Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v2.c20.s4: Appendix. The Origin of Wayang

Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champā; Vol. II: Suvarṇadvīpa) v2.c20.s4

Language
English

Appendix. The Origin of Wayang

v2.c20.s4.2

For the early history of Wayang we are dependent solely on stray references in Old-Javanese literature. It is mentioned, *c.g.*, in Arjunavivāha (st. 59), Vṛttasañcaya (st. 93), Bhāratayuddha (st. 664), Tantu Panggelaran (pp. 103-4, 170-71, 258-60), Rāmāyaṇa (XXIV-112), Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa, Sumanasāntaka (XXVII, 1), and Rāma-Vijaya (VII-12). In Bali the earliest reference occurs in a record dated 1058 A.D. But there is a reference to Wayang in a recently published inscription which has been attributed to king Balitung (A.D. 898 to 910)¹.

v2.c20.s4.3

¹ Ins. Nos. 10-11 of Balitung. Cf. Part I. p. 241.

v2.c20.s4.4

Before the discovery of this inscription it was held "that as early as the first half of the eleventh century A.D. shadow-plays were shown at Kediri, in which shadows of figures cut of leather were projected on the screen, that they were so popular that they were referred to by the poets of the time, and that already in the twelfth century A.D. these shows were accompanied by an orchestra, consisting of flutes, small cymbals etc.²". But Dr. Hazeu held that the Wayang was known in Java about 800 Śaka or even probably earlier, and Brandes put this date as 700 Śaka. Dr. Hazeu's view now appears quite reasonable, but there is no satisfactory evidence as yet in support of Brandes.

v2.c20.s4.5

² J. Str. Br. R.A.S., No. 65, p. 20.

v2.c20.s4.6

While the older scholars generally attribute an Indian origin to Wayang, several scholars including Hazeu and Brandes are emphatically of opinion that the Wayang was invented in Java and not borrowed from the Hindus.³ The arguments on which this view is based may be summed up as follows:—

v2.c20.s4.7

³ Hageman (Handeling tot de Geschiedenis Van Java, I, p. 47), Poensen (P.W. Jaarg, 17, p. 138), Veth (Java, I, p. 451), and Krom (op. cit.) are in favour of an Indian origin of Wayang, while Crawfurd (History, I, p. 240), Niemann (P.W. Jaarg, 17, p. 164 f. n. 2), Brandes (op. cit.), and Hazeu (op. cit.) are in favour of upholding its indigenous character.

v2.c20.s4.8

(1) All the technical terms in connection with Wayang are purely Javanese.

v2.c20.s4.9

(2) The Hindus never had a shadow-play.

v2.c20.s4.10

(3) Originally Wayang was a typically Indonesian religious ceremony in honour of the gods or of forefathers as gods. Gradually it degenerated into a form of amusement, but even now it shows signs of having had a religious element.

v2.c20.s4.11

The weakness of these arguments can be demonstrated very easily.

v2.c20.s4.12

(1) It is always risky to infer the indigenous or foreign character of an article or a thing from the terms used to denote it. For example, in Bengal, the watch, clock and their accessories are known by indigenous terms (ghaḍī, kāṭā etc.), while the words for inkpot, pen and book are all foreign. Are we to conclude from this that while watch and clock are indigenous products of Bengal, the Bengalis owed their literary culture to Arabs and Parsis? Krom tells us that even to-day the Javanese are in the habit of giving indigenous names to articles imported from Europe and America. It stands to reason, therefore, that the indigenous names for Wayang and its accessories do not necessarily imply any indigenous origin of the institution.

v2.c20.s4.13

(2) Nothing can be more erroneous than the assumption that the Hindus had never a shadow-play. Pischel¹ and Lüders² have shown that the famous Sanskrit drama Mahānāṭaka was originally intended for a shadow-play. As Winternitz³ has already pointed out, Mahānāṭaka possesses great resemblance with the Wayang plays of Java. The date of Mahānāṭaka is not definitely known, but as it is quoted by Ānandavardhana, it must be earlier than 850 A.D. Further, a similar dramatic work, Dūtāṅgada by Subhaṭa (13th cent.

v2.c20.s4.14

¹ Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie, 1906, pp. 498 ff.

v2.c20.s4.15

² Ibid, 1916, pp. 698 ff.

v2.c20.s4.16

³ Geschichte der Indischen Litteratur, Vol. III, pp. 242-245.

v2.c20.s4.17

A.D.), is expressly designated as Chāyā-nāṭaka (shadow-play). Among later works of this class may be mentioned Pāṇḍavābhyudaya, Rāmābhyudaya, and Subhadrā-Pariṇaya composed by Vyāsaśrī Rāmadeva (15th cent. A.D.), and a very modern work, the Sāvitrī-carita of Śaṅkaralāla (19th cent.). Pischel, however, thinks it probable that shadow-play is referred to in Mahābhārata and Bṛhatsaṃhitā. Sten Konow also is of opinion that the Indians knew shadow-plays in early period¹. Dr. Coomaraswamy has shown that shadow-play with leather figures existed in South India and Ceylon in the twelfth century A.D.²

v2.c20.s4.18

¹ Das Indische Drama, pp. 4, 45, 90.

v2.c20.s4.19

² J.R.A.S. 1930, p. 627 ; Coomaraswamy, p. 89

v2.c20.s4.20

(3) As regards the religious character of the Wayang it is admitted that both in India and Greece the theatre originated in a similar way. Again, the worship of ancestors is common to both Indians and Indonesians. Further, no other Indonesian people, except the Javanese, have developed an institution like Wayang in connection with this worship. These facts, the truth of which cannot be doubted for a moment, considerably weaken the force of the arguments advanced by Brandes and Hazeu. For they discredit the view that the Wayang was necessarily connected with ancestor-worship, or vice-versa, and that even if it were so, it could not have been evolved in India, where also the worship of ancestor is a religious ceremony, and where, as in Greece, the theatre is known to have originated in religious ceremonies.

v2.c20.s4.21

The following account of the popular shows called Pāvakkūttu, still current in Malabar, is of great interest in this connection.

v2.c20.s4.22

"In these shows, dummy pieces of either leather or light pieces of wood, representing figures of heroes and heroines are displayed in public, to the accompaniment of vocal music, drums and cymbals. They are a favourite pastime with the masses of Malabar on the occasion of festivals in temples, and during certain seasons of the year. The Pāvakkūttu has for its plot only anecdotes from the Rāmāyaṇa." I.H.Q., Vol X, p. 144.

v2.c20.s4.23

If we now turn to the broad facts of the case, the following may be regarded as undisputed.

v2.c20.s4.24

(1) There is no evidence that the shadow-play was known in Java till the Hindu religion and culture were thoroughly established in that island.

v2.c20.s4.25

(2) Shadow-plays have been undoubtedly known in India from an early period. The earliest work of the kind so far known is Mahānāṭaka which must have been composed before 850 A.D., *i.e.* before it is first referred to in Javanese literature.

v2.c20.s4.26

(3) As in Wayang-Purva, the earliest type of Wayang in Java, so in the shadow-plays of India, the theme of the play is exclusively taken from the two epics the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata.

v2.c20.s4.27

(4) Wayang is not known to any other Indonesian people (except the Javanese and the Balinese).

v2.c20.s4.28

If we add to these the predominant influence of Hindu culture in Java, particularly in the period when we get the first reference to Wayang in Java, there can be hardly any reasonable doubt that like so many other institutions the Wayang in Java had also an Indian origin.

v2.c20.s4.29

It is needless to consider seriously the view, already refuted by Hazeu, that Wayang had a Chinese origin.

v2.c20.s4.30

Chapter IV

Cites (10)