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| Event Page | Gamelan Sekar Jaya Information | Kali Yuga Artists | Story and Background of Kali Yuga |
Gamelan Sekar Jaya Kali Yuga: story and background Kali Yuga refers to the fourth and final Age of Humanity described in Hindu scriptures—an age characterized by chaos and conflict, which many believe is the current state of the world. The production of Kali Yuga explores this age of turmoil via a wide variety of dramatic materials, fusing traditional Balinese performance styles such as kecak (interlocking vocal chants) and topeng (masked dances) with modern techniques of video installations, set design, and computer generated ambient sounds. Kali Yuga brings to life its universal themes through the stories of the ancient Mahabharata, as interpreted by renowned Javanese poet and writer, Goenawan Mohamad. In one of the central scenes, Mother Earth is lost in a game of dice—a reinterpretation of the Mahabharata story in which the prince Yudhistira of the Pandawa family gambles away his kingdom, himself, and finally his wife Drupadi in a fateful game of dice with the opposing Korawa family. In addition to its connection to ancient philosophies and texts, Kali Yuga is an artistic response to recent events in Bali and worldwide. On October 12, 2002, a massive car bomb exploded outside a club in the southern Balinese city of Kuta, frequented by foreign travelers. More than 200 died, thousands were injured, and Bali's tourist economy almost collapsed. Three years later, more bombs exploded, again at tourist sites in south Bali. Many people in Bali felt that the "island of the gods" might never recover, economically, emotionally, and spiritually. But its introspective and soul-searching response as a society, evident in hundreds of purification rituals and mass prayers, was noted worldwide as a moving counterexample to the escalation of violence and revenge seen elsewhere in response to similar attacks. Kali Yuga is dedicated to the many victims of these tragedies in their search for meaning in the midst of chaos, and in our shared hopes in the search for peace and reconciliation. Kali Yuga in Hindu Philosophy "Kali Yuga" is the fourth and final yuga, or Age of Humanity, from Hindu philosophy, characterized by destruction, struggle, and chaos. The Ages are of great lengths: Kali Yuga is usually calculated to be 432,000 years long. The previous three (Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga) span, respectively, 1,728,000, 1,296,000, and 864,000 years; together the four yuga comprise the Maha Yuga or Great Cycle of 4,320,000 years. According to the Surya Siddhanta, an astronomical treatise that forms the basis of Hindu and Buddhist calendars, Kali Yuga began at midnight on 18 February, 3102 BC, the moment that Krishna left his mortal body. This would mean that the end of the cycle is still more than 400,000 years away. But other scholars, interpreting the same scriptures, claim that Kali Yuga is fact now ending and we are approaching the final moment when "the Supreme Lord Himself appears as the Kalki Avatar, vanquishes the demons, saves his devotees and commences another Satya Yuga [the "Age of Purity"]. Then the process begins again..." In all interpretations, Kali Yuga is regarded as the period in which civilization degenerates spiritually. The Vishnu Purana, one of the oldest sacred texts of India, says that in Kali Yuga "The leaders who rule over the Earth will be violent and seize the goods of their subjects... Those with possessions will abandon agriculture and commerce and will live as servants, dependent on their various possessions. The leaders, with excuses of financial need, will rob and despoil their subjects and take away private property. Moral values and the rule of the law will lessen from day to day until the world will be
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