FEATURE
The Interpretive Program at Prambanan:
Revealing the Hidden Messages of the Epic Ramayana
BEHIND THE ARTICLE
This relief depicts Ravana abducting Sita and taking her to his kingdom on a flying chariot. Please count how many faces and hands of Ravana are carved on the relief. Photo by Jaladwara Kenali Nusantara.
Have you ever visited a world cultural heritage site with magnificent architecture but lacked facilities to help you understand the site? There may be lots of detail, like breathtaking ornamentation, reliefs, and statues, clamoring for your attention, but you may not understand its story or meaning. Feel lost inside?
Perhaps this is why many visitors end up taking selfies at Prambanan Temple Compounds (hereafter referred to as Prambanan) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. They climb over the balustrade to find a good photo angle, walk along the temple reliefs in the wrong direction, and even touch reliefs that are more than a thousand years old with their bare hands.
Built in the ninth century CE, Prambanan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, visitors cannot fully appreciate its grandeur and often get lost entering the temple because of a lack of interpretation. Although general information is available on the official website and information board at the entrance of Prambanan, the site offers no narration of the temple's significance, nor does it offer activities for visitors to engage in. Even Wikipedia provides more complete information than what visitors can find on-site.
These phenomenons raise questions for us. With this lack of information, why was Prambanan declared as a World Heritage Site if it is just a place for visitors to take selfies? What is the significance of Prambanan and its reliefs to today's generation?
Prambanan boasts majestic architecture. It is home to three main temples: the Siva Temple, the Visnu Temple, and the Brahma Temple. The walls inside the balustrade feature two important stories, with the Ramayana story carved on the Siva and Brahma Temples and the Krsnayana story on the Visnu Temple. It is worth noting that many visitors are unaware of these details. Regrettably, there is no interpretation program available, not even a non-personal interpretation of the Ramayana and Krsnayana stories.
A guidebook for reading Ramayana reliefs and three different sets of play tools to help participants explore the Ramayana reliefs in the Siva & Brahma Temples. Photo by Jaladwara Kenali Nusantara.
The Krsnayana narrates the life story of Krsna—the incarnation of Lord Vishnu—from his birth in the world to his adulthood. Like the Ramayana, the Krsnayana carved at Prambanan was adapted by our ancestors. However, only his childhood to adolescence is depicted in the story of Krsna at Prambanan. The story of Krsna's adulthood is carved in two separate temples, namely the Panataran Temple and the Jago Temple, in East Java.
Unlike the Ramayana, the story of the Krsnayana is not widely known among Indonesians. Both are part of the cultural heritage of the Hindu-Buddhist period in Indonesia. But, the Ramayana tale tends to have a stronger connection and emotional roots in Indonesian culture, especially in Javanese.
At the end, each group was asked to take a photo while acting out their favourite pose found in the reliefs. Photo by Jaladwara Kenali Nusantara.
What is the story of the Ramayana relief at Prambanan?
The Ramayana story begins with the portrayal of Sita as a woman who has no power to decide her fate, despite being the daughter of the king. The patriarchal environment fosters the notion that women are subordinates whose fate is determined by the ultimate power. King Janaka, Sita's father, holds a competition in which Sita is the prize. Rama emerges as the winner.
This contest of male power to obtain the prize of a woman as a wife is reminiscent of the "trophy wife" phenomenon. This scene becomes a starting point to ask participants to reconsider the portrayal of Rama and Sita's true love.
Furthermore, the relief depicts the journey of Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana (Rama's younger brother) while being banished to the forest. Sita is described as a vulnerable woman in need of male protection and support. She is also depicted as easily tempted by worldly desires, leading to her abduction by Ravana.
Afterward, the relief panels tell the story of the battle that Rama fought to save Sita. Rama finally killed Ravana. Before returning to Ayodhya, however, Rama asked Sita for a purity test as she had been long in Ravana's palace. Sita's purity test scene is quite popular in Javanese society and is known as Sita Obong (in Javanese) or agnipariksha (Sita's fire ordeal). However, it is not depicted in relief at Prambanan.
Generally, the Ramayana story ends here. Sita passes the chastity test and reunites with Rama. In Disney cartoons, the story often ends with, “And they lived happily ever after.”
But at Prambanan, the Ramayana reliefs continue. The next section, taken from Uttarakanda (the closing book of the seven books of the Ramayana), is the climax of the Ramayana relief story that we wish to share with the participants.
Once in Ayodhya, Sita soon became pregnant. But rumors are circulating in the palace, because Rama’s decision to take Sita back to Ayodhya when she was already in another man's palace (Ravana) was morally unacceptable. For Rama, this was very strong criticism from his own people, which made him decide to banish Sita. Coincidentally, Sita, who was pregnant, wished to visit a hermitage on the Ganges’ riverside. Rama ordered his brother, Laksmana, to accompany Sita to the hermitage. On arrival, Laksmana sadly informed her that Rama had asked him to leave Sita at the hermitage. There, Sita survived, gave birth, and raised her two children.
To evoke emotions in participants, we use role-play in this section. Participants mostly express their emotions to Rama by playing the role of Sita.
After many years, fate brought Rama together with his two children. Rama eventually came to Sita at the hermitage so that she and her children would return to Ayodhya. But before that, Rama again asked Sita to perform a chastity test. This time, Sita refused. Instead, she chose to pray to the Earth Goddess so she could reunite with the Earth. Similar to the agnipariksha, this scene is also not depicted in the Ramayana reliefs at Prambanan.
That is how the epilogue of Ramayana, as narrated in Uttarakanda, differs from the popular Ramayana story.
The enthusiasm of the participants was shown when a group of participants finally found the relief panel they were looking for. Photo by Jaladwara Kenali Nusantara.
One of the activities done while exploring the reliefs. Participants were asked to imitate poses that they found interesting in the reliefs. Photo by Jaladwara Kenali Nusantara.
The Uniqueness of the Ramayana Relief at Prambanan
Few Hindu temples in the world present Ramayana reliefs. In Indonesia, only two temples sculpt the complete Ramayana story: Prambanan (in Yogyakarta) and Panataran Temple (in East Java). The Prambanan Ramayana is probably the only one in the world that includes the epilogue from Uttarakanda.
The Ramayana Ballet, which routinely performs at night against the backdrop of Prambanan, also presents the popularized story of the Ramayana, which ends in the sixth book (the Yuddhakanda). This is the point at which Rama manages to rescue Sita from Ravana's captivity. The story ends happily.
However, the Ramayana’s ending at Prambanan does not portray a “happy ending” for Rama and Sita’s relationship. We developed the public interpretive program to raise awareness of this publicly unknown version of the Ramayana that depicts gender inequality.
This is a challenging task considering the strong patriarchal culture in Indonesia. Additionally, in 2021, Indonesia ranked 101 out of 149 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report. To appeal to a wider audience, we have removed gender from the title of the program, because some people may feel uncomfortable discussing it.
The relief depicts the moment when Sita is banished to a hermitage and gives birth to a boy without the presence of Rama. If you were one of the participants, how would you take part in the role-play and create an imaginary conversation between Sita and the female ascetic? Photo by Jaladwara Kenali Nusantara.
An Overview of the Interpretation Program at Prambanan
The interpretation program lasts three to four hours and has a maximum of fifteen participants. It begins with a brief explanation of Prambanan and an overview of activities. Participants are given a guidebook to read the relief panels and activity sheets to assist them in exploring and observing the relief details, using their imagination, imitating poses, interpreting the relief, and analyzing the scene.
Similar to our ancestors who selected and sorted scenes from the Ramayana to be carved at Prambanan, we made a strict selection of panels to use in the program. We chose six special panels out of the fifty-four total panels due to their detailed relief, relevance to the discussion, and relation to gender inequality. We aimed to follow the principles of interpretation by providing a balanced portion of entertainment and knowledge.
During the pandemic, the "Reading Ramayana at Prambanan" program was transformed into an online program. This photo depicts when participants were asked to identify the sea creatures in the relief. Photo by Jaladwara Kenali Nusantara.
Prambanan’s Ramayana Relief and the Current Gender Condition
The program concludes with a Reflection Session to allow participants to share what they have thought, experienced, and learned. We act as facilitators to encourage active participation and attempt to provide insight into the issue of gender inequality for those who may not have been previously exposed to it.
The relevance of the issue to today's conditions is discussed based on the relief scenes. For instance, consider the scene where Sita becomes the prize of a competition. This phenomenon still occurs today. Forced marriage is prevalent among many women in Indonesia, and marrying off girls as a solution to the family's financial problems remains a common practice.
The discussion of Sita's chastity test prompts participants to consider why the issue of a woman's virginity remains a matter of public concern. In Indonesia, the issue of virginity tests for high school students comes up every year, with schools in a few small towns requiring them for admission or graduation. The idea of virginity tests was initiated by local government officials and the Regional Legislative Council. In 2013, the Minister of Education and Culture threatened sanctions against schools that carry out virginity tests. However, there is no official regulation prohibiting educational institutions from carrying them out.
Further, we interpret the final story, in which Sita chooses to merge with Mother Earth, as an attempt to empower women to make their own decisions and even end a toxic relationship.
"This Ramayana story also shows women's stories. Usually, it only raises the heroic story of Rama. So, if this bad situation ever happens to me, I have to be strong like Sita," said Erlin Alizar, one of the participants.
However, a precautionary approach is needed when facilitating sensitive discussions such as gender issues. During the pilot test, before the online program was launched, one of the participants criticized the gender analysis that we used. According to him, women like Sita already represent the nature of women. Women are supposed to be soft, kind, and obedient in their speech. It is very challenging to introduce values that may be different from those with a patriarchal mindset. We did not predict that there would be participants who would strongly reject the idea of gender inequality in the pilot test for the online program. (Before the COVID pandemic, we had already held an offline program several times, and we never faced such an experience there.) In response to these criticisms, we learned to manage the online discussion session. We developed structured questions, like peeling the layers of an onion. We started the discussion with participants’ general comments about the Ramayana compared to the Prambanan version. Then, we asked how they felt about specific scenes that could be connected to gender issues. From there, slowly we brought the gender issues in the Ramayana from the outermost layer to the deepest layer. We also collect evidence and cases that remain for each scene to enrich the discussion or to give strong arguments to those who oppose the gender inequality issues.
And the result? So far, so good!
To finish, everyone and Jaladwara had their picture taken in their favourite pose taken from the relief. Photo by Jaladwara Kenali Nusantara.
In their evaluation forms, several participants stated that the program had given them a new perspective on the story of the Ramayana. One participant wrote that the key message of the program was one that she had not thought of before, namely the injustice against women who are seen only as objects. Another participant mentioned that the discussion in the program not only talked about the reliefs of the time but also drew relevance to current events.
Based on participants’ comments, we conclude that:
- Uttarakanda's narration in the Ramayana relief at Prambanan was able to arouse emotions, if only the visitors/participants were equipped with a guidebook to read the relief;
- The issue of gender inequality, which has existed for millennia, is still relevant today;
- The figure of Sita in the Ramayana relief at Prambanan also inspired the participants.
In this case, we conclude that the use of the interpretive method was very effective for the participants to reveal the hidden message of the Ramayana reliefs at Prambanan.
This phenomenon of gender inequality reminds us of Valery Legasov's words in the Chernobyl series: “What is the cost of lies? It's not that we'll mistake them for the truth. The real danger is that if we hear enough lies, then we no longer recognize the truth at all.” Gender inequality is a phenomenon that persists through generations, much like lies that are perpetuated over time. It is crucial to educate ourselves and others, as we strive to do through our interpretive program at Prambanan, to break the cycle of patriarchy and inequality.
After successfully finding the relief, participants were then asked, for example, to observe the details and look for certain objects or characters in the relief. Photo by Jaladwara Kenali Nusantara.
