Beginning with a chapter on the role played by the Ramayana in India and the various forms it acquired in the land of its birth, the authors shift focus in the subsequent chapters of this book to Indonesia. The examine the creative manner in which Indian cultural elements were absorbed and moulded in Indonesia through a process which began nearly two thousand years ago, a process in which the Ramayana has had a vibrant presence for much of the time. Indeed, a central theme of the book is that the Ramayana is as much the property of Indonesia as of India. The authors provide a comprehensive view of the spheres that are touched by the Ramayana in Indonesia-in literature, the plastic and performing arts, in moral and political philosophy; and the variety of Ramayana tellings in the region. These range from the millennium-old sculptural masterpieces in the temples of Lara Jonggrang (Prambanan) to the spectacular enactment today in an open air amphitheatre with the same temples illuminated in the background; from the poetic rendition of the late ninth-century Old Javanese Ramayana Kakawin to the allegorical use of the Ramayana themes in the overthrow of President Suharto. The book draws upon the work done by scholars of many nations, not all of which is readily accessible; and while it is designed primarily for the general reader, specialists too will find it extremely useful.
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