is the concept that the two gods involved, Buddha and Rudra, are one and the same. The scene represents the transformation of a thing into its opposite, called matemahan in Balinese, by which the pure destructive, demonic form is revealed as a manifestation of its opposite, the pure goodness of Sutasoma. Sutasoma’s sacrifice is a purification of the world (Fig. 28).
Frequently depicted from the main Ramayana is the abduction of Sita by Rawana. Rawana arranges this by having his demon follower, Marica, turn into a deer, who lures Rama away from where he, Sita and Laksamana, Rama’s brother, are living in the forest. When Rama shoots Marica with an arrow, the demon/deer cries in pain, and Laksamana and Sita think that Rama is in trouble. After a quarrel, Laksamana goes off to find his brother. Then Rawana appears disguised as a priest and steals Sita away, flying her off on his winged vehicle, Wilmana. The Garuda-like Jatayu eagle attempts to stop Rawana. In their frequently depicted battle, Jatayu is mortally wounded, but before he dies he tell Rama of Sita’s abduction.
Rama wanders in the forest in search of allies and meets the monkey brothers Bali (or Subali) and Sugriwa, who are fighting for the throne of the monkey kingdom. In a focal scene for Balinese paintings, Rama intervenes in the brothers’ duel by shooting Bali with an arrow, thus committing Sugriwa to bring his monkey forces, including his nephew, their general Hanoman, to Rama’s aid. The killing of Bali shows Rama in an ethically dubious light, although in ancient Indian and Balinese books of royal ethics, kings are permitted to use any strategy necessary to achieve their ends.
Fig. 29 Karangasem, Arjunawijaya: Arjunasahasrabahu Captures Rawana (detail). Inscription reads: ‘Syat Arjunawijaya/ring segara/lawan sang Rawana/sang Arjuna triwingkrama/kahejuk sang Rawana’/Arjunawijaya fights in the sea against Rawana. Arjuna has taken his triwikrama (pamurtian or monstrous) form and Rawana is captured, c. 1900, paint on cloth, patched together, mounted on bamboo matting, with bound-on painted bamboo edge, 79 x 355 cm, Forge Collection, Australian Museum, E76379 (photo Emma Furno).
Fig. 30 Kamasan, Building the Bridge to Langka, with Tantri scene below, c. 1810–30, traditional paint on bark cloth, 150 x 127 cm, tabing, from Pura Jero Kapal, Gelgel, Forge Collection, Australian Museum, E76168 (photo Emma Furno).
Fig. 31 Kamasan, The Death of Indrajit, before 1849, paint on cloth, langse, from a temple in Kusamba, State Museum Berlin, IC876c.
Hanoman flies to Langka to meet with Sita in Rawana’s asoka tree garden, where he gives her a token that Rama is coming for her. On the way out, Hanoman fights with Rawana’s demons, and destroys part of their palace. Balinese artists frequently depict Hanoman’s fight with the demons, although paintings showing Hanoman’s mission to Sita are less common, despite this being a common theme for dance-drama.
The next major topic for Balinese artists is the march of Rama’s army to the island kingdom of Langka (modern-day Sri Lanka). Rama’s monkey army, aided by other creatures (called paluarga by Kamasan artists), must build a causeway to invade the island. Led by the architect Nala, they set about carrying rocks to do this, while their general, Hanoman, calls on his grandfather, the Sun, not to beat down too hotly on them. An extraordinary painting of this scene shows Hanoman flying up to the Sun (top) (Fig. 30). The scene recalls the story of Hanoman’s birth, also known to painters through a text called Kapiparwa, in which Hanoman threatens to eat the Sun, such is the monkey’s great power.43
Once Rama’s forces are across the causeway, the battle with Rawana’s army begins. The war, as with other epic battles, is described in terms of surges by different leaders. It ends in the defeat of Rawana’s forces. One very beautiful mid-nineteenth century Kamasan painting shows the death of Rawana’s brother, Indrajit, at the hands of Laksamana, as the monkeys, led by Hanoman, wage furious battle around them (Fig. 31). Rawana is shown at the bottom of this work, grieving for his loyal sibling.
Rarely do Balinese paintings show Rawana himself in battle, let alone defeated. He and Rama remain in the background while their forces do the fighting. The climactic scene is the arrival on the scene of Rawana’s gigantic brother, Kumbakarna (‘Pot Ears’), who has to be awakened from a sleep to which has been cursed (Fig. 32). Once awakened, Kumbakarna turns on the monkey army, which stones him. Through Hanoman’s intervention, the demon is finally killed.
After Rama has defeated Rawana, he is unsure of whether his wife Sita has been faithful to him, given that she was in captivity with Rawana for such a long time. In order to test her fidelity, Rama orders that a funeral pyre be built, and Sita jumps into it (Fig. 33). The God of Fire, Agni (in some versions Brahma), appears and saves her.
Fig. 32 Kamasan, The Death of Kumbakarna, possibly late 19th C, paint on cloth, 140 x 154.5 cm, tabing, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, coll. nr. 1844-1.
Fig. 33 Kamasan, Sita’s Ordeal by Fire, mid-19th C, collected 1915, paint on cloth, 177 x 136 cm, tabing, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, coll. nr. 118-13.
Rama stands closest to the fire, on the right, making a gesture with his hand that indicates shocked conversation. Behind him is his brother Laksmana and Rawana’s brother Wibhisana. Above them the gods Wisnu and Siwa look on, carried by a divine vehicle. Rama’s monkey allies are all around. On the ramp from which Sita has thrown herself into the fire is her companion Trijata, Rawana’s daughter, and the divine priests.
The frequency of depictions of this painting is testimony to its importance in Bali. The scene has both emotional and religious depth, since it speaks both of the loyal purity of Sita and the sanctifying presence of Agni, the God of Fire. Sita’s loyalty is emphasized by her centrality: she and Agni are the focal points around which all the other characters are placed. Rama has to stand to one side.
Like his morally ambiguous intervention in the fighting of Bali and Sugriwa, Rama’s doubting Sita demonstrates his fallibility, which must be challenged by divine intervention. Fire and water are the key elements of Hindu ritual. Although Balinese priestly practice tends to emphasize water, these paintings, like some of the Mahabharata scenes and the story of the burning of Smara, focus on the divine nature of fire in sacrifice, as destruction and renewal.
Post-Mythological Stories
The epics have layers of significance that make them appropriate to temples. Other kinds of narrative may be less sacred, but still involve forms of communication of the world beyond the senses, conveying ideas of order, action in the world and ethics. The term ‘post-mythological’, coined by Forge to describe this different level of storytelling, gives a sense of the difference in time that some Balinese ascribe to these narratives: the mythological stories belong to an ancient but eternal past, the post-mythological narratives to more recent, but still venerable, histories of Java and Bali. Traditional paintings have been described by Western writers as not illustrating daily life, but such observations were made without paying attention to what artists were interested around them.
Calon Arang and Other Historical Stories
One of the most potent traditional narratives is the story of Calon Arang, the widow Rangda who calls on the power of the goddess Durga. Rangda is angry that her daughter has been rejected by the great king Erlangga, and determines to take revenge. As with the Sutasoma story, this narrative reveals the presence of destructive aspects of divinity on the world, since Durga is the demonic form of Uma (Parwati), the wife of Siwa. Rangda and
