THE SYMBOLIC VALUES OF MYTHICAL IMAGES AT KERATON KASEPUHAN CIREBON

Abstract

The people of Nusantara were a society with a royal background, so the entire mindset and lifestyle of the people were influenced by the standards of rules, norms, and values taught by the royal community in sporadically, comprehensively, and from generation to generation. One way of spreading these sacred teachings is through a mythological approach, either by literature, dance, or fine arts, one of which is by displaying imaginative figures in the form of sculptures, reliefs, or illustrations on traditional ornaments.
The mythical images in Keraton Kasepuhan Cirebon are historical-diachronic symbols of acculturation and multiculturalism, which are the influence of Islamic culture, Chinese culture, and Hinduism culture. These mythical images are synchronously mythical figures that provide symbolic and philosophical values or meanings of the importance of the real-life in the “three worlds” or ‘triloka’: first, the Upper World, namely the spiritual and transcendent realm. Second, the Underworld which is an imaginative and subconscious world. Third is the Middle World, it is the materialistic, or immanent world. The symbolic and philosophical values that exist in the mythical-imaginative figure in the Kasepuhan Keraton Cirebon are elaborated with qualitative research methods by conducting direct interviews with the Kasepuhan Palace community, also by studying literature so that the research results become a treasure trove of science and publication efforts in the context of siding with local-wisdom archipelago.
Keywords : mythical images, multiculturalism, symbolic meanings, phylosophical meanings, acculturation