Interpreting Southeast Asia's Past: Monument, Image and Text

Chapter 15: A New Fashion in Male Headdress during East Javanese Majapahit Time — the Teke-cap in Narrative Reliefs of Candi Jago

193 Chapter 15 A New Fashion in Male Headdress during East Javanese Majapahit Time — the Tekes-cap in Narrative Reliefs of Can .d .i Jago Lydia Kieven Abstract In this article the author discusses one of the features which newly emerged in East Javanese art, specially within Majapahit art (1300–1500 CE). It is a figure wearing a helmet-like cap. It had never appeared before in the temple reliefs of the Central Javanese period which were still strongly under Indian influence. This figure with the cap can be interpreted as an indigenous Javanese element which has to be seen in one line with the other newly emerging elements in architecture, arts, and literature of the East Javanese period. Under investigation are the narrative reliefs at Can .d . i Jago where these figures with the cap probably were depicted for the first time. The author discusses their meaning and function within the context of the narratives and the architectural layout, and presents ideas for a broader interpretation of the cap-figure in the background of other temple reliefs. A male figure with a cap on his head is a familiar motif in the reliefs at East Javanese temple walls (Figure 15.1). I have focussed my investigation on figures with a cap at Can .d .i Jago near Malang where we find the earliest depictions of this distinctly device. Other sites relevant to this research in East Java are Can .d .i Panataran, Can .d .i Jabung, Can .d .i Surowono, Can .d . i Tigowangi, Can .d .i Mirigambar, Can .d .i Gambar Wetan, Can .d .i Sukuh, Can .d .i Planggatan, and a few sites on the slopes of Mount Penanggungan: Can .d .i Kendalisodo, Can .d . i Wayang, Can .d .i Gajah Mungkur, and Can .d .i Selokelir (Figure 15.2). Some single panels with cap-figures, kept in museums in Trowulan, Surabaya, Jakarta, Boston, Amsterdam, and Leiden, originally may have derived from Can .d . i Menak Jinggo which is situated in the Trowulan area.1 All these sites were built in the time of the last Hindu-Buddhist East Javanese kingdom Majapahit (about 1300– 1500 CE) which spread its power over large parts of present-day Indonesia and even over Southeast Asia.2 Fig 15.1 Can .d .i Panataran, Pendopo Terrace, west side, 1375. Standing male with a tekes (corresponding to Satyawati Suleiman 1978: panel 55). 15 ISEAnn.indd 193 6/24/08 5:24:39 PM 194 LYDIA KIEVEN Fig 15.2 Map with the sites of temples in central and east Java. Key to numbers: Central Java, ninth century sites— 1. Borobudur, 2. Prambanan; East Java, Kadiri period and early sites—12. Jolotundo and Belahan, 5. Selomangleng Cave, Kediri, 4. Selomangleng Cave, Tulungagung; East Java, Singasari-period sites—16. Kidal, 15. Jago, 13. Jawi, 14. Singasari, 7. Boro Gan .eśa, 9. Karangkates Gan .eśa; East Java, Majapahit-period sites—11. Trowulan, 8. Panataran, 10. Rimbi, 18. Jabung, 14. Sumberawan, 6. Surowono, Tigowangi, 17. Kedaton, 12. Kendalisodo, 3. Sukuh and Ceto. (Reprinted with permission from Kinney 2003: 47) Fig 15.3 Can .d .i Panataran, Pendopo Terrace, east side, 1375. Loving couple in a sitting position, the male with a tekes (corresponding to Satyawati Suleiman 1978: panel 4). The representation of a cap-figure is not known from temple reliefs in central Java. The Dutch scholar Stutterheim (1936a: 198) was the first to suggest that the cap might indicate the depiction of Panji, the hero of the so-called Panji stories which relate the adventures of Prince Panji in regaining his beloved Candrakirana. Stutterheim called the cap a ‘Panji-cap’ or, in Javanese, tekes. These two 15 ISEAnn.indd 194 6/24/08 5:24:41 PM 195 A NEW FASHION IN MALE HEADDRESS DURING EAST JAVANESE MAJAPAHIT TIME Fig 15.4 Can .d .i Jago, first terrace, east side. Angling Dharma reliefs: two servants with tekes, both holding betel accessories, sitting next to Wairocana (corresponding to Brandes 1904: plate 38). Fig 15.5 Can .d .i Panataran, Main Temple, second terrace, west side, c. 1350– 1389. Kr .s .n .āyana reliefs: Warrior with tekes, in the battle with Kr .s .n .a and his rivals (corresponding to Klokke 2000: panel 21). terms have been adopted by many scholars though none have paid much attention to an analysis of the figure with the tekes. I will use the terms tekes...