The Story of Panji Between History, Myths, and Legend

The story of Panji arose in the XIII century during the era of Singasari Kingdom. It was spread along through Java until South East peninsula and growing since then. In Thailand and Kamboja, the story of Panji has been influenced by Malay literature. The story of Panji was not pure fictional, but also inspired by the historical events which involving the aristocrats from the past kingdoms. It was also influenced by the myths and legends of society where the story lived. Unfortunately, this story in Indonesia is not popular compared to Ramayana and Mahabarata story which originally came from India. This article is about to introduce the different versions of the story of Panji through the adventure and pretence by the main characters. Despite the difference versions of this story, it has dramatic potentials and very useful as creative source for the artists in producing the art pieces whether literature or art performance. Keywords: Versions, adventure, and pretence/disguis