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Ramayana

Hanuman. Kumbakarna, who actually does not agree with Rahwana, s conduct, still feels very sad seeing his sister and Cousin die. Hestill wishes to show his loyalty to his country. Rushing forward to the battle- field, lie is attacked by an army of apes, all of whom are beaten even Laksmana is beaten. Only when Rama appears armed with bow and arrows that Kumbakarna dies as a hero.

two great families and the journey of Yudistira to Heaven. Unlike the Ramayana) the story of which is fairly simple, the story of the Mahabharata is rather complicated and very long.
The story of Ramayana, which is performed in dance-drama or sendratari, does not deviate much from original epic but the Java, nese dance-drama presenting stories from the epic Mahabharata do deviate a great deal.

The Mahabarata has long been known by the Javanese more than a thousand years ago. For example, the story oi Bimmaya Kumara is recorded as performed as puppet theatre (wayang) in the copper plate inscription issued by King Balitung in A.D. 907. It is a story about Bhima, the second brother of the five Pandawas.
The Javanese make a clear distinction between stories based oil epic and those which were created by dalang (puppeteer). The for mer are called lakon pokok, or lakon dapuran, or lakon jejer (trunk stories), the latter lakon carangan (branch stories). There are also stories wholly invented by dalang called lakon sempalan (detached stories).

By the middle of the 18th century, it seems, the Mahabharata was preferred to the Ramayana for performance in the courts of the Central Javanese kings and mansions of the nobility. I suspect that the preference was not only because the Mahabharata creatively inspired new stories. It also reflected the political conditions at that time. The Dutch had divided the Mataram kingdom into. two -Surakarta and Yogyakarta - for the two brothers Sunan Paku Buwono III and Sultan Hamengku Buwono I in 1755.

By the 18th century stories based on the Mahabharata were being performed both through the-leather shadow-puppet-play and through dance-drama (wayang wong). The performance always depicted a conflict between the five Pandawas and the hundred Kaurawas, with the intervention of a third party who was considered foreign (Javanese: Sabrangen), supposedly the Dutch.

It should be noted that because the Javanese considered the heroes of both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, it is not surprising that the Javanese have also created new stories combining the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, for example the Rama Nitis (Incarnation of Rama). In the Rama Nitis Rama incarnates in Kresna, advisor 'and helper, of the Pandawas, and Laksmana. incarnates. In Arjuna, the greatest hero of the Mahabharata.

Based on the Mahabharata the Javanese men of letters made up stories of their own, though the names of the important characters are taken from names from the Mahabharata. The Pregiwa-Pregiwati dance-drama, which is very popular among the Javanese, used to perform the complete story. In the palace of Yogyakarta, such a performance used to last three days at a stretch. Today this. long story can be performed in only two hours, one hour, or even less.

The Pregiwa-Pregiwati dance-drama is now scarcely performed as a whole. Only the most interesting parts of it are performed, such as the journey of Abimanyu and Gatotkaca in their search for Pregiwa-pregiwati when they meet the giant Cakil and his troop of giants. Another part performed is the story of war between the Pandawas and the king who desires the prospective wife of Abimanyu. In Yogyakarta this is a separate independent lakon called lakon Suprabawati Tinanding (Suprabawati fighting Srikandi
Following is a summary of the Pregiwa-Pregiwati dance-drama.
King Kresna has agrown-up daughter called Dewi.Siti Sundari.