Panji's Quest is a love story set before the reign of King Kameswara of Kadiri (r. 1135-1185). It is a part of the only original Indonesian stories that have been widely disseminated for centuries and were later combined into the Panji Tales. On October 30, 2017, UNESCO included The Tale of Panji in their "Memory of The World" documentary series.
In Panji's Quest Panji, crown prince of the kingdom of Janggala and Sekartaji, crown princess of the kingdom of Kadiri, have been engaged since they were youngsters. However, the wedding does not proceed as planned by their parents. One month before the wedding ceremony Panji falls in love with Angreni, the daughter of the prime minister of Janggala.
Panji and Angreni marry. Panji decides he wants only one wife and refuses to marry Sekartaji.
Panji's father becomes enraged when he hears that Panji has canceled his marriage with Sekartaji. As the king of Janggala, Panji's father had planned to reunite the kingdoms of Janggala and Kadiri through this marriage.
Faced with the dilemma that Panji's refusal to marry Sekartaji might ignite a war between the two kingdoms, the Janggala king orders the murder of Angreni and sends Panji to visit his aunt. When Panji returns from his visit and finds that his wife has been kidnapped, he immediately starts to search for his wife.
When Panji finds his wife's dead body on a remote beach buried under angsana flowers, his pain is so deep that he goes crazy. He puts his wife's body on a ship and, with his shipmates, heads out to sea. A storm hits their ship, stranding Panji and his shipmates on a beach at the far eastern end of the island of Java.
With great difficulty, Panji's shipmates finally persuade him to bury his wife. To help Panji overcome his grief, they suggest to Panji to become a warrior. They advise him to disguise himself. Panji changes his name to Kelana Jayengsari and becomes a well-known warlord.
Word of his fame reaches the ears of Sekartaji's father, the king of Kadiri who is under the threat of an imminent invasion by King Metaun's army. King Metaun was scorned because Sekartaji had rejected his proposal of marriage.
When the invasion of Kadiri occurs, Kelana Jayengsari, with his comrades, not only repel the invaders but also kill King Metaun. As his reward, Kelana Jayengsari is given Sekartaji to marry.
The news of Kelana Jayengsari and Sekartaji's betrothal infuriates the king and lords of Janggala. In their minds, Sekartaji was still engaged to their missing crown prince. Janggala decides to attack Kadiri. But when Janggala's army arrives at Kadiri's borders, Kelana Jayengsari meets the generals of Janggala. It becomes immediately clear that Kelana Jayengsari is Panji.
The story ends with the wedding of Panji and Sekartaji. In 1185 CE Panji is crowned king of Kadiri. He rules over the united kingdoms of Kadiri and Janggala and becomes known as King Kameswara.
Author Biography:
Junaedi Setiyono was born in Kebumen, a regency in the southern part of the Indonesian province of Central Java, on 16 December 1965. Setiyono acquired his university degree at the MuhammadiyahUniversity in Purworejo, a small city near Yogyakarta. In 2013, Setiyono was awarded a scholarship by The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, to conduct research as a part of his doctorate degree in language education, which he received in 2016 from the State University of Semarang.Setiyono worked in a non-governmental organization (NGO) and as a high school English teacher. Since 1997, he has taught at his alma mater in Purworejo, usually on the subjects of writing and translation.Setiyono started his literary career writing short stories for newspapers and magazines published in Purworejo, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta. He won several awards in short story writing competitions. Hisfirst novel, Glonggong (Penerbit Serambi, 2008), won the Jakarta Art Council Novel Writing Award in 2006. In 2008, the same novel was on the five-title shortlist for the Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa Literary Award, which recognizes Indonesia's best prose and poetry. His second novel, Arumdalu (Penerbit Serambi, 2010), was on the ten-title shortlist for the Khatulistiwa Literary Award in 2010. In 2012, the manuscript for what would become his third novel, Dasamuka (Penerbit Ombak, 2017), won the Jakarta Art Council Novel Manuscript Award. The novel was translated into English in 2017 and published under the same title by Dalang Publishing. The novel won the 2020 literary award of the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Education. Oni Suryaman was trained as an engineer, but mostly works ineducation and as a translator, with English and Indonesian astarget languages. Suryaman started his teaching career in Jakarta atthe Monash College - an affiliation of the Monash University inMelbourne, Australia. He currently teaches test preparations for SAT, GRE, and GMAT. Suryaman began to translate technical documents and textbooksduring his college years. He has translated English-language fiction Indonesia, including the following: - Trisurya (Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, 2019) from The ThreeBody Problem by Liu Cixin (Chongqing Press, 2008), translated intoEnglish by Ken Liu, winner of the 2015 Hugo Award (Tor Books,2014);- Madiun Dalam Kemelut Sejarah (Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia,2018) from The Residency of Madiun, Priyayi and Peasant in theNineteenth Century by Onghokham (Yale University Press, 1975);- Asih Asah Asuh (Kanisius, 2016) from Teaching & SupportingChildren with Special Education Needs & Disabilities in Primary Schoolby Jonathan Glazzard, et al. (Learning Matters, 2015);- Yesus (Gloria Graffa, 2008) from Jesus, An Intimate Portrait of TheMan, His Land, and His People by Leith Anderson (Bethany House,2005).
