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Exploring Indonesia
La Galigo
Indonesia, Netherland
La Galigo is a Bugis literary masterpiece from South Sulawesi that is
said to be the longest epic in the world. It is 6,000 folio pages long, far
exceeding the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Born from oral tradition
in the 14th century, this epic tale contains the mythological story of
human origins, the journey of its main character Sawérigading, as
well as traditional values, ethics, and ceremonies that are still
considered sacred by the Bugis people today.
The two important manuscripts of La Galigo are still preserved today,
one at the La Galigo Museum in Makassar, consisting of 217 pages
containing the story of Sawérigading and his son, and a large
collection at the Leiden University Library consisting of 12 volumes
with a total of 2,851 pages, written by Colliq Pujié together with Bugis
scholar B.F. Matthes.
However, even though its popularity in Bugis land is slowly fading, La
Galigo has found a new life on the world stage. In 2004, the film
director Robert Wilson and the composer Rahayu Supanggah revived
it through a spectacular theatrical performance that toured various
countries. Now, La Galigo is not only the pride of the Bugis people, but
also a world cultural heritage that must be continuously preserved,
celebrated, and maintained well.
