View source for Semar

{{Short description|Character in Javanese mythology}}
{{for|the Mexican Navy|SEMAR}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name = Semar <br> ꦱꦼꦩꦂ
|AKA          = 
|image        = Wayang Kulit of Semar.jpg
|image_size   =
|caption      = A [[Wayang]] representing Semar
|Grouping     = [[Legendary creature]]
|Sub_Grouping = [[Undead]]
|Country      = [[Indonesia]]
|Region       = [[Java]]
|Similar_entities = 
}}

'''Semar''' ([[Javanese script]]: '''ꦱꦼꦩꦂ''') is a character in [[Java]]nese mythology who frequently appears in [[wayang]] shadow plays. He is one of the [[punokawan]] (clowns) but is divine and very wise. He is the [[Hyang|dhanyang]] (guardian spirit) of Java,<ref name="G23">Geertz, 23.</ref> and is regarded by some as the most sacred figure of the [[wayang]] set.<ref name="H144">Holt, 144.</ref> He is said to be the god [[Sang Hyang Ismaya]] in human form.<ref name="B">Budihardja, "Grepen uit de Wajang," ''Djawa'' II (1922), 22-23; cited in Holt, 145.</ref><ref>Brandon, 13.</ref>

The name Semar is said to derive from the [[Javanese language|Javanese]] word ''samar'' ("dim, obscure, mysterious").<ref name="B"/> He is often referred to by the honorific,  "Kyai Lurah Semar" ("the venerable chief").<ref name="B"/>

==Description==
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Houten wajang topengmasker voorstellende Semar TMnr 1886-4.jpg|thumb|Mask of Semar for traditional Javanese theater performance.]]
In depictions, Semar appears with a flat nose, a protruding lower jaw, a tired eye, and a bulging rear, belly, and chest. He wears a checkered hipcloth, symbolizing sacredness. Like the other panakawan, the [[Wayang#Wayang kulit|wayang kulit]] puppet does not have the elaborate openwork and ornamentation characteristic of the heroes<ref name="H144"/> In [[wayang wong]], Semar always leans forward, one hand palm up on his back and the other extended partly forward, moving up and down, with an extended forefinger.<ref>Holt, 160.</ref>

By tradition Semar has three sons, the other punakawans in the wayang: Gareng, [[Petruk]], and Bagong (Bagong does not appear in [[Surakarta]]-style wayang).<ref>Brandon, 24.</ref> In some wayangs, he has a brother Togog (or Hyang Antaga), who is the servant-clown of a demonic hero.<ref name="H145">Holt, 145.</ref>

==Origin==
[[File:Semar Kris (alt) 3.jpg|thumb|A decorative [[kris]] with a figure of Semar as the handle]]
As Semar is one of the few characters in wayang stories not from [[Hindu mythology|Indian mythology]], his origin is obscure. One hypothesis is that he and his sons are old indigenous deities who became cursed and demoted to servants with the importation of the [[kshatriya]] heroes of the Indian epics.<ref>J. Kats, "Wie is Semar?" ''Djawa'' III (1923), 55; cited in Holt, 145.</ref><ref>Brandon, 18.</ref> Semar also resembles the [[vidusaka]] clown figure of Indian Sanskrit drama.<ref>Brandon, 3-4.</ref>

The first ''known'' appearance of Semar is during the [[Majapahit]] era. In 1358 in relief of Sudamala in Candi TIgamangi, and in [[Candi Sukuh]] dated 1439. The relief was copied from a wayang story from the period, where Semar was first known to be appeared.<ref>Khoon, 106</ref>

==Stories==
In one version of the [[Babad Tanah Jawi]] (the Javanese creation myth), Semar cultivated a small rice field near [[Mount Merbabu]] for ten thousand years before there were any men. His descendants, the spirits of the island, came into conflict with people as they cleared fields and populated the island. A powerful priest, unable to deviate from his king's orders to continue cultivating the island, provided Semar with a role that would allow his children and grandchildren to stay. Semar's role was to be a spiritual advisor and magical supporter of the royalty, and those of his descendants who also protect the humans of Java can remain there.<ref name="G23"/>

One genealogy of Semar is that he is the eldest descendant of [[God]], and elder brother to [[Batara Guru]], king of the other gods; however, Semar became a man.<ref name="G276">Geertz, 276.</ref>  Another genealogy says that he is the son of [[Adam and Eve]]. His brother, the Prophet Shith (biblical [[Seth]]) was the ancestor of various prophets, such as [[Jesus]] and [[Muhammad]], from whom the various Western peoples are descended, while Semar (known as "Sayang Sis") was the ancestor of both the Hindus and the Javanese.<ref name="G276"/> In either case, Semar, in his awkward, ugly human form, represents at the same time god and clown, the most spiritually refined and outwardly rough.<ref name="G276"/>

==Use in wayang==
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Houten wajangpop voorstellend Semar TMnr 8-73.jpg|thumb|[[Sundanese people|Sundanese]] wayang adaptation of Semar.]]
[[File:爪哇瑟瑪爾皮影戲偶.jpg|thumb|[[Wayang Kulit]] puppet of Semar]]
Semar and his sons first appear in the second part of the plays (''[[pathet sanga]]''),<ref>Brandon, 79.</ref> as the servants and counselors of whoever the hero of the wayang play is.<ref>Frits A. Wagner, ''Indonesia: The Art of an Island Group''. New York: Crown Publishers, 1959; 130.</ref> In wayang plots, Semar is never mistaken and is deceptively powerful. He is the only character who dares to protest the gods, including Batara Guru ([[Shiva]]) and [[Durga|Batari Durga]], and even compel them to act or desist.<ref name="H145"/>

He often represents a realistic view of the world in contrast to the idealistic. His role as a servant is to cheer up those in despair and blunt the pride of the triumphant. [[Clifford Geertz]] compared his role vis-à-vis [[Arjuna]] to that of [[Henry V of England|Prince Hal]] with his father in [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Henry IV, Part I|Henry IV]]'', and his role as a critic of the play's worldview and antidote to pride is similar to [[Falstaff]].<ref name="G277">Geertz, 277.</ref>

It has also been suggested that Semar is a symbol of the peasantry, not otherwise incorporated in the palace hierarchies; that in some more popular forms of the drama, he and the other clowns dominate the royal heroes supporting this idea.<ref name="G277"/><ref>H.O., "Petroek als Vorst," ''Djawa'', III (1922), 169-172; cited in Holt, 145.</ref>

Kelantanese [[Dalang (puppeteer)|practicitioners]] of wayang kulit (known locally as Wayang Siam) who themselves were [[Wayang kulit#Indigenous origin in Java|taught and inspired by counterparts in Java]] once invoked Semar (known here as ''Pak Dogol or Pak Dogah'') alongside [[Shiva]] and [[Vishnu]] before the start of their performances.<ref>[[S. Singaravelu]] (Jul 1970). "Invocations to Nataraja in the Southeast Asian Shadow-Plays: With Special Reference to the Kelantan Shadow-Play". ''Journal of the Siam Society''. '''58''': 47.</ref> Pak Dogol similarly is the most ritually important figures in the Wayang Siam pantheon.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Project |first=~ The Koboi |date=2023-09-13 |title=Pak Dogol and Wak Long |url=https://koboiproject.com/2023/09/12/pak-dogol-and-wak-long/ |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=The Koboi Project |language=en}}</ref>

==Other representations==
Semar also appears on some ceremonial weapons, the [[pusaka]] of important families. In this role, he represents an ancestral figure.<ref>Wagner, 162.</ref>

There is a low rectangular [[candi of Indonesia|candi]] on the [[Dieng Plateau]] known as [[Candi Semar]], perhaps originally a treasury,<ref>Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, ''History of Indian and Indonesian Art'', New York: Dover, 1985, 202.</ref> but scholars generally assume that its name was given to the temple centuries after its erection.<ref>Holt, 53.</ref>

In [[Balinese mythology]], the counterpart of Semar is [[Twalen]].<ref>Jeune Scott-Kemball, ''Javanese Shadow Puppets: The [[Stamford Raffles|Raffles]] Collection in the [[British Museum]]'', Trustees of the British Museum, 1970, 18.</ref> In Wayang Kulit Kelantan, the counterpart of Semar is Pak Dogol.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yousof |first=Ghulam-Sarwar |last2=Khor |first2=Kheng-Kia |date=2017 |title=Wayang Kulit Kelantan: A Study of Characterization and Puppets |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/648177 |journal=Asian Theatre Journal |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1353/atj.2017.0002 |issn=1527-2109|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

During the [[Transition to the New Order]] in March 1966, [[Suharto]]'s forces dubbed the [[Order of Eleventh March]] document "[[Supersemar]]". While an abbreviation of its official title ("Surat Perintah Sebelas Maret"), consensus among academic historians such as [[Claire Holt (art historian)|Claire Holt]] and [[David Bourchier]] is that Suharto [[propaganda|deliberately associated]] his image with that of Semar to appeal to Indonesia's Javanese population.<ref>Holt, 144-45; cited in Bourchier, 130.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Indonesia}}
*[[Mythology of Indonesia]]
*[[Kejawen]]

==References==
* Bourchier, David. ''Illiberal Democracy in Indonesia: The Ideology of the Family State''. Oxford: Routledge, 2015.
* Brandon, James R. ''On Thrones of Gold: Three Javanese Shadow Plays''. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1970.
* Geertz, Clifford. ''The Religion of Java''. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1960.
* Holt, Claire. ''Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change''. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1967.
* Khoon Choy Lee. ''A fragile nation: the Indonesian crisis''. World Scientific, 1999 .
* Yousof, Ghulam-Sarwar. "Dictionary of Traditional South-East Asian Theatre".Kuala Lumpur: Oxford 1994.

===Notes===
{{reflist|3}}

{{Mythology of Indonesia}}

[[Category:Javanese mythology]]
[[Category:Tutelary deities]]
[[Category:Wayang]]