Ramayana Ballet

A few weekends ago we visited the Prambanan Temples located just outside Yogya and had the opportunity to explore the intricate stone carvings that decorate the ornate structures. The temples, built during the 9th century, are dedicated to the Hindu divinities, Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, and the stone carvings illustrate the epic of Ramayana.

On Saturday evening the group returned to Prambanan to learn about the Ramayana myth by watching a traditional Hindu dance performance. The Ramayana story goes like this:
A princess, Shinta, and a prince, Rama, marry after a lengthy competition. One day, Shinta, Rama, and Rama’s brother are walking through the forest when a golden deer passes by. Now, this deer is actually a decoy set up by Rahwana, a ruler from another kingdom who wants to steal Shinta away from Rama. Innocently, Shinta asks Rama to capture the deer. So, Rama leaves his wife with his brother in search of the deer. Later, Rama’s brother leaves, too, but draws a magical circle around Shinta so that no evil will beset her in his absence. At this point Rahwana seizes the moment to capture Shinta but cannot penetrate the magic circle. So, he disguises himself as a beggar, luring Shinta out of the circle. Then, he steals her! During the trip back to Rahwana’s kingdom they encounter a bird named Jatayu who is suspicious of seeing Rahwana with Shinta. Unfortunately, Rahwana defeats the bird and leaves him for dead. Not long after, Rama and his brother come across the dying bird and Jatayu tells them that Rahwana has captured Shinta. On the way to rescue Shinta, Rama aids a white monkey, who in return, lends him an envoy of monkeys to help retrieve Shinta. Meanwhile, Rahwana and Shinta have arrived in Rahwana’s kingdom but Shinta refuses to become his wife. As a result, Rahwana wants to kill Shinta though his niece stops him from committing such an act. At about this time Rama and the monkeys build a bridge in order to cross the sea and attack Rahwana’s kingdom. A war breaks out and Rama triumphantly kills Rahwana with his bow. When reunited with Shinta, Rama doubts Shinta’s purity. Shinta, determined to prove her purity, is willing to burn herself. The god of fire helps her and she remains unscathed in the flames. Finally, Rama is convinced of Shinta’s purity and runs to meet her. The END.

Wow, that took longer to explain than I thought. At least the pictures will make sense (hopefully). We had VIP seating at the performance so I was able to get a few good pictures of the ballet. Some pictures have captions to help carry the story along. Enjoy!