Damarwulan
The Damarwulan is an Indonesian story from the East Javanese area. It is told and played there with Wayang Klitik figures. It is one of the shadow play stories. The main characters in the plot are Damarwulan, Dewi Suhita , Menak Jinggo, Patih Logender and Dewi Anjasmara.
In contrast to the Ramayana or Mahabharata, which originated in India, the Damarwulan is of purely Indonesian origin. In contrast to the two great epics, it is more popular and accordingly has a lot of slapstick scenes. Depending on the Dalang (the puppeteer), a different variant of Damarwulan is offered, so that there is no uniform version, but the common thread is common to all variants.
action
introduction
The story of Darmawulan is generally described as a tale with many love scenes and duels. Furthermore, there are very different representations about the time when Darmawulan was not yet a hero.
He is once described as a grass cutter at the Prime Minister's, a job that is typical of an Indonesian day laborer's job: the grass at the edges of roads and rice fields is cut with a sickle, packed in two or four rattan baskets and when these are full, these are on a pole attached and carried home over the shoulder for feeding to domestic animals, mostly cattle or horses.
The other time he is a leptosomer ascetic who tries to educate himself with a sage, Begawan Logender, and to lead an ascetic life. Typically for the training with such a wise hermit, he had to help with agriculture.
The two sons of Begawan Logender and of course Darmawulan himself have to serve for the initial quarrels and fight scenes, as well as Darmawulan's secret love affair with his daughter, Dewi Anjasmara, for the first big love scenes.
Another variant concerns the king Menak Jinggo, who is described as a rebel who has usurped power and is out for further conquests. Perhaps this should better justify the vile murder the hero commits him. The request of Queen Dewi Suhita to bring her the head of King Menak Jinggo was tantamount to murdering him or war against him, since nobody was allowed to challenge the king directly, only equals. Even at the challenge of a king he could have sent a representative and, after his defeat, another. The weapons exercises of the sons of Begawan Logender and others at the court of Dewi Suhita serve more for the action of the story than for instruction, unless the audience is supposed to be demonstrating their stupidity in order to make Darmawulan's act appear all the more clever .
The Damarwulan was preferably performed in East Java and the characters involved are Wayang Klitic figures, which means that the piece could be performed both during the day and at night. The television has resulted in the Darmawulan hardly being performed any more; many of the characters ended up as children's toys.
The history
Long ago there lived a queen named Dewi Suhita in the Majapahit kingdom . One day she got a marriage proposal from Menak Jinggo Blambangan, the new king of the neighboring kingdom, which she flatly refused for emotional reasons. But slowly she realized that King Menak Jinggo would not accept this so easily and she gradually got into the utmost excitement because of her quick, negative decision. If what she knew about him was true, he would be very upset about her decision and already be planning a war against her country. So something had to be done urgently before he hit.
So she sent a messenger to King Menak Jinggo with another message: She was sorry for her quick and thoughtless remark, she would have had her head full of other things and a proposal of this scope would really be something else, she would need some time to think about it familiar, and there are also certain things that need to be regulated.
Of course, it would be easy to cancel, but acceptance requires a certain amount of time and, of course, preparation. Just regulating state affairs, contractual agreements with their princes and similar unpleasant things cost his time. And she would like to ask him, the great king, to grant her this time.
King Menak Jinggo, who was actually planning a war against Majapahit based on the first news, stopped this venture. Why take the risk when a kingdom can be won easily, he thought, as he interpreted the second message for unequivocal approval.
In the meantime, Dewi Suhita called all her advisers, princes and ministers together and asked them what they thought should be done. Well, as is the case with such a consultation, no sensible proposal came up: war or marriage. Well, she knew that too. When it was time to break the meeting, Dewi Suhita announced her decision: Anyone who kills Menak Jinggo and brings her his head should become her husband and king by her side.
Now there were many applicants who would have liked to become Dewi Suhita's husband, but under these conditions? One after the other the suitors slipped away from the court: "He had to make preparations", "He had to think about how to do it", "The parents became seriously ill", were the usual excuses. Time passed and the situation became more and more hopeless. Fewer and fewer reported for the aptitude test, which had to be passed by anyone who wanted to face the challenge so that not every village idiot who dreamed of becoming king would plunge into misery.
At the court of Menak Jinggo
Many Dalangs decorate the Damarwulan with humorous stories from the area around Menak Jinggo. The stories about his two servants Abdi Dayun and Melik are very popular. Abdi Dayun is a bit naive and believes that he can best serve his king if he completely copies all his movements and language. Above all, he can repeatedly defeat his friend Melik, to the delight of the audience.
Angkot Buta is Prime Minister (Patih) at the court of Menak Jinggo. One of his daughters, Dewi Wahita, is a woman from Menak Jinggo's harem.
Damarwulan and Dewi Anjasmara
The news, though secret, also reached the ears of a young man who dedicated his life to Patih (Begawan) Logender, that is, that he was his disciple. The young man's name is Damarwulan and he's more of a skinny, wiry guy who had more in his head than in his muscles. In any case, in the fight with the athletic sons of Logender, Layang Seta and Layang Kumitir, he was almost always left behind.
He let the matter go through his head and thought that this was a fair offer and that you could risk a lot for it. He was in love with Logender's daughter Dewi Anjasmara, like all the other students. But hadn't he been taught to put a country's interests above his own?
While Patih Logender's sons, Layang Seta and Layang Kumitir, were preparing to pass the aptitude test, Damarwulan had a different plan: he wanted to go straight to Menak Jinggo's castle and try "Gada Sakti Besi Kuning", which is magical Strong yellow steel club to steal from the king. So he set out for Blambangan, which was only two days' walk away.
When Damarwulan arrived in Blambangan, they were celebrating a big festival. King Menak Jinggo held a big party in honor of his success in marriage to Dewi Suhita. Late that night, when everyone was already inspired by the wine and rice liquor, Damarwu-lan entered the palace disguised as a servant. He let the guards show him the way to the kitchen, grabbed a tray with drinks, which he suspected from the exquisite shape of the glasses, were intended for the king and set off with it. Nobody noticed that he asked for directions a little often because they said that he too had tried the wine.
The death of King Menak Jinggo
Arriving in front of the king's apartments, he was confronted by a crowd of women who were eagerly waiting for the drinks. While the women fought over drinks, Damarwulan slipped past them into the royal apartments.
The first thing Damarwulan saw was a cabinet with glass doors and inside the magic club Gada Sakti Besi Kuning. As he was about to break into the closet, two women rushed out of the king's bedroom amid loud screams and howls. Damarwulan pretended to be cleaning the glass windows while turning to face the women. Was there any way he could help them? He asked. With sobs, they told him what had happened: her husband, the king, intended to marry someone else, a queen, and now they would have to spend the rest of their lives cleaning women. Such a shame and they would love to kill him.
From such angry wives it was easy for Damarwulan to find out what weaknesses the king had and Dewi Wahita also helped him to get the club Gada Sakti Besi Kuning out of the cupboard, as Damarwulan said a few blows with it and with its magic that would cure the king.
The women told him that Menak Jinggo's weakness was his legs and they asked him not to be too hard on him, just so that he would lose interest in the new woman. Damarwulan was amazed at how easy everything went, promised the women that he would proceed correctly and after his treatment he would certainly no longer be interested in the new woman and would remain loyal to them forever. In order for this magic to work, however, they would have to go outside the door to the other women and not let anyone in until morning. Then he took the club and went to Menak Jinggo's bedroom.
Because of the effects of the wine, Menak Jinggo fell asleep on an armchair and was snoring softly to himself. Damarwulan hit him on the head with a club without hesitation, Menak Jinggo lost his balance and slid to the floor, then he hit his legs. Menak Jinggo died without regaining consciousness. Damarwulan cut off his head, took his crown, hid everything in a sheet and disappeared without anyone meeting him.
How Damarwulan is betrayed
On the way back to Majapahit he met Layang Seta and Layang Kumitir, who stopped him and asked what he was doing in this place and what he had with him. They really wanted to look inside the bundle he was carrying and it came to a fight. Of course, he had no chance against the two of them, especially since he was standing in front of them unarmed. They overcame him, handcuffed him and hung him on a branch so that he could not break free. Then they looked in peace to see what he had with him. When Layang Seta took Menak Jinggo's head out of the bundle and realized whose head it was, he ran off, head in hand. It took his brother Kumitir a little while until he understood what it was about and he ran after his brother to take his head off. They left the pouch with the crown and the magic club. They were real, hulking fools.
Dewi Anjasmara, who knew about Damarwulan's plan, had followed her brothers unnoticed from a distance and had seen the whole thing. She first freed him and then they discussed what to do now. Taking the brothers' heads off would be quite difficult, so they decided to wait and see.
Layang Seta and Layang Kumitir arrived in Majapahit and immediately went to the queen to tell her about the death of their opponent Menak Jinggo. Dewi Suhita, who was so pleased with the good news that she forgot to ask how they could manage to overcome and kill Menak Jinggo. Some time later Damarwulan and Dewi Anjasmara also met the queen and presented her with the club and the crown. Now Dewi Suhita was very confused and Dewi Anjasmara told her what she saw and Damarwulan had to tell her how he had managed to overcome and kill Menak Jinggo.
The situation for Dewi Suhita was very tricky: She now had three applicants, all of whom were entitled to her and the throne. She and her advisors therefore decided that a duel should be decided man against man who would be the real winner and who would be allowed to marry.
How Damarwulan becomes king
By lot it was determined who had to fight with whom first. Layang Seta had the first fight with Damarwulan. The winner then had to face Layang Kumitir the next day. Damarwulan chose the magic club Gada Sakti Besi Kuning as his weapon. With the first blow, which only hit Layang Seta's shield, he broke his wrist and had to give up. His brother Kumitir was not doing much better. He also tried to ward off the blows of the club with his shield. But the force was so great that the shield hit his head with force and he collapsed unconscious. So Damarwulan became king of Majapahit.
He pardoned the beaten brothers who asked his forgiveness for their offenses and appointed them military leaders. He appointed Begawan Logender Patih (Prime Minister). He and his daughter Dewi Anjasmara helped Damarwulan and Dewi Suhita in their government affairs as wise advisers. With the consent of Dewi Suhita, Anjasmara later became Darmawulan's second wife. Under their common rule, the land flourished again, just as it had in the time of their ancestors.