Hello Steemians,
In this post I am going to talk about a Ramayana ballet performance I attended in Kuta, Bali, back in 2010.
The Ramayana ballet is a dance version of the Ramayana saga, a famous Hindu epic poem about the struggle of prince Rama to save his wife Sita from the demon king Ravana.
Ramayana tells us that King Dasharatha, on request of his second wife Kaikeyi, sent his son prince Rama to exile in a remote forest for fourteen years. Rama took his beloved wife Sita with him. As if exile wasn't bad enough, Sita got kidnapped by Ravana, the demon king. Rama confronted Ravana, defeated him, got his girl back, and went back to his homeland to claim his throne, eventually becoming king (1).
For Hindus, Ramayana is much more than a poem; it portrays ideal characters in Hindu society, like the ideal wife, brother etc., setting a moral code of conduct for people to follow.
The performance took place at night in the garden of a hotel, and it included a buffet dinner. There was loads of delicious food, arranged in various boat like displays.
A welcoming flower display
A boat full of delicacies
There are different versions of this ballet in various countries of SE Asia that came in contact with the Hindu culture; therefore, there's Sendratari Ramayana in Indonesia, Ramakien in Thailand, and Reamker in Cambodia (2).
I watched this show in Kuta, but there's also some celebrated performances in the Ubud Water Palace, again in Bali.
Pictures from the ballet
I also managed to find a video on YouTube about the Ramayana dance, that I would like to share with you:
Video of Ramayana ballet
And that's all for today. I hope you liked my post, and that you will follow me to the next one.
So, have a good day, and we'll speak again soon!
Text References:
1.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana
2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana_Ballet