Wayang beber

Wayang beber

Wayang beber depiction of a battle

Wayang glass painting depiction of Bharatayudha battle

The wayang beber has strong similarities to narratives in the form of illustrated ballads that were common at annual fairs in medieval and early modern Europe. They have also been subject to the same fate—they have nearly vanished. Chinese visitors to Java during the 15th century described a storyteller or unrolled scrolls and told stories that made the audience laugh or cry. A few scrolls of images remain from those times, found today in museums. There are two sets, hand-painted on hand-made bark cloth, that are still owned by families who have inherited them from many generations ago, in Pacitan and Wonogiri, both villages in Central Java. Performances, mostly in small open-sided pavilions or auditoriums, take place according to the following pattern:
The dhalang (puppeteer, narrator) gives a sign, the small gamelan orchestra with drummer and a few knobbed gongs and a musician with a rebab (violin-like instrument held vertically) begins to play and the dhalang unrolls the first scroll of the story. Then, speaking and singing, he narrates the episode in more detail. In this manner, in the course of the evening he unrolls several scrolls one at a time. Each scene in the scrolls represents a story or part of a story. The content of the story typically stems from the Panji romances which are semi-historical legends set in the 12th-13th century East Javanese kingdoms of Jenggala, Daha and Kediri, and also in Bali.

sumber : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayang

Kresna

Kresna was the king of Dwarawati, the wisest man in the world

Kresna was t he king of Dwarawati, the wisest man in the world, the incarnation of Wisnu, had been assigned by Batara Guru to become a referee in Baratayuda. (see Baratayuda and The Kingdom of Dwarawati).

The war had to be in accord with the script known as Jitapsara. The ksatrias with very strong supernatural power were not permitted to participate. Before the Baratayuda, a son of Bima, Antasena and son of Arjuna, Wisanggeni had disappeared mystically to guarantee the victory of Pendawa, upon the advice of Sang Hyang Wenang, the grand-father of Guru.

Another son of Bima, Antareja was killed after following Kresna’s advice (See The Kingdom of Amarta). He was too strong to every enemy, furthermore there was a prediction, if he took part in Baratayuda he should meet Baladewa, Kresna’s brother. Kresna knew that his brother could not match Antareja.

Baladewa was told by Kresna to meditate in a lonely place. When the war began, he should be informed. Baladewa stopped his meditation only after the Baratayuda. Kresna although an incarnation of Wisnu, wise and clever, probably he could make a mistake too. It was human, as the case of Antareja. He was trusted by Guru to act fairly and diplomatically. In fact, he was a great diplomat. .