Reog Ponorogo, Legendary Cultural Arts

Helloindonesia.id – Reog is one of the cultural arts originating from northwestern East Java and Ponorogo which is considered the original city of Reog. The town gate of Ponorogo is decorated by the figures of Warok and Gemblak, two figures who participated when Reog was shown. Reog is one proof of regional culture in Indonesia which is still very thick with mystical things and strong mysticism.

Basically there are five versions of popular stories that developed in the community about the origins of Reog and Warok, but one of the most famous stories is the story of the rebellion of Ki Ageng Kutu, a royal servant in the Bra Kertabumi period, the last King of Majapahit in power in the century -15. Ki Ageng Kutu was furious at the powerful influence of his royal Chinese counterpart in the government and the behavior of the corrupt king, he also saw that the power of the Majapahit Kingdom would end.

He then left the king and founded a college where he taught young children martial arts, the science of immunity, and the science of perfection with the hope that these young people would be the seeds of the revival of the kingdom of Majapahit later. Realizing that his troops were too small to fight the royal forces, the political message of Ki Ageng Kutu was conveyed through a show of Reog art, which was a “satire” to Raja Bra Kertabumi and his kingdom. The Reog show became the way Ki Ageng Kutu built the resistance of the local community using the popularity of Reog.

In the Reog show a lion head shaped mask known as “Singa Barong”, the king of the jungle, which became a symbol for Kertabumi, and above it was plugged into peacock feathers to resemble a giant fan that symbolized the strong influence of its Chinese counterparts who governed from all movements – he said.

Jatilan, played by a group of gemblak dancers riding a piggyback became a symbol of the strength of the Majapahit Kingdom’s forces which contrasted with the warok power, which was behind the red clown mask which symbolized Ki Ageng Kutu, alone and sustaining the weight of the singabarong mask which reached more from 50kg just by using his teeth.

The popularity of Reog Ki Ageng Kutu eventually led to Kertabumi taking action and attacking the university, the warok rebellion was quickly overcome, and the university was forbidden to continue teaching warok. But Ki Ageng Kutu’s students continued to secretly. Even so, the Reog art itself is still allowed to be performed because it has become a popular show among the people, but the storyline has a new plot in which characters from the Ponorogo folklore are Kelono Sewondono, Dewi Songgolangit, and Sri Genthayu.

The official version of the Reog Ponorogo storyline is now a story about King Ponorogo who intends to apply for the daughter of Kediri, Dewi Ragil Kuning, but in the middle of the trip he is intercepted by Raja Singabarong from Kediri. Raja Singabarong’s forces consisted of peacocks and lions, while from the Ponorogo Kingdom King Kelono and his Deputy Bujanganom, escorted by warok (men dressed in black in their dances), and this warok had deadly black magic. The whole dance is a war dance between the Kingdom of Kediri and the Kingdom of Ponorogo, and pitting black magic between the two, the dancers are ‘possessed’ when performing the dance.

Until now the people of Ponorogo only follow what is their ancestral heritage as a very rich cultural inheritance. In his experience, Reog Art is a creation of human creations that are formed by the existence of a belief that is inherited from generation to generation and maintained. The ceremony also uses conditions that are not easy for lay people to fulfill without a clear lineage. they adhere to the Parental lineage and customary law that is still valid.