Page 495 - Proceedings Collega2023

Hang Tuah being the Laksmana (Admiral) and being the most loyal and favoured by the sultan for
his loyalty, intelligence and prowess. The sultan regretted his actions to execute Hang Tuah and wished he
had not ordered Seri Nara Diraja to do so (A.Samad, 142). After learning the fact that Hang Tuah was not
executed, Sultan Mansur Syah ordered Seri Nara Diraja to bring Hang Tuah back to the palace to take on
Hang Jebat in a duel and get rid of the latter. In Hikayat Hang Tuah, it is stated upon Hang Tuah’s return to
the palace

…maka raja memberikan pakaian yang indah-indah… Setelah sudah maka raja pun memeluk leher
Laksamana seraya dicium baginda kepala Laksamana, seraya bertitah “Hai kekasihku Laksamana,
segeralah hapuskan arang pada muka ku ini”

In reference from the text, Hang Tuah was bestowed with beautiful clothing items as soon as he returned
to the palace as a sign of apology from the sultan. The sultan then ordered Hang Tuah to clean ‘his dirtied
ashen face’ from his grave mistake whilst embracing the Laksmana and kisses his head. The beauty of the
clothes stated would be from the sultan’s own collection of clothes or from the state treasury. The clothing
items would be from fine silks weaves and textiles from around the world, made available from the trade
th
made in 15 century Malacca. This was the main point of reference for the writer to design the costume
for Hang Tuah in MSP 2021.

Hang Tuah’s first appearance in MSP 2021 is in scene 1 act 3. In this scene, Hang Tuah made a rude
surprise to Hang Jebat who had thought Hang Tuah was executed by Seri Nara Diraja. In Hikayat Hang Tuah
p353 clearly states what he wore to the infamous duel.

Maka Laksmana pun meniarap pada kaki raja, seraya memakai dihadapan raja: pertama dipakainya
serual baldu hijau sampai ke lututnya, sudah itu maka berkain hijau digangsi yang bertepi emas dipahat
bersirat, diragam dan ikat pinggang khatifah tujuh belit bersurat ayat Qur’an dan berbaju kesumba murup
bersurat doa besar-besar dan memakai keris parung sari itu. Maka mastul pemberian Syeikh Mansur itu
dipakainya. Sudah itu maka keris raja itu dipakai ke hadapan. Setelah itu maka Laksmana pun bertelut
menyembah lalu turun berjalan diiringkan oleh orangnya empat puluh itu.

This required Hang Tuah to don what was bestowed upon him by the sultan and a piece of mastul
(mastuli?) cloth given by Syeikh Mansur to him. The detailing stated in Hikayat Hang Tuah is very important
for the writer to execute the costume for Hang Tuah for this particular production. Deciphering the text
requires knowledge on textiles and surface embellishment techniques commonly found in the Malay
world and also referring to the dictionary to get a clear picture of the words. The pants are of knee length
made of green velvet, the waist cloth is a green cloth, smoked with sandal wood and decorated with
intricate gold embroidery and the cummerbund is made of sheep’s wool woven with Quranic verses,
bound seven times around the waist and he tops it off with a bright red tunic with large prayer verses
woven/embroidered on it. He then wore the raja’s kris, Parung Sari. He then put on It is of great honour
to wear the sultan’s personal kris, as his personal kris, Taming Sari is in Hang Jebat’s hand. That is how
special Hang Tuah is to Sultan Mansur Syah and this beautiful description of Hang Tuah’s costume has to
come to life for this production.
For any theatrical production, the character costume requirement varies for many reasons. It was
with intention to replicate the full version of Hang Tuah’s costume from the hikayat, but due to time
constraint, a few details had to be left out in the process. Details like the ikat pinggang khatifah tujuh belit

International Conference on Local Wisdom of the Malay Archipelago (COLLEGA 2023) Page - 482 -