•  
  •  
 

Abstract

A bstract There are about 60 panels with narrative reliefs from the area of Trowulan in East Java depicting mountains, rivers, bridges, trees, fields, dwellings, pendopo, and palaces. A male figure wearing a cap-like headdress accompanied by a little panakawan-like figure, walks along a cobbled path through a beautiful landscape. The figures are carved in the simple style of East Javanese reliefs on Majapahit temples. The predominance of nature, in amazing detail, is unusual compared to other narrative temple reliefs. The exact provenance is difficult to determine. The artefacts are scattered in museums all over the world: the majority in Trowulan, as well as a large convolute in Jakarta, in Amsterdam, and elsewhere. Fixing the order of the panels is a challenge. This paper discusses two major topics: (A) presenting depictions of landscape and nature in visual art; (B) comparison with Old Javanese texts narrating journeys through landscape and nature. These exercises will provide some conclusions about the function of landscape and nature in the reliefs and their purpose at their original sites. Questions on provenance will also be raised, including the documentation practice of the colonial Dutch and Indonesian Archaeological Services. A number of the panels have been documented by the OD (Dutch Oudheidkundige Dienst), archived in OD photos entitled “Reliefs from Trowulan”, other panels have been documented as being from the site Menak Jinggo in Trowulan. In my paper, I call the reliefs under investigation the “Trowulan reliefs”. N.J. Krom’s (1923) suggestion of doing research on the convolute of these reliefs has never been undertaken, now 100 years later it is time to do so.

References

Bernet Kempers, A.J. 1959. Ancient Indonesian art. Amsterdam: Van der Peet.

Boomgard, P. (ed.). 2007. A world of water; Rain, rivers and seas in Southeast Asian histories. Leiden: KITLV Press.

Bosch, F.D.K. 1915. ROD. Inventaris der Hindoe-oudheden op den grondslag van Dr. R.D.M. Verbeek’s Oudheden van Java. Part Two. Weltevreden: Albrecht & Co. [‘s-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1918.]

Day, Tony. 1994. “’Landscape’ in Early Java”, in: A. Gerstle and A. Milner (eds), Recovering the orient, pp. 175-203. Chur, Switzerland: Harwood Academic Publishers.

Galestin, Th.P. 1936. Houtbouw op Oost-Javaansche tempelreliefs. PhD thesis, Leiden University. [‘s-Gravenhage: n.n.]

Groeneveldt, W.P. 1887. Catalogus der Archeologische verzameling van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen. Batavia: Albrecht & Co.

Khan-Majlis, Brigitte. 1999. “Reinventing Majapahit terracotta art; Fakes and the faking industry in Trowulan, East Java”, Orientations (April 1999): 73-74.

Kieven, Lydia. 2013. Following the cap-figure in Majapahit temple reliefs; A new look at the religious function of East Javanese temples 14th to 15th centuries. Leiden: Brill. [Open access: http://www.brill.com/following-cap-figure-majapahit-temple-reliefs.]

Klokke, Marijke J. 1993. Tantri reliefs on Javanese candi. Leiden: KITLV Press.

Klokke, M. (ed.). 2000. Narrative sculpture and literary traditions in South and Southeast Asia. Leiden: Brill.

Krom, N.J. 1923. Inleiding tot de Hindoe-Javaansche kunst. ‘s-Gravenhage: Nijhoff. Two vols.

Le Bonheur, Albert. 1971. La Sculpture Indonésienne au Musée Guimet. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

Lunsingh Scheurleer, Pauline. 1985. Asiatic Art in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff/Landshoff.

Miksic, John. 1995. The legacy of Majapahit; Catalogue of an exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore, 10 November 1994-26 March 1995. Singapore: National Heritage Board.

Pigeaud, Th.G.Th. 1960-1963. Java in the 14th century; A study in cultural history. The Hague: Nijhoff. Five vols.

Rigg, J. (ed.). 1991. The gift of water; Water management, cosmology and the state in South East Asia. London: University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.

Robson, Stuart O. 1995. Desawarnana (Nagarakrtagama) by Mpu Prapañca. Leiden: KITLV Press.

Robson, S.O. 2008. Arjunawiwaha; The marriage of Arjuna of Mpu Kanwa. Leiden: KITLV Press.

Robson, S.O. 2015. The Old Javanese Ramayana; A new English translation with an Introduction and Notes. Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

Sartono Kartodirjo et al. (eds). 1992: 700 Tahun Majapahit (1293-1993). Surabaya: Dinas Pariwisata Daerah Propinsi Daerah Tingkat I Jawa Timur.

Satyawati Suleiman. 1978. The Pendopo Terrace of Panataran. Jakarta: Proyek Pelita Pembinaan Kepurbakalaan dan Peninggalan Nasional.

Sedyawati, Edi. 1993. “The dramatic principles of Javanese narrative temple reliefs”, in: B. Arps (ed.), Performance in Java and Bali; Studies of narrative, theatre, music and dance, pp. 174-185. London: University of London, School of African and Oriental Studies.

Setten van der Meer, N.C. van. 1979. Sawah cultivation in ancient Java; Aspects of development during the Indo-Javanese period, 5th to 15th century. Canberra: Faculty of Asian Studies in association with Australian National University Press.

Sri Soejatmi Satari. 2008. “Ancient gardens and Hindu-Buddhist architecture in Java”, in: Elisabeth A. Bacus, Ian C. Glover, and Peter D. Sharrock (eds), Interpreting Southeast Asia’s Past (EurASEAA), pp. 122-132. Singapore: NUS Press.

Stutterheim, W.F. 1925. Rama-Legenden und Rama-Reliefs in Indonesien. München: Müller.

Stutterheim, W.F. 1989. Rama-legends and Rama-reliefs in Indonesia. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Abhinav Publications.

Supomo, S. 1977. Arjunawijaya; A kakawin of Mpu Tantular. The Hague: Nijhoff. Two vols. [Bibliotheca Indonesica 14.]

Supomo, S. 1996. “The sovereigny of beauty; Classical Javanese writings”, in: Ann Kumar and John H. McGlynn (eds), Illuminations: The writing traditions of Indonesia, pp. 13-32. Jakarta: Lontar Foundation; New York, NY / Toronto: Weatherhill.

Supomo, S. 2001. “Some problems in writing about contemporary life as depicted in the Sumanasantaka”, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 157/1: 113-129.

Teeuw, A. et al. 1969. Siwaratrikalpa of Mpu Tanakung; An Old Javanese poem, its Indian source and Balinese illustrations. The Hague: Nijhoff. [Bibliotheca Indonesica 3.]

Vickers, Adrian. 1999. “Is there landscape in Indonesia?”, in: Soul ties: The land and her people – Art from Indonesia, pp. 35-43. Singapore: Singapore Art Museum.

Wisseman Christie, Jan. 1986. “Negara, mandala, and despotic state; Images of early Java”, in: D. Marr and A.C. Milner (eds), Southeast Asia in the 9th to 14th centuries, pp. 65-93. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Wisseman Christie, Jan. 1992. “Water from the ancestors; Irrigation in early Java and Bali”, in: J. Rigg (ed.), The gift of water; Water management, cosmology and the state in South East Asia, pp. 7-25. London: University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.

Wisseman Christie, Jan. 2007. “Water and rice in early Java and Bali”, in: P. Boomgaard (ed.), A world of water; Rain, rivers and seas in Southeast Asian histories, pp. 235-258. Leiden: KITLV Press.

Worsley, Peter. 2005. “Journeys and landscapes; Some preliminary remarks on ancient Javanese perceptions of their lived environment”, in: Alexandra Haendel (ed.), Old myths and new approaches; Interpreting ancient religious sites in Southeast Asia, pp. 1-10. Melbourne: Monash Asia Institute Publications.

Worsley, Peter. 2012. “Journeys, palaces and landscapes in the Javanese imaginary; Some preliminary comments based on the Kakawin Sumanasantaka”, Archipel 83: 147-171.

Worsley, P., S. Supomo, Th. Hunter, and M. Fletcher. 2013. Mpu Monaguna’s Sumanasantaka; An Old Javanese epic poem, its Indian source and Balinese illustrations. Leiden: Brill.

Zoetmulder, P.J. 1974. Kalangwan; A survey of Old Javanese literature. The Hague: Nijhoff.

Download

Share

COinS