Although it has its origins in tradition, this dance is an expansion of a part of the original story. The main purpose is tourist entertainment, however this does not detract from the spectacle of watching a hundred or so men chanting in a group, at least some of them entering into a trance and adopting the identities of monkeys.
In Rama’s quest, he calls upon Hanuman the king of the monkeys for assistance. Hanuman in turn summons his army of monkeys. The dance represents the monkeys gathering for their king before a battle with the demons. In part of the story, Hanuman destroys the palace of the demon king by catching his own tail on fire and spreading the fire by running about the palace. If you attend a performance, you will find that it is much longer than this clip indicates, perhaps 15 minutes? At the end, a dancer representing Hanuman enters a trance state and performs a fire dance, kicking apart a fire, or fires and stamping on the coals. I still remember these details after 15 years of seeing it, it made such an impression on me.
The performance which I saw was at the main temple in Ubud, Bali. The performance in the clip seems to have taken place in Java at the Prambanan temple complex, near Yogyakarta. Although Bali is the only island where the majority of people are Hindu, there are quite a few Hindu villages in Central and East Java. Even so, you are unlikely to see this dance performed outside of Bali.
Among the footage of Prambanan are some images from the famous Buddhist temple of Borobodur, which is also near Yogyakarta, but quite a long distance from Prambanan. Both Borobudur and Prambanan are well worth a visit and each deserves a post in its own right. At the end of the clip, there is some footage of Mount Bromo, one of many volcanoes in Indonesia, but also one of the most accessible. It’s also located in Java, but a long way from Yogyakarta and the two temples.
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