Wahyu Makutharama - Javanese Wayang Kulit

Prabu Duryudana (eldest of the Korawa) returns back to the inner section of the palace after the morning’s business in the audience hall.

Ayak-ayakan Sl 6 (suwuk)

Kadhatonan (inner court or women's section): Prabu Duryudana meets with his wife, Dewi Banowati, and explains the business of the court that morning. He will be sending the Korawa troops to look for the royal Wahyu (Heavenly boon or gift from the gods) Makutharama.

Ldr Asmaradana

Paseban Jaba (outer court): Karna, and Sangkuni meet with the Korawa brothers (Kartamarma, Citraksi & Dursasana) and order them to look for the Wahyu Makutharama.

Ldr Diradameta (gropak)

Budhalan-Jaranan (departure-horse scene): The Korawa brothers leave the outer court, calling up the troops and mounting their horses.

Lnc Singanebah

Adegan sabrangan (scene in a foreign land): In the hermitage of Kutharunggu, the hermit, Begawan Kesawasidhi, meets with his pupils, the wind brothers: Anoman (the white monkey), the Elephant Situbanda, the Garuda Sang Mahambira and the Serpent, Sang Naga Kwara.

Ktw Pawukir

The Korawa arrive and meet with Anoman and the wind brothers. Anoman says that they may not come to the Padhepokan.

Srepegan Sl 6

Perang gagal (the losing battle, in which no one is killed): The Korawa brothers fight with Anoman and the wind brothers, during which Anoman takes Karna's arrow, which had been given to him by the Sun God, Bathara Surya.

Srepegan -> Sampak Sl 6

Ayak-ayakan Sl 6

Gara-Gara (Humourous interlude): Arjuna is meditating in the forest with his clown-servants, the Punakawan, Semar, Gareng, Petruk and Bagong. Arjuna and the Punakawan depart.

Sampak Sl 9

Lagu Dolanan Menthok-Menthok

Dandang gula

Srepegan Sl 9

Pratapan (hermitage): In the Hermitage Deksono - the former king of Singgela, who is now a hermit, Begawan Wibisana, meets with the minister of Singgela, Patih Reksabangsa. He asks how his son, Prabu Bisawarna, is ruling the country. Patih Reksabangsa relates that Prabu Bisawarna is immature and indecisive. Begawan Wibisana hands a letter to Reksabangsa, with advice on how to rule the country. Wibisana will be leaving the world.

Four buta (demons/giants) arrive. They ask what they should do, when Wibisana has left this world. He tells them to look for Arjuna, and ask him to kill them, thus releasing them from this world.

Srepegan Sl 9

Perang Kembang (the Flower Battle): Arjuna meets with the four buta, who beg to be killed. They then launch an attack on him and he kills them.

Srepegan Sl 9

Kemuda

Sampak Big Ben

Begawan Kesawasidhi meets with Anoman, Maenaka and Jajahwreka. Anoman gives Kesawasidhi Karna's arrow and is berated for having taken it, as Karna is predestined to have his arrow in the final battle, the Brathayudha war.

Ladrang Utama Sl 9

Arjuna arrives and receives the Wahyu Makutharama, which is in the form of the teachings of the Asthabrata (the eight paths which form knowledge of the character of a perfect monarch).

After Arjuna has received the wahyu, Kesawasidhi then gives him Karna's arrow, and asks him to return it to Karna.

Srepegan Sl 9

The Asthabrata

A King should be like:

Earth - the basis for all life.
Water - evenness, quenches thirst.
Ocean - wide, without boundaries.
Wind - can blow anywhere.
Moon - quiet, peaceful, gives light.
Sun - gives power and strength for life.
Fire - characterises justice and equality.
Stars - firm, solid. Of strong morale.

Arjuna leaves the hermitage. Change of scene to the Padhepokan Kutharunggu, where Arjuna meets with Karna. Arjuna gives the arrow to Karna, but Karna wants the Wahyu Makutharama.

Lnc Ricik-ricik Sl My

Perang satriya (battle of the knights): A fight therefore breaks out between Arjuna and Karna, which is followed by a general fight between the Pandhawa and the Korawa.

Srepegan Sl My

Sampak Sl My

Jejer Tanceb Kayon (final scene, in which the kayon returns to its original upright position): The Pandhawa family meet together for a celebratory feast.

Ayak-ayakan Sl My

Members of the Melbourne Community, who will accompany the performance, come from diverse backgrounds. Some are computer programmers, architects and others are (Western) music or Indonesian language teachers. They have been studying and performing for about ten years, under the direction of Poedijono. We would like to express our thanks to Dr. Cathy Falk and to the University of Melbourne Faculty of Music for their support of Indonesian performing arts in Australia, and for allowing us to practice and perform on the beautiful set of instruments used today.

Poedijono was born in Wonogiri in Central Java. He learned gamelan music and wayang from his father and studied at the Music Conservatory in Solo. He then taught at the Music Conservatory and the Indonesian Dance Academy (Akademi Seni Tari Indonesia) in Denpasar, Bali, for ten years, before coming to Melbourne. Poedijono has taught gamelan at Monash University and the University of Melbourne for thirty years. He has also been instrumental in establishing numerous gamelan groups across Australia. He performs dance and wayang in Melbourne, interstate and overseas. He also teaches three community groups, including the Melbourne Community Gamelan.

Helen Pausacker was a student of Indonesian language at University of Melbourne in the early 1970s. She studied wayang in Solo, Central Java for four separate years, between 1976-1998. She has performed in both Indonesia and Australia. Her Master of Arts thesis, completed at Monash University in 1994, compared nine different versions of the Wahyu Makutharama story. Helen will perform the first section of this wayang performance.

Aloysius Suwardi, from Surakarta, Central Java, studied gamelan at the Music Conservatory in Solo. He completed his M.A. in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University and taught gamelan in the US for a number of years. His interest is in both traditional and contemporary styles of gamelan. He is a composer, musician, teacher, and maker of experimental instruments, and has participated in new music festivals in North America, Europe and Asia. Al. Suwardi is currently pursing a Ph.D. in Music Composition at Monash University and the Melbourne Community Gamelan is pleased to welcome him as a guest artist.

Performers

dhalang	Poedijono
dhalang/saron	Helen Pausacker
bonang barung	Linda Hibbs
bonang penerus	Christobel Say
gambang	Michael Ewing
gender	Ilona Wright
gong/kempul	Tata Kristanta
kendhang	Arthur Lipscombe
kenong/ketuk	Matthew Watts
peking (saron penerus)	Robert McMullen
pesindhen/saron	Ria Soemardjo
rebab	Al. Suwardi
saron demung	Keith Morgan
saron sanga	Michelle Abbott
slenthem	Marianne Lessels