The Panji Story: From Version to Version

A monument that was erected during the reign of King Dyah Balitung of Central Java dating from approximately 907 CE (Ministry of Education and Culture 1983-1984, 2) provides the oldest written record of a wayang performance, which was based on the Mahabharata epic tale. The Ramayana was also an important source in the development of the performing arts in the early civilization of Java. The history of the Ramayana dates back to approximately the 5th-4th century BCE. It is believed that the original version of the story is Valmiki’s Ramayana. Some cultural evidence suggests that the Ramayana predates the Mahabharata. Regardless of which tale appeared first, these two important Indian literary works have been adapted to many forms in Javanese performing arts and in those of the rest of Southeast Asia: the Javanese Ramayana, the Javanese Mahabharata (in various forms of puppetry), the Balinese Ramayana, the Phra Lak Phra Lam of Laos, the Hikayat Seri Rama of Malaysia, the Ramakien of Thailand, the Yama Zatdaw of Myanmar, etc. Alongside the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, there is a local Javanese cycle called the Story of Panji, which, according to C.C. Berg’s work Inleiding tot de Studie van het Oud-Javaansch (1928), was disseminated in the year of Pamalayu (1277 CE). Purbatjaraka, an expert on the Panji cycles, writes: “[…] the writing of the early Panji story was during the supremacy of the Majapahit Kingdom” (Purbatjaraka 1968, 404). The Story of Panji subsequently spread throughout the Southeast Asian region, including present-day Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, and has been adapted to a variety of performing arts