Divine clowns. Connections between the Indian vidūṣaka and the Indonesian panakawan

Abstract

The typical character of the funny panakawan figures in Indonesian wayang theater is frequently mentioned in academic papers. These characters do not participate in any Indian dramas, so they are generally regarded as local deities, who represent a vestige of the old religion of the local population predating the arrival of Hinduism. This statement, however, deserves more scrutiny, since it is not the case that we cannot find figures similar to the panakawans in India. The vidūṣaka, a common character in classical Sanskrit plays, resembles the panakawans to a large extent. A small, deformed figure with rude speech, he often incites laughter among the spectators with his funny and often harsh comments. This description is true for the vidūṣaka and the panakawan alike, which means that the possible connections between them need to be examined. Is it possible that the panakawan is just an Indonesian variant of the vidūṣaka? After a closer look we can determine that in spite of the many similarities between the two characters there still remain a lot of differences as well. The conclusion is that, while the connection between them is evident, we still cannot state that one is just a simple continuation of the other. Their differences clearly point to different origins.