Bedhaya
Encyclopedia
The bedhaya is a sacred ritualized dance
of Java, Indonesia
, associated with the royal palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta
. Along with the serimpi, the bedhaya epitomized the elegant (alus) character of the royal court, and the dance became an important symbol of the ruler's power.
The bedhaya has different forms in the two court cities, the bedhaya Ketawang
in Surakarta (Solo), and the bedhaya Semang in Yogyakarta, the latter of which is no longer performed. The Solonese dance continues to be performed once per year, on the second day of the Javanese month of Ruwah (during May in the Gregorian calendar
), to commemorate the ascension of the current Susuhunan
(prince) of Surakarta. Nine females, relatives or wives of the Susuhunan, perform the dance before a private audience. An invitation to anyone outside of the inner circle of the court is a considerable honor.
. Indeed, some of the steps of the modern dance are said to be as old as the third century. However, the modern form is traditionally dated to the court of Sultan Agung of Mataram
(reigned 1613–1645). Unfortunately there is almost no historical evidence to back up the claims made about the advances in the arts in Sultan Agung's courts, and the existence of the dance is not clearly documented until the late 18th century.
There are many myths
which explain the origin of the dance, which generally have either an account of a meeting with an Indic deity
(Shiva
, Brahma
, Vishnu
, Indra
, or the Buddha
), or the meeting of Kangjeng Ratu Kidul, the Goddess of the South Sea, meeting with a founder of the Mataram dynasty, either Sultan Ageng or his grandfather, Senapati. In the former, the nine dancers were the creation of a deity, who were brought to life, and offered the dance to their maker in gratitude. In the latter, the dance was created when Kangjeng Ratu Kidul fell in love with the sultan, and danced the bedhaya for him; the nine dancers in the modern dance represent the spirit of the goddess.
Since the decline in the power of the royal courts, other, more accessible forms of bedhaya have become popular, not as religious ritual, but as artistic performance. These do not require the royal presence, and may be performed on stage for an admission fee. They frequently recount stories used in wayang
.
the throne in a clockwise
direction, the appropriate direction for veneration in Buddhist
and Shaivist
traditions.
A name and number is given to each of the nine dancers, which designate a specific position in the changing choreographic pattern. There are slight variations between different sources in the names and numbers of the dancers, but there is consensus on the general forms. They are: a human being, representing taṇhā
(the word for desire or craving in Buddhism), four chakra
s (the top three of which are used as note names; see slendro
), and the four limbs:
The first two sections of the dance each have three positions, with slight variations, while the last adds a final, fourth position. The first position is in the shape of a human being, with the first five dancers in a line down the middle, and those representing the right and left sides in front and behind (from the perspective of the Susuhunan), respectively. In the second position, the dancers divide into two facing groups, the arms and desire to one side, and the chakras and legs on the other. In the third section of the dance, there is an added section of an encounter between the desire and head dancers in the second position, while the other dancers squat. The third position places the dancers either in a row (Surakarta) or with the arms to one side (Yogyakarta), with desire in the middle. The final position is in a 3x3 grid (rakit tiga-tiga), with the three upper chakra centers in the middle column.
, the only instruments used are the colotomic instruments (kethuk, kenong
, and gong
), the kemanak
, and drums (kendhang ketipung and gendhing); there are no balungan
instruments and only sometimes other melodic instruments (such as gambang
and gendér
). In the Yogyakarta kraton, where the dance is no longer performed as ritual, the complete gamelan
was used as accompaniment, sometimes even featuring cornet
s.
The pieces used to accompany the dances are traditionally gendhing
with long structures (originally designated at least kethuk 4 arang; see gendhing
for an explanation); however, shorter gendhings were also used later (such as kethuk 4 kerep or kethuk 2). The most ancient and sacred song is the Bedhaya Ketawang. When the bedhaya dancers appear on stage, in Yogyakarta it was accompanied by an ayak-ayakan
; in Surakarta, it is only accompanied by a pathetan known as pathetan bedhaya, which has lost much of the rhythmic freedom associated with pathetans to fit better the stride of the dancers.
The literary renaissance of Java in the 18th and 19th centuries, which greatly changed Javanese music, had as one of its first effects the creation of genres of gendhing to accompany bedhaya and serimpi, known as gendhing kemanak and gendhing bedhaya-serimpi. The former were based on a newly-composed choral melody, while the latter fitted a new choral part into a pre-existing gendhing melody played by the gamelan. Hundreds of stanzas of text were written for these parts, and a particular gendhing uses at least a dozen. The texts are mainly in the form of a wangsalan (poetic riddle), and deal with a wide variety of subjects. Much of the text is erotic love poetry, describing the attraction of Kengjang Ratu Kidul to Sultan Agung.
s regarding the performance and rehearsal of the Bedhaya ketawang, both the song and the dance associated with it. It is only allowed to be rehearsed every 35 days (when Thursday of the seven-day week coincides with Kliwon, the fifth day of the five-day week of the Javanese calendar
), and performed on the anniversaries of the Susuhunan
's accession to the throne. All rehearsals, and especially the performance, must be accompanied by offerings (many of which correspond to those specified in the Gandavyuha Sutra). The dancers must fast and undergo ritual purification, they must be in bridal dress and cover the upper part of their bodies in turmeric
(borèh). When the text is copied, a few intentional mistakes are inserted to avoid copying a sacred text literally. This is all because during any performance or rehearsal, the deputies of Ratu Kidul are said to be present.
s. Furthermore, the dancers were brought onto battlefields with the Yogyakartan ruler. Some of the choreographic positions are vaguely similar to those that were believed to have been used in the Kurukshetra war
, the war in the Mahabharata
, and some of the texts tell of military victories.
Judith Becker provides a tantric interpretation. The first position shows desire plus the body; the second shows opposition between desire and the chakras (there is some evidence that the legs were considered a fifth chakra), and in the final section, interaction between the head and desire. Afterwards, desire is absorbed into the body, and then the dancers are arranged in the same arrangement as offerings in the Majapahit palace. Three is a number rich in Hindu
symbolism, like the three pramana
s, the Trilokya or the Trimurti
, so a threefold set of three symbolizes completion and perfection.
In the 19th century, pistols held and shot off by the dancers in the performance of the bedhaya. Sumarsam
considered the meaning of the use of pistols an aristocratic attempt to adopt a foreign element to show enhance royal power, or the secularization and infomalization of the court ritual when in the presence of European guests.
During some period in the nineteenth century, the dancers in Yogyakarta were young men dressed as women. The combination of characteristics of both sexes was thought to have a special spiritual power.
Javanese dance
Javanese dance is the dances and art forms that were created and influenced by Javanese culture. Javanese dance is usually associated with courtly, refined and sophisticated culture of the Javanese kratons, such as the Bedhaya and Srimpi dance...
of Java, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, associated with the royal palaces of Yogyakarta and Surakarta
Surakarta
Surakarta, also called Solo or Sala, is a city in Central Java, Indonesia of more than 520,061 people with a population density of 11,811.5 people/km2. The 44 km2 city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoharjo Regency to the east and...
. Along with the serimpi, the bedhaya epitomized the elegant (alus) character of the royal court, and the dance became an important symbol of the ruler's power.
The bedhaya has different forms in the two court cities, the bedhaya Ketawang
Ketawang
The ketawang is one of the gendhing structures used in Javanese gamelan music.Its colotomic structure is:where p indicates the strike of the kempyang, T the ketuk, P the kempul, N the kenong, and G the simultaneous stroke of the gong and kenong. The W indicates the wela, the pause where the kempul...
in Surakarta (Solo), and the bedhaya Semang in Yogyakarta, the latter of which is no longer performed. The Solonese dance continues to be performed once per year, on the second day of the Javanese month of Ruwah (during May in the Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
), to commemorate the ascension of the current Susuhunan
Susuhunan
Susuhunan or in short version Sunan, is a title used by the kings of Mataram and then by the hereditary rulers of Surakarta, Indonesia. The rulers of Surakarta traditionally adopt the reign name Pakubuwono...
(prince) of Surakarta. Nine females, relatives or wives of the Susuhunan, perform the dance before a private audience. An invitation to anyone outside of the inner circle of the court is a considerable honor.
History
Some kind of female dance known as bedhaya existed on Java at least as early as the Majapahit EmpireMajapahit Empire
Majapahit was a vast archipelagic empire based on the island of Java from 1293 to around 1500. Majapahit reached its peak of glory during the era of Hayam Wuruk, whose reign from 1350 to 1389 marked by conquest which extended through Southeast Asia. His achievement is also credited to his prime...
. Indeed, some of the steps of the modern dance are said to be as old as the third century. However, the modern form is traditionally dated to the court of Sultan Agung of Mataram
Sultan Agung of Mataram
Sultan Agung of Mataram or Sultan Agung Anyokrokusumo or Sultan Agung Hanyokrokusumo was the Sultan of Mataram from 1613-1645...
(reigned 1613–1645). Unfortunately there is almost no historical evidence to back up the claims made about the advances in the arts in Sultan Agung's courts, and the existence of the dance is not clearly documented until the late 18th century.
There are many myths
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
which explain the origin of the dance, which generally have either an account of a meeting with an Indic deity
Hindu deities
Within Hinduism a large number of personal gods are worshipped as murtis. These beings are either aspects of the supreme Brahman, Avatars of the supreme being, or significantly powerful entities known as devas. The exact nature of belief in regards to each deity varies between differing Hindu...
(Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
, Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, or the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
), or the meeting of Kangjeng Ratu Kidul, the Goddess of the South Sea, meeting with a founder of the Mataram dynasty, either Sultan Ageng or his grandfather, Senapati. In the former, the nine dancers were the creation of a deity, who were brought to life, and offered the dance to their maker in gratitude. In the latter, the dance was created when Kangjeng Ratu Kidul fell in love with the sultan, and danced the bedhaya for him; the nine dancers in the modern dance represent the spirit of the goddess.
Since the decline in the power of the royal courts, other, more accessible forms of bedhaya have become popular, not as religious ritual, but as artistic performance. These do not require the royal presence, and may be performed on stage for an admission fee. They frequently recount stories used in wayang
Wayang
Wayang is a Javanese word for theatre . When the term is used to refer to kinds of puppet theatre, sometimes the puppet itself is referred to as wayang...
.
Dance
The dance is held in a pendhapa, a pillared audience hall with a peaked roof, with the Susuhunan on a throne in the middle of the room. The dance is performed in three large sections. In each section, the dancers emerge from a room behind the audience hall, approach the throne single file, dance in front of the throne, and then retreat, again single file. They approach and retreat on opposite sides of the throne, thus circumambulatingCircumambulation
Circumambulation is the act of moving around a sacred object.Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of Hindu ritual. It is also practised in Buddhism. In Islam, circumambulation is performed around the Kaaba in Mecca, in a counter-clockwise direction...
the throne in a clockwise
Clockwise
Circular motion can occur in two possible directions. A clockwise motion is one that proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back to the top...
direction, the appropriate direction for veneration in Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and Shaivist
Shaivism
Shaivism is one of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer,...
traditions.
A name and number is given to each of the nine dancers, which designate a specific position in the changing choreographic pattern. There are slight variations between different sources in the names and numbers of the dancers, but there is consensus on the general forms. They are: a human being, representing taṇhā
Tanha
' or ' literally means "thirst," and is a synonym for "desire" or "craving," traditionally juxtaposed with upekkha .Synonyms:*愛 Cn: ài; Vi: ái...
(the word for desire or craving in Buddhism), four chakra
Chakra
Chakra is a concept originating in Hindu texts, featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for "wheel" or "turning" .Chakra is a concept referring to wheel-like vortices...
s (the top three of which are used as note names; see slendro
Slendro
Slendro is a pentatonic scale, one of the two most common scales used in Indonesian gamelan music, the other being pélog.-Tuning:...
), and the four limbs:
- èndhèl/èndhèl ajeg, "desire", "constant/fixed desire", "attachment"
- pembatak/batak, "head", "mind"
- gulu/jangga, "neck"
- dhadha, "chest"
- buncit/bunthil, "tail", "genitals", "lower end of spinal column"
- apit ngajeng/apit ngarep, "right arm", "right flank", "front flank"
- apit wingking/apit mburi, "left arm", "rear flank"
- èndhèl weton/èndhèl wedalan ngajeng/èndhèl jawi, "right leg", "emergent desire", "front emergent desire", "outside desire"
- apit meneng/èndhèl wedalan wingking, "left leg", "quiet flank", "rear emergent desire"
The first two sections of the dance each have three positions, with slight variations, while the last adds a final, fourth position. The first position is in the shape of a human being, with the first five dancers in a line down the middle, and those representing the right and left sides in front and behind (from the perspective of the Susuhunan), respectively. In the second position, the dancers divide into two facing groups, the arms and desire to one side, and the chakras and legs on the other. In the third section of the dance, there is an added section of an encounter between the desire and head dancers in the second position, while the other dancers squat. The third position places the dancers either in a row (Surakarta) or with the arms to one side (Yogyakarta), with desire in the middle. The final position is in a 3x3 grid (rakit tiga-tiga), with the three upper chakra centers in the middle column.
Music and text
The dance is accompanied with the singing of men and women together. The style is known as sindhenan lampah sekar. Formerly only women sang; however since at least the 1940s men have also sung these parts. In Surakarta, instead of a full gamelanGamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
, the only instruments used are the colotomic instruments (kethuk, kenong
Kenong
The kenong is one of the instruments used in the Indonesian gamelan. It is technically a kind of gong, but is placed on its side and is roughly as tall as it is wide. It thus is similar to the bonang, kempyang and ketuk, which are also cradled gongs. Kenongs are generally much larger than any of...
, and gong
Gong ageng
The gong ageng is . It is the largest of the bronze gongs in the Javanese and Balinese gamelan orchestra...
), the kemanak
Kemanak
Kemanak is a banana-shaped idiophone used in Javanese gamelan, made of bronze. They are actually metal slit drums. It is stuck with a padded stick and then allowed to resonate. It has a specific pitch, which can be varied by covering the slit, but it is not matched to the other instruments of the...
, and drums (kendhang ketipung and gendhing); there are no balungan
Balungan
The balungan is sometimes called the "core melody" of a Javanese gamelan composition. This corresponds to the view that gamelan music is heterophonic: the balungan is then the melody which is being elaborated....
instruments and only sometimes other melodic instruments (such as gambang
Gambang
A gambang, properly called a gambang kayu is a xylophone-like instrument used among peoples of Indonesia and the southern Philippines in gamelan and kulintang, with wooden bars as opposed to the metallic ones of the more typical metallophones in a gamelan...
and gendér
Gendér
A gendér is a type of metallophone used in Balinese and Javanese gamelan music. It consists of 10 to 14 tuned metal bars suspended over a tuned resonator of bamboo or metal, which are tapped with a mallet made of wooden disks or a padded wooden disk . Each key is a note of a different pitch, often...
). In the Yogyakarta kraton, where the dance is no longer performed as ritual, the complete gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
was used as accompaniment, sometimes even featuring cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
s.
The pieces used to accompany the dances are traditionally gendhing
Gendhing
The gendhing is a class of gendhing structures used in Javanese gamelan music. Gendhing can also be used to refer to gamelan compositions in general....
with long structures (originally designated at least kethuk 4 arang; see gendhing
Gendhing
The gendhing is a class of gendhing structures used in Javanese gamelan music. Gendhing can also be used to refer to gamelan compositions in general....
for an explanation); however, shorter gendhings were also used later (such as kethuk 4 kerep or kethuk 2). The most ancient and sacred song is the Bedhaya Ketawang. When the bedhaya dancers appear on stage, in Yogyakarta it was accompanied by an ayak-ayakan
Ayak-ayakan
In Javanese gamelan music, the ayak-ayakan is one of the gendhing structures derived from the wayang repertoire.The colotomic structure is:with both lines played together, and T indicating a stroke of the kethuk, P the kempul, and N the kenong. The kenong and kempul always play the seleh...
; in Surakarta, it is only accompanied by a pathetan known as pathetan bedhaya, which has lost much of the rhythmic freedom associated with pathetans to fit better the stride of the dancers.
The literary renaissance of Java in the 18th and 19th centuries, which greatly changed Javanese music, had as one of its first effects the creation of genres of gendhing to accompany bedhaya and serimpi, known as gendhing kemanak and gendhing bedhaya-serimpi. The former were based on a newly-composed choral melody, while the latter fitted a new choral part into a pre-existing gendhing melody played by the gamelan. Hundreds of stanzas of text were written for these parts, and a particular gendhing uses at least a dozen. The texts are mainly in the form of a wangsalan (poetic riddle), and deal with a wide variety of subjects. Much of the text is erotic love poetry, describing the attraction of Kengjang Ratu Kidul to Sultan Agung.
Taboos
There are many tabooTaboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
s regarding the performance and rehearsal of the Bedhaya ketawang, both the song and the dance associated with it. It is only allowed to be rehearsed every 35 days (when Thursday of the seven-day week coincides with Kliwon, the fifth day of the five-day week of the Javanese calendar
Javanese calendar
The Javanese calendar is the calendar of the Javanese people. It is used concurrently with two other calendars, the Gregorian calendar and the Islamic calendar...
), and performed on the anniversaries of the Susuhunan
Susuhunan
Susuhunan or in short version Sunan, is a title used by the kings of Mataram and then by the hereditary rulers of Surakarta, Indonesia. The rulers of Surakarta traditionally adopt the reign name Pakubuwono...
's accession to the throne. All rehearsals, and especially the performance, must be accompanied by offerings (many of which correspond to those specified in the Gandavyuha Sutra). The dancers must fast and undergo ritual purification, they must be in bridal dress and cover the upper part of their bodies in turmeric
Turmeric
Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive...
(borèh). When the text is copied, a few intentional mistakes are inserted to avoid copying a sacred text literally. This is all because during any performance or rehearsal, the deputies of Ratu Kidul are said to be present.
Interpretation
The dance can be interpreted in a number of ways, including as an abstract sequence of positions, and a reenactment of the love between the goddess and a royal ancestor. Another common interpretation is that they symbolize military formations, which may explain why the dancers are given names of flankFlank
Flank may refer to:* Flank, the side of either a horse or a military unit*Flanking maneuver in military tactics* Flank , the waveform edge formed when a signal goes high or low...
s. Furthermore, the dancers were brought onto battlefields with the Yogyakartan ruler. Some of the choreographic positions are vaguely similar to those that were believed to have been used in the Kurukshetra war
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
, the war in the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
, and some of the texts tell of military victories.
Judith Becker provides a tantric interpretation. The first position shows desire plus the body; the second shows opposition between desire and the chakras (there is some evidence that the legs were considered a fifth chakra), and in the final section, interaction between the head and desire. Afterwards, desire is absorbed into the body, and then the dancers are arranged in the same arrangement as offerings in the Majapahit palace. Three is a number rich in Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
symbolism, like the three pramana
Pramana
Pramana is an epistemological term in Hindu and Buddhist dialectic, debate and discourse.Pramāṇavāda and Hetuvidya can be glossed in English as Indian and Buddhist Epistemology and Logic, respectively.-In Hinduism:...
s, the Trilokya or the Trimurti
Trimurti
The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer," These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or...
, so a threefold set of three symbolizes completion and perfection.
In the 19th century, pistols held and shot off by the dancers in the performance of the bedhaya. Sumarsam
Sumarsam
Sumarsam is a Javanese musician and scholar of the gamelan.-Life:Sumarsam was born in Dander, Bojonegoro, East Java, Indonesia. He first performed gamelan at the age of seven. He began his formal gamelan education in 1961 at the Konservatori Karawitan Indonesia in Surakarta...
considered the meaning of the use of pistols an aristocratic attempt to adopt a foreign element to show enhance royal power, or the secularization and infomalization of the court ritual when in the presence of European guests.
During some period in the nineteenth century, the dancers in Yogyakarta were young men dressed as women. The combination of characteristics of both sexes was thought to have a special spiritual power.
Further reading
- Clara Brakel-Papenhuijzen. The bedhaya court dances of Central Java. Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1992.