Gatot Kaca - (Wayang Kulit)

Gatot Kaca - son of Raden Bima

Title	Gatot Kaca - (Raden) - Mahabharata
Other names	Jabang Tetuka, Tetuka, Bimasuta, Arimbiputra, Arimbiatmaja, Bimaputra, Kancing jaya, Purabaya, Mladang tengah, Trucing Wesi, Kalanata, Satria Pringgadani, Satria Malayang Tengah, Sidalamong
Size	55 cm
Personal data	Gatot Kaca is the son of Bima and giantess Dewi Arimbi, from the Pringgadani country. Gatotkaca in the Mahabarata story has two wives, namely Ahilawati (the dragon girl) and his cousin Dewi Pregiwa, a daughter of Raden Arjuna. From his marriage to Ahilawati, he had a child named Barbarika, while with Dewi Pregiwa, Gatotkaca had a son named Sasikirana (Bambang Kaca). Sasikirana became the warlord of the Hastina kingdom during the reign of Parikesit, son of Abimanyu or grandson of Arjuna.
Appearance	Gatot Kaca is brave and combative. He is self-confident and active but not really intelligent. Always ready for any task assigned to him. He keeps his promises, is polite and respects his elders. Never afraid or nervous. As a young man, he already has the strength of a giant. He is able to fly and kills his enemies by breaking their necks. Gatotkaca has wide eyes, a flat nose, a mustache and a beard. His clothing : A sparkling three-tiered gold jamang, a gold edging in the shape of ylang-ylang flowers which is woven in the form of surengpati (dare to die), bersunting waderan, bersgul kadal menek, bergaruda back, berpraba, berkalung ulur-ulur, bergelang, berpontoh and keroncong. Full royal attire. Gatotkaca ruled the kingdom of good giants in Pringgandani held by his mother Arimbi, but was always ready to act as a loyal agent for his uncles, the Pandhawa brothers. Together with Arjuna, he is one of the most beloved heroes of the Javanese wayang purwa. In the Indian Mahabharata, he only plays a small role.
Collection	Private collection

Gatot Kaca – (Raden) – Mahabharata

Gatotkaca, who is often nicknamed "iron bone wire muscle" is the son of Bimasena (Werkudara) and his wife Hidimbi, or in Javanese puppetry better known as Arimbi. His father was one of the Pandavas and his mother came from a race of giants.

Gatotkaca is said to have extraordinary strength, and in Baratayuda, he killed many of the allies of the Korawa, but he finally fell at the hands of Karna.

In puppetry, it is said that when he was a baby, Gatotkaca's name was Jabang Tetuka. When he was born, his umbilical cord could not be cut, various weapons were used to cut the umbilical cord of Werkudara's son, but also to no avail. Finally, the Pandawa family agreed to assign Arjuna to find a weapon that could be used to cut the umbilical cord of Jabang Tetuka. Arjuna went to meditate to get guidance from the gods to help Jabang Tetuka. However, at the same time, Karna, the commander-in-chief of the Hastina Kingdom, was also meditating to find a sacred weapon.

Batara Narada, the messenger of heaven, brought the Kunta Wijayandanu weapon to be given to Arjuna, to help but the navel of Bima's son. However, Batara Narada made a mistake. Bathara Narada gave the sacred weapon to Karna, whose face and appearance were similar to Arjuna. After realizing his mistake, Bathara Narada then met the real Arjuna. Arjuna then chased Karna to seize the Konta weapon. The fight could not be avoided, but Karna managed to escape by carrying the Kontawijaya weapon, while Arjuna only managed to seize the sheath that wrapped the sacred weapon.

It turned out that the sacred sheath that Arjuna brought could be used to cut Tetuka's umbilical cord, strangely enough, the Mastaba wood was destroyed and united in Tetuka's stomach. Kresna, who also saw the incident, predicted that the influence of the Mastaba wood would increase Tetuka's strength, but he also predicted that later Tetuka would also die at the hands of the owner of the Konta weapon. Tetuka was then borrowed by Narada and taken to heaven which at that time was being attacked by enemies named Patih Sekipu and Kalapracona from the Trabelasuket kingdom. Kalapracona came to heaven to propose to a fairy named Bathari Supraba. Then the baby Tetuka was faced with the two giants. Strangely, the more beaten, the stronger the baby Tetuka became.
Sekipu was embarrassed, then returned Tetuka to Narada to raise the baby Tetuka right away. Bathara Narada threw the baby Tetuka into the Candradimuka crater, Mount Jamurdipa. The Gods then threw various heirloom weapons into the crater. And a few moments later, Tetuka appeared on the surface as an adult male. All the weapons that were thrown into the crater had become one in him.

Tetuka then fought Sekipu and managed to kill him with his fangs. Kresna and Pandawa followed to heaven. Kresna then cut Tetuka's fangs and told him to stop using the characteristics of the giants. Batara Guru bestowed a set of heirloom clothes, namely Caping Basunanda, Kotang Antrakusuma, and clogs Padakacarma. And since then his name was changed to Gatotkaca. By using the heirloom clothes, Gatotkaca could fly as fast as lightning to the Trabelasuket kingdom and kill Kalapracona.

One cloudy night, Prabu Duryudana with his teacher Begawan Durna and his Senopati Sengkuni, were receiving their guest Patih Brajadenta from Ksatrian Glagahtinunu. Brajadenta's arrival was to ask for advice from the King of Astina on how he should behave, because soon Gatotkaca, son of Bima and Arimbi, would be crowned as King of Pringgondani. Actually he didn't need to do that, because in the past when his brother Prabu Arimba (the previous ruler of Pringgondani), was defeated by Bima, then Bima married Arimbi who was also his sister, Brajadenta along with his younger siblings (Brajamusti, Brajalamatan, Brajawikalpa and Kalabendana), swore to hand over the Pringgondani Kingdom to his older sister, .. "Mongso borongo, I don't obey who became the ruler of Pringgondani mengkone"

Begawan Durna and Sengkuni then incited Brajadenta's heart and mind, that he was actually the one who had the right to hold the reins of the Pringgondani kingdom, not Gatotkaca who was only the son of his older sister Arimbi. Begawan Durna told how the war with the father of the Pandawa (Prabu Pandu), killed Prabu Tremboko, the father of Brajadenta. Then added the story of the prime minister Sengkuni about Werkudoro who killed their oldest brother Prabu Arimba. and heated up that Arimbi instead defected and married Werkudoro. Because of this, Brajadenta became even more angry and vowed to seize Pringgondani's throne.

Brajamusti, Gatotkaca's uncle defended Gatotkaca and fought with Brajadenta. In the battle, both of Gatotkaca's uncles were killed, and their spirits infiltrated each into Gatotkaca's left and right palms, thus increasing their nephew's strength. After that incident, Gatotkaca appointed Brajalama as the new prime minister, he was given the title Patih Prabakiswa. His magic in war was his ability to rip out his enemy's neck, but this was only done when the situation was urgent.

Following the words of the puppeteer, when Raden Gatotkaca was about to accompany the cloud, the following words were delivered: According to the story, Raden Gatotkaca, when he wanted to walk, cursed Padakacarma, who could fly without wings. Basunanda squatted, by means of which he would not get hot in the scorching heat and would not get wet in the rain. It is also said that they rolled up the cloth that had a taliwanda on it, which means it was tied around the back of the body. A moment later he patted his shoulder and stamped his feet on the earth, until the earth shook and he was sent flying into the sky.

The puppet is shown as if it were flying, moved right and left at the top of the screen for a few moments, then stuck, as if stopping on top of the megalopolis and the puppeteer tells the story again: It was said that Raden Gatotkaca had become a cloud, when he arrived in the sky it was as if he stepped on the earth, diving in the blue sky, separating the clouds in front of him, being covered by clouds behind him, he was faintly visible to people. The shine of Gatotkaca's clothes in the sunlight is like hunting lightning. So the Pringgadani knight stopped on a transverse cloud, facing the other clouds while going right and left. After Gatotkaca's vision became clear, he descended from space and headed for earth.

It is stated in the story that Raden Gatotkaca was a knight who never dressed up, dressed modestly and always kept aloof from women. One of the most famous stories in Wayang is based on his romantic passion for Dewi Pregiwa. Gathutkaca was first introduced to Dewi Pregiwa when Arjuna asked Gathutkaca to pick up Pregiwa from her mother’s house (Pregiwa is another one of Arjuna’s children) in the village of Andhong Sumawit. But after Gatotkaca saw Dewi Pregiwa, accompanied by Raden Angkawijaya, Raden Gatotkaca fell in love with the daughter who had sideburns and simple makeup. Raden Gatotkaca's behavior changed, which his mother, Dewi Arimbi, saw with joy and she complied with all her son's requests. The daughter was then married to Raden Gatotkaca.

The death of Gatot Kaca
In the Dronaparwa book or the seventh book of the Mahabharata in the Ghattotkacabadhaparwa section, the death of Gatotkaca is told. In the book, it is told that Gatotkaca died in the great battle at Kurukhsetra (Baratayuda) on the 14th night.

The story of Gatotkaca's death in Javanese puppetry is slightly different from the Mahabharata version. In Javanese puppetry, it is said that Gatotkaca was very close to Abimanyu, son of Arjuna. One day, Abimanyu married Utari, the daughter of the Wirata kingdom. Abimanyu admitted that he was still a virgin and did not have a wife, even though he was married to Sitisundari, the daughter of Kresna. Sitisundari, who was left in Gatotkaca's palace, heard that her husband had remarried. Gatotkaca's uncle, named Kalabendana (Arimbi's youngest brother), followed and invited Abimanyu to go home. However, this made Utari suspicious and jealous. Abimanyu was forced to swear that he did not have a wife, and if it turned out that he had a wife other than Utari, then one day he would be killed by the enemy.

Kalabendana returned home to Gatotkaca's palace and reported Abimanyu's behavior. But Gatotkaca was angry because Kalabendana was considered to have dared to interfere in his cousin's household affairs. He accidentally hit Kalabendana's head until he died instantly. Abhimanyu's oath was truly proven when the Baratayuda war broke out. On the 13th day, Abhimanyu was killed by the Kauravas. On the 14th day, Arjuna avenged his son's death by beheading Jayadrata. Doryudana was very saddened by the death of Jayadrata, his brother-in-law. He then forced Karna to attack the Pandawa camp that night. Actually, it was against the rules of war, but Karna was forced to do it. Hearing that the Kauravas were launching a night attack, the Pandavas sent Gatotkaca to block it.

The son of Bima was deliberately chosen because the Kotang Antrakusuma weapon he used could emit bright light. Gatotkaca, who was indeed a descendant of a giant, had extraordinary strength, especially at night. At that time the battle should have been stopped because dusk had arrived. However, the Pringgodani knight blocked the Kaurava troops from returning to their camp.

Finally, the battle continued, Gatotkaca's strength increased as the night went on, many Kaurava soldiers died at his hands. One of the Kaurava allies named Alambusa advanced to face him. Gatotkaca beat Alambusa cruelly because he had killed his cousin Irawan (son of Arjuna) on the eighth day. He took Alambusa flying high and slammed him to the ground until Alambusa's body was shattered. Seeing the ferocity of Bima's son, Doryudana became anxious and forced Karna to stop Gatotkaca with the heirloom weapon Indrastra, given by God Indra called Vasavi Shakti or Kontawijayadanu. Actually Karna refused, because the weapon could only be used once, and he wanted to use it when he faced Arjuna, but Doryudana continued to press Karna.

Gatotkaca then faced Karna. He created a thousand of his own twins, which confused Karna. With the guidance of Batara Surya, his father, Karna managed to find the real Gatotkaca. Karna then released the Kontawijaya weapon towards Gatotkaca to paralyze him and it penetrated Gatotkaca's chest.
Remember when Gatotkaca accidentally killed Kalabendana's uncle during the "Kalabendana Lena" play, so when the Kuntowijayandanu's arrow was released, Sukma Kalabendana was the one who guided the arrow towards Gatotkaca. It turned out that the arrow carried by Kalabendana had pierced the warlord's navel. Kalabendana cried uncontrollably. He felt he had killed his nephew. Frightened, Kalabendana flew away with Gatutkaca's soul in tow.

Gatotkaca realized that his death was near, but he was still thinking about how to kill a large number of Kaurava soldiers at once. Knowing this, Gatotkaca avoided it by flying as high as possible, but the spirit of Kalabendana (his uncle), appeared and caught Kontawijaya while delivering news from heaven that Gatotkaca's death had been determined that night. Gatotkaca certainly surrendered to the decision of the gods. However, he asked that his body still be used to kill the Kaurava enemy. Kalabendana agreed to his nephew's request, then he stabbed Gatotkaca's navel using the Konta weapon. The heirloom was then destroyed together with its sheath, namely the Mastaba wood stored in Gatotkaca's stomach.

Gatotkaca died, and the spirit of Kalabendana threw his body towards Karna. Karna managed to avoid it, but his chariot was shattered into pieces by Gatotkaca's body. As a result, the fragments of the chariot shot in all directions and killed countless Kaurava soldiers.
With the death of Gatotkaca, of course the Pandavas felt devastated, but not Kresna. He was actually happy, because Karna had lost his main heirloom to kill Arjuna.
According to history, Raden Gatotkaca died at a young age, much to the regret of his entire family.

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Source: History of Wayang Purwa - Hardjowirogo - PN Balai Pustaka – 1982
Blog: Hadisukirno – Yogyakarta – 2012