Hindu Influences in Muslim Indonesia

When I was in Yogyakarta, Central Java I had the opportunity to a Ramayana Ballet.  The Ramayana is a classic Hindu tale that has many many parts, but the central story, at least as it is told is Southeast Asia is about Rama’s marriage to Sita and her kidnapping by Ravana.  Here is a link to a trailer for the English language version of an Indian cartoon of the story.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwVZeCLEWrE

 

She gets rescued by with the aid of Hanuman, a monkey general.  He is our favorite character.  In some performance he is played for laughs.  In this version, he was funny but not as  funny as I have seen in Thailand.