth century, show that Balinese understandings of the Mahabharata are changing in response to waves of Hindu revivalism. 16

18 Ārudra Darśanam Mahotsava in Contemporary Cidambaram Aleksandra Wenta Indian Institute of Advanced Study ĀRUDRA DAśANAM MAHOTSAVA is an annual festival held in honour of the Ārudra star signifying the longest night of the year in the Tamil month of Margazhi/Markali (December 15 January 15). It commemorates Śiva s birthday in his form of Naṭarāja, the Lord of Dancers. e festival, which Richard H. Davis has called the most dramatic manifestation of public religiosity can be traced back to Coḷa dynasty. A glimpse into a socio-religious history of Coḷa Cidambaram reveals a great importance given to public festivals and ceremonies in honour of gods and kings. e idea of the divine kingship provided a strong affiliation between religious and political spheres. us, the public procession of gods carried out during these festivals were o en accompanied by royal parades. In this way, religious festivals have been shown to brim with political propaganda which, through this powerful display of royal magnificence, used to legitimize sacredness of the royal power and the divine status of the king. Along with expansion of temple annual festivals, a new literary genre of utsava vidhi festival ritual texts came into existence. Although times have changed, two of these texts, Mahotsava-vidhi of Śaiva Aghoraśiva (12th century) and Citsabheśotsavasūtra attributed to the mythological Patañjali continue to play a vital role in the festive sphere of contemporary Cidambaram. In this paper, based on fieldwork carried out during Ārudra Darśanam Mahotsava , I reflect upon these texts as the examples of idealized, prescriptive accounts temporary imposing on the real world archetypical structure of the playful sacred time and space. 17

19 e History of a Narrative: e Story of Prince Aja and Princess Indumatī in Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Bali Peter Worsley University of Sydney THE EPIC kakawin Sumnasāntaka has had a long history since Mpu Monaguna composed the work in the early thirteenth century in eastern Java (Supomo: in the press). Its author, it appears, was familiar with Kālidāsa s version of the story of Prince Aja and Princess Indumatī from the Raghuvaṃśa and it was from his knowledge of this work that he composed his own kakawin epic (Hunter: in the press). e work was also copied and performed in Bali in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Friederich, who arrived in Bali in 1846 on the eve of the Dutch Wars against Buleleng and whose travels also took him to Badung in the south of the island, lists the kakawin Sumansāntaka in a corpus of kakawin which he refers to as Common Kavi Literature (Gewone Kawi-literatuur) or lighter Kavi poetry (de ligtere Kawi-poezie). He lists the kakawin Sumansāntaka along with works such as the Bhāratayuddha, Arjunawiwāha, Smaradahana, Bomakāvya, Arjunawijaya, Sutasoma and Hariwangsa in this same category, which, however, did not include the Rāmāyaṇa or the Parwa. ese latter works he categorized as Epic Poetry (Epische Poezij) describing them as epics sacred to the people (de voor het volk heilige epische werken) ( :9, 12 21). In 1870 the Nederlansch Bijbelgenootschap sent van der Tuuk to Bali where he lived until his death in In the period of 24 years when he lived in Bulelelng first in the employ of the society and a er 1873 when he was appointed a government civil servant, van der Tuuk collected some 1658 Balinese manuscripts (Pigeaud 1968:19). His collection included six manuscripts of the kakawin Sumanasāntaka and three more of a kidung version of the story of Prince Aja and Princess Indumatī which appears to have been composed at sometime between the sixteenth and late eighteenth centuries (Supomo: in the press). So we have good reason to accept that the story of Prince Aja and Princess Indumatī, circulating in the form of epic kakakwin and kidung, was known to Balinese of the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and, if the places of origin of the manuscripts on which we based our edition of the kakawin Sumanasāntaka (in the press) are any guide, knowledge of the kakawin was widespread in Bali. ese 25 manuscripts held now in public and private collections were gathered at one time or another from all over Bali. ey come from Karangasem, Klungkung, Tabanan, Gianyar, Singaraja and Lombok. Scenes in two nineteenth century Kamasan paintings, now in the possession of the Tropenmuseum and the Museum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden and a citation in a passage in the Geguritan Brayut a Balinese poem also well known to Balinese in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth century suggest that 18

20 the story of Princess Indumatī s swayambara and marriage to Prince Aja of Ayodhyā was of special interest to Balinese in this period. Of course Mpu Monaguna, himself, devoted a considerable part of his epic poem to this event and the various associated ceremonies and rituals. However, the interest, which both the thirteenth century author of the poem and then later Balinese attributed to this part of the epic work is intriguing. Both Zoetmulder and Supomo have pointed out that it is most unlikely that the self-choice of a future husband by a princess from among a number of royal suitors was actually practiced in early Java or that the circumambulation of the sacred fire was a key element in the marriage rituals of the day and, we might add, nor was it any more likely to have been practiced in later centuries in Bali. Yet, as we have just pointed out, the poet who composed the geguritan Brayut cites precisely this episode and two Balinese painters have lavished considerable attention on what appear to be on the face of it exotic rituals (Supomo 2001:122; Zoetmulder 1974: ). We might ask why was this so. What was it that intrigued Balinese of the nineteenth and early twentieth century so much about these episodes in the kakawin. Friederich provides some clues. He points out that kakawin epics enjoyed great prestige and suggests that they may have served an important political purpose. Commenting on the purpose of composing the Bhāratayuddha, Friederich claims that the intention had been 'to obtain by composition of the work a kadigjayan, a subjugation of the world. In this also an Indian idea is conspicuous; by performance of great offerings, by sumptuous works of architecture, by works of literature, the prince thus engaged becomes not only famous, but he also acquires extraordinary power, by which he is enabled to subject the universe to his will. Such was also the aim of the great offering of the prince from Lombok (in September, 1846), who, not being recognized by all as the legitimate chief, sought, by offerings and abundant alms, to prove royal right and to strengthen himself for warlike enterprises' (Friederich :17). ere were other reasons that these epic works were important, according to Friedercich who tells us that the kakawin Sumanasāntaka, along with the Arjunawiwāha, and Smaradahana, were also considered to be in a peculiarly good style and highly esteemed in Bali at the time. He also explains their popularity was also because hey are of Śivaitic authorship. Furthermore, he says, the Balinese regarded them as a sort of pattern for princes [...] e adat of the princes, and of the second and third castes, is contained in those works, holy to them. According to his informants at the time, such instruction was sorely needed for [i]n the present time [...] many princes are charged with indifference to the sacred precepts, and with being, thereby, the cause of the diminution of the fortune and prosperity of Bali. A virtuous prince, before undertaking the smallest matter, examines first the conduct of the old kshatriyas and demigods, as it is described in the ancient holy literature. e conduct of those ancient heroes is ever in the recollection of princes today, in 19

21 order to regulate their actions according to the holy patterns, wherever they may find themselves ( :9 21). Taking our cue from Friederich s mid-nineteenth century informants the present paper explores the kakawin, kidung and the two paintings of the Sumanasāntaka in an attempt to understand why the story of Princess Indumatī s swayambara and marriage to Prince Aja so intrigued Balinese in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 20