One of the best Kecak Dance performance in Ubud and believed as the authentic ones. The show is held every Monday at Pura Dalem Taman Kaja, nearby Junjungan Village. The show is amazing and very fascinating. Rings of men chant in a trance as the story unfolds in front of you. All of the dancers and actors are people in the local community who are served in the temple.
Kecak Dance is one of the most famous Balinese dance performance created based on the ancient Sanghyang trance rituals which developed in the 1930s. It is remarkably known by the formation of the dancers sitting in a circle while chanting “chuck-chuck” which is similar to the sound of chattering monkeys. Male dancer predominantly did this dance, but today there is also another version of Kecak dance by female dancers. The story behind this dance is about Prince Rama, the heir of the Ayodhya Kingdom, and his wife Sita, has been banished by his father, the King Dasaratha because Rama’s stepmother has deceived him. The story begun when Rama and Sita escaped into the forest of Dandaka. They didn’t realize if they were watched by the demon Rahwana, the King of Alengka, who wanted to make Sita to be his wife because of her incomparable beauty. Rahwana sent his prime minister, Marica, to play a trick on Sita so that they can kidnap her. Marica has a magical power and turned himself into a golden deer, and runs around in the forest so that he can get Sita’s attention and finally Rahwana managed to kidnap Sita. After that the rescue mission started, Prince Rama also got a help by Hanoman (the monkey-like creature) to fight the evil King Ravana and to get the Princess Sita back.
In Junjungan Village Ubud the show of this colossal dance is divided into five acts which are:
The first act is when Sita saw the golden deer; she was so enchanted by it; then she asked Rama to capture it for her. Rama went after the deer and instructed Laksamana (his brother) to stay behind and protected Sita. Suddenly Sita vaguely heard a cry for help from Rama; then she asked Laksamana to look for Rama. He was hesitant to go, but on the other hand, he also worried about his brother. To keep his promise to protect Sita – he drew a magic circle on the ground and told Sita not to step outside of this circle under any circumstance.
On the second act, Sita, therefore, became an easy prey to Rahwana. He magically turns himself into a hungry old priest, begging for food. Sita falls into the trap and steps out of the magic circle. This is the moment where Rahwana kidnaps Sita and takes her into his palace, called Alengka. Rahwana attempts to seduce Sita but luckily in the meantime, Hanoman, the white monkey, a good friend of Rama, starts searching everywhere for Sita.
Next act, At the Rahwana’s palace, Sita poured her heart out about the cruelty of Rahwana onto this her niece Trijata, when suddenly Hanoman appears telling her that he is Rama’s messenger by showing the Rama’s ring. Sita gives her hairpin to Hanoman and sends him back to Rama to let him know that she was still alive and needed to be rescued. After this meeting, Hanoman cannot control his anger and demolished the land of Alengka, tearing up trees and hurling them everywhere.
The fourth act tells about Rama, and his brother were wandering in the forest looking for Sita when all of a sudden Meganada, Rahwana’s son, appeared and finally they were engaged in a battle. Meganada used his magic power and shot an arrow that turns into a dragon which overpowered Rama and Laksamana. Thankfully, The Garuda, king of all birds, and a good friend of King Dasaratha, was watching the trouble and decided to rescue Rama and his brother.
At the final act, Rama and his brother didn’t give up and continued their mission to rescue Sita and helped by Sugriwa, king of the monkeys, and his monkey troop. The story ended with a battle between Sugriwa and his monkey troop against Meganada and his demonic army, and finally, Meganada got defeated. Rama rescues Sita, and they go back to their kingdom. Symbolically the power of love, loyalty and righteousness has triumphed over wickedness, greed and lust.
