The Abduction of Sitā: Notes on a Stone Relief from Eastern Java

Author(s): Jan Fontein

Source: Boston Museum Bulletin, Vol. 71, No. 363 (1973), pp. 21-35
Published by: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4171579 .
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 The Abduction of Sita
Notes on a stone relief from EasternJava
JAN FONTEIN

"As long as the mountains stand and the earth is watered by streams, the Ramayana
will continue to be transmittedamong men." Time has proved this pronouncement
by Valmiki,the legendary poet of the great Indianepic Ramayana, to be of prophetic
accuracy. For the Ramayana not only became part of the cultural heritage of many
of the peoples living in the Indian subcontinent, it also spread to all corners of the
indianized world of SoutheastAsia, where its influence is omnipresent even today.
Epigraphicalevidence suggests that the Ramayana was known in the Indo-chinese
kingdom of Champa as early as the seventh century of our era. It may even have
been transmitted to that country in a version that closely resembled the text of
VMlmiki'smasterpiece as it is known in India today.1 In addition to VMImiki's epic,
all kinds of translations,adaptations, and other versions, ranging from popular the-
ater plays in the vernacularto highly stylized and polished poetic works, have been
preservedall over southern Asia.2
In Indonesia the Ramayana became one of India'smost enduring contributions to
the life and culture of the inhabitantsof the islands of Javaand Bali. For even after
the advent of Islam brought an end to the ancient indianized culture of Java, the
Rama-yana survived intact, continuing to enjoy widespread popularity through the
ages, and even today every Javanese and Balinese is familiar with its plot through
theater and dance performancesof many different kinds. The earliest and most con-
vincing evidence for the high esteem in which the Ramayana must have been held by
the Javanese is to be found in the large temple complex of Lara-Djonggrangat the
village of Prambanannear Djogjakartain central Java. This group of temples, dedi-
cated to the three great gods of Hinduism,probablydates from the beginning of the
tenth century. The inside of the balustradeof the main temple at Prambanan,dedi-
cated to the god Siva, is decorated with a continuous frieze of stone reliefs, which
illustratethe story of the Ramayana from Vishnu'sincarnationas Ramaup to the siege
of Lankaby the army of the monkeys. The story continues on the balustrade of the
temple dedicated to Brahma,but those reliefs have been much less perfectly pre-
served. The balustrade of the third large temple of the Lara-Djonggrangcomplex
illustratesthe life of Krishna,another of Vishnu's incarnations.
Although another series of Ramayana illustrationswas carved on the walls of the
21
main temple at Panataran(Blitar,EasternJava)during the first half of the fourteenth
 Asiatic Curator's Fund. 60

-' i 4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. R5vanaabducting STti, EasternJava, sandstone, ca. 11th century; height 39.3 cm., width 77.4 cm.
Asiatic Curator'sFund. 67.1005.

22
century, the artisticachievement of the artists who decorated the temples at Pram-
banan has always remained unequalled, not only in the Indonesian archipelago but
in other countries of SoutheastAsia and India,the homeland of the epic story,as well.
The best known of all Indonesian Ramayana versions is a long poem, written in
Old Javanese and traditionallyattributedto a legendary poet named Yogisvara. The
date of this Old JavaneseRjmayana has not been firmlyestablished and has been in
the past a matterof considerable scholarlyspeculation. The Sanskritscholar Hendrik
Kern,who translatedthe firstpart of the poem into Dutch,3placed it in the thirteenth
century, but in the more than fifty years which have elapsed since he first voiced
this opinion, other scholars have suggested dates of as much as three centuries
earlier.
The extensive and detailed philological studies of the Old Javanese Ramayana are
of special interest to the art historian, for despite their technicalities, these studies
offer a wealth of informationconcerning the works of art that were inspired by the
Ramayana. The most important study of the Prambananreliefs was that of W. F.
Stutterheim,who devoted most of his monumental Rama-Legenden und Rama-Re-
liefs (1925) to the problems of the Ramayana in Indonesia. Even before that date
other scholars had noticed that the Ramayana frieze at Prambanandiffers on several
importantpoints from the descriptionof the events in VMlmiki's epic or in Yogisvara's
Old JavaneseRamayana. Stutterheimdiscovered that some of the most conspicuous
divergences can be adequately explained with the help of much later versions of the
Ramayana story, especially the Malayanversion, known as HikayatSeri Rama.4The
fact that the illustrationsin stone deviate so radicallyfrom the most ancient version in
Old Javanese led him to the assumption that the Prambananreliefs were inspired by
another, in all probability,Indianversion of the tale.
In the years that have elapsed since the appearance of his Rama-Legenden the
study of the Ramayana, in Indonesia as well as in other countries of Southeast Asia,
has made considerable progress. The acquisition by the Museum of Fine Arts of an
EasternJavanese stone relief depicting a Ramayana scene (fig. 1) provides us with a
rareopportunityto compare two Javanesereliefs illustratingthe same episode and to
examine them in the light of the evidence from the most recent Ramayana studies.
The relief, acquired on the Londonart marketsix years ago, consists of a rectangu-
larslab of soft, tuffa-likegrey sandstone. Adopting a synoptic method of representa-
tion, the artistcombined several consecutive Rima-yanaepisodes into a single relief.
Of these episodes at least two are clearly recognizable. In the center of the relief we
see two standing figures, the heroine Sita, and the villain Ravana,who has disguised
himself as an itinerantmonk in order to gain entrance to the hermitage in which Sits,
her husband Rama,and his devoted brotherLakshmanaare living. Her head demurely
turnedaway from the bogus holy man, Sits rejects Ravana'sproposition. To the right
the wall of the hermitage is representedas a row of temple buildings, seen in the aer-
ial perspective that is a characteristicof many Javanese reliefs. It emphasizes the se-
clusion of the hermitage to which Ravanahas gained admission on false pretenses,
after having lured away Sita's husband and brother-in-law. It also effectively serves 23
 2. Ravanaabducting SIt5. Firstsection, relief on the balustrade of the Siva temple of Lara
Djonggrang, Prambanan,Central Java, late 9th-early 10th century.

to separate the encounter of Sit5 and Ravanafrom the next episode, which is shown
on the right. There Ravana,seated on his monstrous mount, is seen abducting Sita,
who has remainedadamantin resistinghis demands.
The representationof Ravanain the disguise of an itinerantmonk corresponds in
several respects with the description which the Old JavaneseRamiyana gives of the
appearance of this wolf in sheep's clothing: "He looked like a pure and orthodox
saiva monk, virtuousand holy, his head shaven except for a tuft of hairon the crown.
His teeth were as pure white as crystal;he was provided with a rosaryand a gourd,
which he carriedon a shoulder strap:his monk's garbwas a beautiful red, dyed with
lacquer."5
The gourd, carriedon a strap,is clearlyvisible in the relief. The finial of the monk's
staffsufferedslight damage, like all other protrudingpartsof the relief,and it is, there-
fore, not entirelyclear what type of finial the artistwished to represent. Some Indian
versions, more specific than the Old JavaneseRamayana,portrayRavana disguised as
a member of the brahmanicsect of the Traidandikas,ascetics recognizable by the
three sticks which they carry: "with kamandalu (water pot) and a beggar's bowl,
as also a face possessed of cleanness, clad in vestments dyed with lac, with his be-
longings gathered together, and holding the bundle of three staves."6 Adherents of
the Traidandikasect are occasionally represented in Indian art. Perhaps the most
24 famous member of this ancient sect was Subhadra,the 120-year-old ascetic who be-
3. Ravanaabducting SRtI.Second section.

came the Buddha'slast convert before he entered Nirvana. Gandharareliefs repre-

senting the death of the Buddhaoften show Subhadraseated in meditation next to
his water pot, suspended from a tripod made of the three staves from which the sect
derives its name.7 Although there are two lines on the lower part of Ravana'sstaff
which could possibly be interpretedas a representationof the rope which held the
staves together, the staff in the Boston relief is in all likelihood not a triple, but a sin-
gle staff, surmounted by a finial of the khakkharatype. The khakkhara,an onomato-
poeic name for a staff with a ringed finial, which produces a jingling sound, is an at-
tribute of begging monks. It served a multiple purpose. The jingling sound warned
animalsof the bearer'simpending approach. In this way the mendicantavoided kill-
ing inadvertentlythe insects and other lower forms of life that happened to cross his
path. Moreover, as he was bound by the vow of silence, the monk could rattle his
staff as a reminderthathe, insteadof begging for alms, expected to be given them out
of people's own accord.
Eventhough the earliest detailed description of an Indiankhakkharawas given by
the Chinese Buddhistpilgrim 1-ching,who traveledto Indiabetween 671 and 695, no
actual example of a khakkharaseems to have survivedin that country. On the other
hand, manyexamples have been preservedin Indonesia,where not only Buddhistbut
also Brahmanicsects seem to have adopted the custom of begging for alms.8 The fin-
ial in the relief does not bear a close resemblance to any of the surviving Hindu- 25
 Javanese khakkhara.Nevertheless, its frequent association with the custom of beg-
ging warrantsthe supposition that the artistintended to representthis particulartype
of finial.
On the rightside of the relief is representedone of the turningpoints in the Raima-
yana story, the abduction of Sits by Ravana.Seated on his terrifyingmount, Ravana
holds his rightarm around the waist of Sita. The dramatictension of the moment is
vividly expressed in the posture of despair of the slender victim. The demonic mount
holds a double-bladed sword or Candrahasa,one of the traditional attributes of
Ravana,in his left hand.9 Two fingersof the righthand are raisedin a threateningges-
ture which closely resembles that of the EasternJavanese Kalaheads crowning the
gates and niches of temples.
The meaning of the scene occupying the left side of the relief is less certain. Peep-
ing out from between an open space in a buildingabove is the head of a figurewatch-
ing Sit5 and Ravana. In an open pavillion on the extreme left a woman is seated. Al-
though the exact identificationof these figures is uncertain,the likeliest possibility is
that both representthe same person, the demoness (r5kshas7) Scirpanakh5,the sister of
Ravana. The Old Javanese Ramaiyanasays of her: "There was a certain demoness,
Suirpanakha, who was a spy for Ravana. She wandered through the forest and arrived
at the hermitage in the DandakaForest."10As the person at the top of the panel is
obviously spying or eavesdropping,there can be little doubt that she should be iden-
tified as the demoness. Lesscertain is the identity of the other personage, but since
no other woman appearsamong the dramatispersonae at this point in the story, we
may assume this person to representSGrpanakh5 as well. She has the curly hairthat is
typical of demons and quite differentfrom the chignon of Ravanaand Sita. As most
noses and faces in the relief have been slightlydamaged, the fact that this woman has
a damaged nose does not serve to substantiate her identification as Surpanakh5,
whose nose had been cut off by Rnma'sbrother Lakshmana.She wears what at first
sight would appear to be a belt, from which an as yet unidentified object is sus-
pended. It is possible, however, that what seems to be a belt could representsome-
thing else. The Bhattikavya,praisingthe voluptuous beauty of this femme fatale de-
scribes her as "havinga midriffwith three folds of skin,"a physicaltraitmuch admired
in ancient India.
A comparisonof the Boston relief with the correspondingscene in the Prambanan
frieze (figs. 2, 3) reveals some interesting iconographic parallelsas well as some dis-
tinctive stylisticdifferences. However, before we consider these points more closely,
it is necessary to mention some of the results of the philological studies on the Old
Javanese Ramayana. When Stutterheimconcluded that the Prambananreliefs were
based on an Indianversion of the tale, the apparent chronological discrepancy be-
tween the construction of the Prambanantemples and the composition of the Old
JavaneseRamayana could not yet be reconciled. New discoveries have narrowedthis
gap and may even have eliminated it altogether.
Apartfrom the resultsof philological studies, which tried to establish an early date
26 for the Old Javanese Raimayanaby means of internal evidence, the most interesting
later discovery is that of an inscription, dated in accordance with A.D. 907, and re-
cording the recitalof the Rima-yanaat a temple festival duringthat year.11This clearly
proves that a version of the Rama-yana,in all probabilitywritten in an indigenous lan-
guage, was alreadycurrentin Javaat that time. Another inscription,dated in accord-
ance with A.D. 856, consists of a metricalpoem in Old Javanese. This text, the earliest
datable specimen of Old Javanesepoetry, bears such a close resemblance to the style
and language of the Old Javanese Ramayana,that the possibility of a late ninth or
earlytenth centurydate for the Ramaryanain Old Javanesecan no longer be excluded.12
One of the most significantdiscoveries concerning the history of the Old Javanese
Ramayana was by ManomohanGhosh in 1936. He established that the Old Javanese
Ramiyana was not directly inspired by Valmiki's voluminous classic but that it is
based upon a much shorter recension, popularly known as the "Poem of Bhatti"or
Bhattikavya.13 WhereasVWlmiki's epic may have reached its present form at the begin-
ning of our era, the Bhattikavya,which seems to have been written in Gujarat(West-
ern India),only dates back to the sixth or seventh century. Its poet, Bhatti, used the
popularstory of the Ramayanain order to illustratein verse various points of Sanskrit
grammarand rulesof literarycomposition.
What strikes us firstof all when we look at the Prambananfrieze (figs. 2, 3) is the
liveliness of the rendition and the vivacious movement of the figures. In this respect
the frieze shows a markedcontrastwith the reliefs of the other great Hindu-Javanese
monument in CentralJava,the Barabudur,which dates from a slightly earlier period.
To some extent the differencesbetween the reliefs of Barabudurand Lara-Djonggrang
may be attributedto the contrast in style, content, and spirit between the Ramayana
epic and the holy texts of Buddhismwhich are illustratedon the walls of Barabudur.
This contrast received additional emphasis as the sculptors of Barabudurdeliberately
played down what little dramathere is in the verbose and repetitious sutratexts. It is
generally assumed that this was done in order not to distract the devout spectator
from the lofty thoughts which the contemplation of the reliefs had evoked in him. At
Prambanan,on the other hand, the sculptors obviously took delight in the tension
and dramaof their story and availed themselves of every opportunityto express these
feelings.
The liveliness of the scenes is enhanced by another, purely technical factor. The
Hindu-Javanesesculptor consistently tried to avoid compositions in which the seams
of the stones would cut through the face of one of his figures. The relatively small
stones of Barabudur,therefore, did not give the sculptor much compositional flexi-
bility. The retinue with which each of the principalpersonages in the sutra stories is
invariablyprovided often ended up being shown in rows, which adds to the mo-
notony of the composition. At Prambanan,on the other hand, where slabs of a much
largersize were used, and where only vertical seams occur, the sculptor could place
his figures wherever he wanted, allowing him a freedom of choice which greatlycon-
tributedto the liveliness of the scenes. Moreover,whereas mostof the processions and
rows of servantsshown on the Barabudurreliefs do not seem to be directly involved
in the activities of the main personages, most figures in the Prambananreliefs, which 27
 4. Tilottama cursing Sahasranikaand Mrigavati. Relief no. XIVof the bathing place Djalatunda,
EasternJava, end of the 10th century. (Photo LembagaPurbakala,no. 7030, courtesy of the
National Museum of Ethnography,Leiden.)

are far less numerousto begin with, take a more active partin the story.When Ravana
grabsSita-,the latteroverturns,in the heat of the struggle, a large jar with food. The
relief shows a servantraisingher hands in a gesture of despair and an animal availing
itself of the situation by stealing the food that has spilled from the fallen jar. Such
picturesque details, stressingand supporting the principal action, are as common in
the Prambananreliefs as they are rareat Barabudur.
The vivacity and directness of the expression, so much in evidence throughout
the entire Prambananfrieze, would seem to argue in favor of the supposition that
the sculptors were entirely familiarwith the story which they were commissioned to
illustrate. This would hardly have been the case if the only known version of the
story had been a Sanskritmanuscriptratherthan a more readily understood native in-
terpretation. At Barabudurinstructionsinscribed at the top of some of the reliefs of
the unfinished, buried foundation suggest clearly that the text which the architects
and plannersof the monument had at their disposal was a Sanskritmanuscript. The
somewhat unspecific,vague renditionof certain passages may to some extent be due
to the sculptor's lack of familiaritywith the details of the narrativewhich he was sup-
posed to illustrate.
At Prambanan,on the other hand, the sculptor'sfamiliaritywith the story and his
delight in its dynamic action makes itself felt almost everywhere. This feeling for the
dramaand emotion in the story should perhaps not be seen as an isolated phenome-
non, restrictedto the sculptors of the relief. It may well be typical of the Javaneseat-
titude toward the Ramayana. A systematic, line-for-line comparison of the texts of
the IndianBhattikavya and the Old JavaneseRamayana revealsthat the Javanesepoet
consistently expanded and embroidered upon those passages of the text in which the
28 dramatispersonae are described as crying,wailing, or lamenting.14Forexample, the
passage in the Old JavaneseRaimayanawhich describes Sit5'slamentationsduring her
abduction to Lankais an interpolation which does not have its counterpart in the
Bhattikavya. Thisliteraryphenomenon would seem to betrayan attitude which is very
similarto thatof the sculptorswho illustratedthe story.
In this respect the Prambananfrieze and the Boston relief breathe the same spirit.
The violent struggle between Sita and her abductor,as seen in the Prambananfrieze,
and the dramaticgesture of despair made by Sit5 as she is being carriedoff by Ravana
in the Boston relief, would seem to be expressionsof that same penchant for the dra-
matic as the interpolations which the comparative philological studies of the texts
revealed.
In two respects, however, the Boston relief does not seem to agree with the details
of the Old Javaneseversion of the story. In the poem it is told how Sit5 leaves the
hermitage to go into the surroundingforest: "While Sit5 enters the deep forest gath-
ering flowers, Ravanaarrivedin the guise of an ecclesiastic."15Therelief,on the other
hand, seems to suggest that she is still inside the hermitagewhen Ravanamakes his
appearance. In this respect the Boston relieffollows the descriptionin Valmiki'sepic.
The Prambananrelief is less specific, although the house and servantson the left of
the scene would seem to suggest the close proximityto the hermitage.
The second deviation from the Old Javanese Ramayana as well as from Valmiki's
epic is to be found in the fact that both the Prambananand Boston reliefs do not rep-

5. Kama, the God of Love. Fragmentaryfinial from Djalatunda, EasternJava,end of the 10th cen-
tury. (Photo Lembaga Purbakala,no. 5671, courtesy of the National Museum of Ethnography,
Leiden.)
~ 1
I~~~~~~~~~~~~.--o'

29
 6. Hanuman reporting to Rnma(?) Sandstone relief, EasternJava, ca. 11th century. Museum Pusat,
Djakarta,no. 396a. (Photo I. L. Klinger.)

resent Ravana'susual donkey-drawnchariot. Insteadhe is shown seated on the back

of a rakshasaor demon. In the Prambananversion the demon holds a platform on
which Ravanaand Sit5 are placed. Stutterheimhas suggested that the substitutionof
a demon for Ravana'schariotmay be somehow connected with the fact that the Java-
nese name for Ravana'smount is Wilmana,a name derived from the Sanskritvimana,
i.e., heavenlychariot.16The Prambananversion does justice to the passage in the story
which says that Ravana,about to abduct Sit5, assumed again his normal ten-headed
appearance. On the Boston relief this passage has obviously been ignored and no
such transformationis shown.
The absence of the donkey chariot and its replacement by a monstrous mount is
one of those peculiaritiesof the Prambananfrieze which have been singled out as
definite proof of the fact that the frieze could never have been inspiredby Yogisvara's
poem. The fact that the Boston reliefshows exactly the same substitutionis therefore
of particularinterest. Ifwe assume that the text on which the Prambananreliefs were
based was later superseded by Yogisvara'spoem, the Boston relief seems to indicate
that this process may have taken a certainamount of time. For,as we shall presently
see, the stylistic characteristicsof the Boston relief indicate clearly that it dates from
a time at least a hundredyears after the Prambananfrieze was carved.
The abduction scene of the Boston relief has enough in common with the Pramba-
nan version of the same incident to demonstrate the iconographicalrelationshipof
the two reliefs. Yet it is evident at the same time that the Boston relief incorporates
stylisticfeatureswhich point to a considerablylaterdate. At Prambanan,the carvingis
deep, and all personages have been given well-developed, full shapes. In the Boston
30 relief, on the other hand, we can alreadyobserve the firstsigns of a stylistic develop-
7. Hanuman reporting to Rama(?) detail.

8. Hanuman reporting to Rama (?) detail.

4~~
= z ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1

31
 ment which typifies the stone sculpture of the EasternJavanese period. The carving
has become flattened and much more shallow, a tendency in EasternJavanesesculp-
ture which was to gain in strengthwith the passage of time. Also, the disproportion-
ately long and slender arms as well as the broad shoulders foreshadow the wayang
style of sculpture in which the personagesassume the appearanceof the leather pup-
pets of the Javaneseshadow play.
The movements of the abducted Sit5, dramaticand graceful at the same time, are
reminiscentof a relief on a finial from the holy bathing place of Djalatundaon Mount
Gunung Penanggungan(EasternJava),which probablydates from the end of the tenth
century.17This relief has recently been identified as a representationof Kama,the
God of Love (fig. 4). On the Djalatundafinial as well as in the Boston relief rapid
movement of the body is suggested by means of a swirling sash. The sashes of these
two pieces are virtuallyidentical in shape.
Some of the architecturaldetails of the Boston relief seem to point into the same
direction. The conical or bud-shaped ornamentscrowning the wall of the hermitage
in the lower and upper left corner of the relief can be seen on at least two other east-
ern Javanesereliefs.One is that in the hermit'scave of Selamanglengat Tulungagung,
to the west of Kediri.18The other is on relief no. XIVof the set removed from the
bathing place Djalatundaand now in the Museum Pusat,Djakarta(fig. 5).19 This or-
nament, which represents a stylized version of the Javanese keben fruit, may well
have been associated with the residence of gods or exalted beings. As the textual
source of these reliefs has been identified, we know that the keben motif occurs, at
Selamanglengas well as at Djalatunda,on a building representingthe Palaceof Indra.
The bird's eye view of a row of small temples, separatingthe hermitage from the
abduction scene, is reminiscentof the well-known bird'seye views of temples on the
reliefs of Trawulan(fourteenthcentury).20However,where the Trawulanreliefsshow
the typical split gate (Tjandibentar)survivingin contemporaryBalinese architecture,
the temple buildingson the Boston relief would seem to reproduce an earliertype of
architecture. The closest parallelagain is the Djalatundarelief, which has been men-
tioned because of its representationof an enclosure decorated with the keben motif.21
Although the Boston relief is a self-contained and complete visual unit, it is reason-
able to suppose that it was part of a series and originally preceded and followed by
reliefs illustratingother episodes of the Raima-yana.At this moment, however, there is
only one other relief known which could possibly have belonged to the same series.
It is a relief in the Museum Pusat,Djakarta,tentatively identified by Stutterheimas a
Raima-yanascene (figs.6-8). The same authorsuggested once that it could have come
from Djalatunda,an idea which he rejected in a laterstudy, published after he had in-
spected the original.22The relief is carved from the same brittle stone as the Boston
relief, a type of stone quite differentfrom that of the sculpturefrom Djalatunda.
The Djakartarelief is in a poor state of preservation,and all of the faces have been
heavily damaged. The principalclue to its identificationas a RamaJyana scene is the
fact that four figures on the rightside and in the center of the relief are monkeys, all
32 clearly recognizable by their tails. The scene is laid in a setting of trees and rocks,
while the shells in front of the figures on the left suggest that the meeting takes place
on the seashore. On the left in the backgroundare three seated figures, placed against
a backgroundof stylized rocksand trees. They are being respectfullygreeted by four
kneeling monkeys and a standing figure, who would appear to be a bearded man.
However, his feet resemble those of the apes, and one would therefore be inclined to
consider him one of the monkeys. Stutterheim,who has mentioned this relief on two
occasions, suggested that the standing figure might represent the monkey Jambavat.
The considerationthat on the Prambananreliefs the leadersof the monkeys are repre-
sented without tail seems to add strengthto this identification.
The relief is badly damaged, and some of the details that may be crucial to the
identification have been lost. It appears, however, that the third man in the back-
ground returnsthe respectful salute of the monkeys. Stutterheim, who tentatively
identified thefirst and second sitting men as Ramaand his faithful brother Lakshmana,
did not know what to do with the third man in the background. He rejected the pos-
sibilitythat he could be Sugriva. It may perhapsbe possible, however, to identify him
as Anggada,the son of the slain Valin,who had joined the armyof Rama. This identi-
fication gains in plausibilitywhen we try to establish which episode of the Ramayana
has been illustratedin the Djakartarelief.
It would seem at first as if all of the monkeys hold their hands in respectful greet-
ing, but a closer inspection of the relief reveals that this is not the case with the first
monkey, the animal seated next to the three men. His hands are stretched out to-
gether, the palms turned upward (fig. 8). In spite of the damage to the faces of the
men, it is quite clear that their heads were inclined toward this monkey, perhapseven
toward his hands. In all probabilitythis monkey is none other than Hanuman,who
reportsto Ramaon his adventurousjourney to Lanka,and who shows him the jewel
Sita has given to him in the Asoka Grove. This conversation took place after Hanu-
man had returned and after he had reported to Jambavat. Together with Jambavat
and Anggada he went to see Ramaand Lakshmana.Anggada's gesture, though re-
sembling the ceremonial greeting the Javanesecall sembah, could also be interpreted
here as an introductorygesture, introducingHanuman,who is about to tell the story
of his trip. The rocks in the background,and the fact that the meeting takes place at
the seashore, are in perfect accord with the descriptions given in the Ramaiyana.
Now that the meaning of the Djakartarelief has been established, the likelihood
that it belongs to the same series as the Boston relief has become even stronger. Al-
though the Djakartarelief is one inch shorter in length than the Boston piece, the two
reliefs have exactly the same height, as should be expected of stones from the same
frieze. The similaritybetween the seated figures and the Ravanaand Sita of the Bos-
ton relief is very close. In both reliefs the figureswear the same chignon and have the
same slender, elongated armsand broad shoulders.
It would seem likely, therefore, that the original provenance of the two reliefs is a
temple in EasternJava, dating from about the eleventh century, and decorated
with a frieze illustratingthe Ramayana. Unfortunately,the provenance of the Dja-
karta relief can no longer be established with certainty. As it was already included 33
 among the pieces photographedin the DjakartaMuseum by the Dutch photographer
van Kinsbergenin 1872, we know that it must have come to that institutionat an early
date, when archaeological reportswere still imperfectly kept and the provenance of
statuarywas not given the same kind of attention it would undoubtedly receive to-
day. According to an old reportof the ArchaeologicalService, the Djarkartarelief is
supposed to have come from Kediri.23
Besides the two series of reliefs at Prambananand at Panataran,no Javanesesculp-
ture inspiredby the story of the Ramayana was known to exist until the Boston relief
was discovered. The fact that so little sculpture dating from the early centuries of
the EasternJavaneseperiod has been preservedmakesthe acquisitionof this piece an
event of even greater importance. The excavation of a sanctuaryat Gurah,a recent
discovery of the Archaeological Institute of Indonesia, clearly shows that finds of
great importancecan still be made in EasternJava. One day, perhaps, the location of
the site from which the Djakartaand Boston reliefs have been removed will be found,
providingus with fresh visual proof of the widespread popularityamong the Javanese
of India'smost enduring gifts to the Indonesianarchipelago, its great epic literature.

NOTES
1. Paul Mus, "Etudes indiennes et indochi- 9. Information kindly supplied by Professor
noises," Bulletin de l'Ecole Fran,aise d'Extreme Th. P. Galestin of Leiden University; see also
Orient 28 (1928), 151. Old Javanese Rimiyana V, 21 (Kern,Verspreide
2. S. Singaravelu, "A Comparative Study of the Geschriften, p. 112).
Sanskrit,Tamil, Thai and Malay Version of the 10. Old Javanese RamayanaIV, 27 (Kern,
Story of Rama with Special Reference to the Verspreide Geschriften, p. 105).
Process of Acculturation in the Southeast Asian 11. See Claire Holt, Art in Indonesia: Continu-
Versions," Journal of the Siam Society 56 (1968), ities and Change (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Univer-
139-140, note 5, lists alphabetically the lan- sity Press, 1967), p. 282.
guages in which the Ramayanahas been 12. J. G. de Casparis, Prasasti Indonesia
translated. (Bandung: Masa Barus,1956), vol. 2, pp. 280-330.
3. H. Kern, Verspreide Geschriften (The Hague: 13. Manomohan Ghosh, "On the Source of the
Nijhoff, 1922), vol. 10, pp. 79-139. Old-Javanese RamayanaKakawin,"Journal of
4. Old Javanese RamayanaV, 65-66, see Kern, the Greater India Society 3 (1936), 113-117.
Verspreide Geschriften, p. 117. 14. C. Hooykaas, The Old-Javanese Ramayana
5. Willem Stutterheim, Rama-Legenden und Kakawinwith Special Reference to Interpola-
Rama-Reliefs in Indonesien (Munich: Mueller, tion in Kakawins(The Hague: Nijhoff, 1955), and
1925), vol. I, p. 177. The Old-Javanese Ramayana,an Exemplary
6. M. R. Kale, The Bhattikivyam with the Com- Kakawinas to the Form and Content (Amster-
mentary of Iayamangala (Bombay:Saradakridana dam: Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschap-
Press, 1897), p. 237. pen, 1958).
7. See, for example, the relief from Gandhara, 15. Kern, Verspreide Geschriften, p. 117.
MFA07.491. 16. Stutterheim, Rama-Legenden, p. 162.
8. I-tsing, A Record of the Buddhist Religion 17. Th. P. Galestin, "An Interesting Stone Top-
as Practised in India and the Malay Archipelago, piece of the Old Javanese Bathing Place Djala-
trans. J. Takakusu(Oxford, 1896), p. 191; W. F. tunda," Pratidinam, Indian, Iranian,and Indo-
Stutterheim, "De Oudheden-collectie van Z. H. EuropeanStudies Presented to F. B. J. Kuiperon
Mangkoenogoro VII to Soerakarta,"Djawa 17 His Sixtieth Birthday(The Hague: Moulton, n.d.),
34 (1937), 47-48. pp. 539-549.
18. P. V. van Stein Callenfels, "De Mintaraga 1959), p1. 288.
basreliefs aan de Oud-Javaansche Bouwwerk-
21. Holt, Art in Indonesia, pl. 49, and Bosch,
en," Publicaties van den Oudheidkundigen
Dienst in Nederlandsch-Indie pp. 36-53 (see Selected Studies, pl. 14.
especially pi. 51b); for a drawing of this same 22. Illustrated in KarlWith, Java (Hagen i. W.:
detail see Th. P. Galestin, Houtbouw op Oost- Folkwang Verlag, 1920), pl. 111, and Stutterheim,
Javaansche Tempelreliefs (The Hague, 1936), Rama-Legenden, pl. 88.The attribution to Djala-
facing p. 98. tunda is to be found in Rama-Legenden, p. 295,
19. Holt, Art in Indonesia, pl. 49; relief XVIof the later (more correct) statement in "Enkele
the same site shows a row of keben lined up on interessante reliefs van Oost-Java," Djawa 15
a wall, viewed from an aerial perspective (see (1935), 130-144, esp. p. 138, n. 1; Sutjipto
F. D. K. Bosch, Selected Studies in Indonesian Wirjosuparto, RamaStories in Indonesia, Dja-
Archaeology [The Hague, 1961] pi. 16). karta, 1969, p. 14, seems to accept the attribu-
tion to Djalatunda.
20. A. J. Bernet Kempers, Ancient Indonesian
Art (Cambridge, Mass.: HarvardUniversity Press, 23. Oudheidkundig Verslag, 1914, p. 23.

35