UNS — Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held a wayang kulit performance under the title of Gatutkaca Kridha. The event was held offline in the Ballroom Gedung UNS Tower Ki Hadjar Dewantara 3rd floor and was live-streamed through the Universitas Sebelas Maret and Bayu Aji SBA TV YouTube channel Monday (28/3/2022) evening. This event was held as a part of the UNS 46th Anniversary celebration.
In his opening remark, Prof. Dr. Jamal Wiwoho, S.H., M.Hum., stated that in its 46 years old, UNS had served the country and the nation in numerous ways. Prof. Jamal also stated that the university had created numerous findings in science and technology to support the nation’s competitiveness and national development. UNS also received a new status as an autonomous university (PTNBH) on 6 October 2020 and opened its Ki Hadjar Dewantara Tower on 11 March 2022 as a supporting facility for UNS’ academic activities. The new tower itself was inaugurated by the President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), Ir. Joko Widodo.
As mentioned by the Rector, the wayang performance is UNS’ effort to achieve its vision to become the center of science and technology development at the national and international level based on the noble values of the national cultures.
“Hopefully, this wayang performance that tells the story of Gatutkaca Kridha could teach us a lesson. This event is beneficial especially for the young generation because the story teaches (us) to remember the responsibility to build the country and how to become a young generation who understands the meaning of harmony and other positive values,” Prof. Jamal added.
Prof. Jamal greatly appreciated the hard work of the UNS 46th Anniversary Celebration committee in preparing all events in the celebration series. The chairman of the committee and the Dean of the Faculty of Medical Science (FK) UNS, Prof. Dr. Reviono, dr., Sp.P(K) stated that this event achieves two objectives, celebrating the university anniversary while conserving the Javanese culture.
The performance was opened with the handover of paraga wayang or the set of wayang kulit puppets from Prof. Jamal to the dalang or the director of the performance, Ki MPP Bayu Aji.
Gatutkaca Kridha tells the story of Gatutkaca, a son of Pandawa, who showed his patriotic and chivalrous spirit from a young age. Gatutkaca is the righthand man for many gods for defeating the giant king of Prabu Pracona and Patih Sekipu, which provided him the opportunity to be the King of Purwacarita as his reward. Gatutkaca also received a blessing of “Wahyu Tamtama Jati” which means mighty formidable knight. Humas UNS
Reporter: Lina Khoirun Nisa
Editor: Dwi Hastuti