T

he Ramayana ballet regularly performed at the Hindu Prambanan Temple on the border of Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces has entered the Guinness World Records as the most continuously staged performance in the world as well as involving the most performers.

The recognition of the records was handed over on Monday evening by Guinness World Records’ client services director Lucia Sini Gagliesi to director of PT Taman Wisata Candi (TWC) Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko, Purnomo Siswoprasetjo, after the ballet performance at the Prambanan Temple, Yogyakarta.

“This is a new record category for Guinness World Records. When we received this idea it was fantastic and we wanted to monitor it,” Gagliesi said at the presentation.

The ballet performance that broke the record was the final part of the series called the “Api Suci” (Heavenly Fire) sequel.

The sequel was performed on Monday evening at the temple compound’s 300-square-meter open stage with the artistically illuminated historical temple as the backdrop.

The performance has been regularly staged since 1961 by 230 dancers and 30 musicians in the accompanying traditional Javanese gamelan music orchestra.

The performance on Monday also officially closed the four-day National Ramayana Festival 2012 held at the compound from Friday to Monday. The festival presented different versions of Ramayana ballets from eight provinces across Indonesia.

Gagliesi said that to merit the record, Guinness World Records had a number of requirements such as a minimum of 200 dancers in actual performance costumes.

They were also required to perform on stage together for at least five minutes. In fact, the 230 dancers in the Ramayana ballet performance on Monday performed together at the same time for about 10 minutes.

Gagliesi also said that to verify that the performance was really performed by that many dancers and musicians, she was supported by an independent team comprising 10 members including public notary Heri Sartono.

Purnomo separately said that the preparations for breaking the world record had been ongoing for six months. He expressed hope that the record would further boost the fame of the Ramayana ballet performance internationally.

“We hope foreign tourists, artists and people visiting Yogyakarta can enjoy the performance and further learn about the ballet here,” he said.

Timbul Haryono of Yayasan Roro Jonggrang, which has staged the ballet since 1961 said that the performance had indeed had the biggest number of performers.

“For as long as I’ve lived, this is the Ramayana dance performance with the most amount of dancers,” said Timbul, who also directed the “Api Suci” performance.