Hayam Wuruk

According to the Nagarakretagama, Canto 1, Stanzas 4 and 5, Hayam Wuruk was born in 1256 Saka year, corresponding to 1334 CE, the same year that Mount Kelud erupted. Mpu Prapanca, author of the Nagarakretagama, argued that this was the divine sign that Batara Gurunata (the Javanese name for Shiva Mahadewa) had manifest himself on earth, reincarnated as the Javanese king.[2]

Hayam Wuruk's name can be translated as "scholar rooster". He was the son of Tribhuwana Tunggadewi and Sri Kertawardhana (or Cakradhara). His mother was the daughter of Raden Wijaya, founder of Majapahit, while his father was the son of Bhre Tumapel, a lesser king of Singhasari. During Queen Tribhuwana's reign, he was also called Kumararaja Jiwana[4] which means Viceroy of Jiwana or Kahuripan.

Both the Pararaton and the Nagarakretagama praised Hayam Wuruk as a handsome, bright, talented, and exceptional student in the courtly martial arts of archery and fencing, who also mastered politics, scriptures, arts, and music. He was known as an accomplished ceremonial dancer in the court, and some accounts tell of his performances in the traditional ceremonial Javanese mask dance. His mother, Queen Tribhuwana, educated and groomed him to become the next monarch of Majapahit.

In 1350, Gayatri Rajapatni died in her retirement at a Buddhist monastery. She was the consort of Raden Wijaya, the first king of Majapahit, and also the grandmother of Hayam Wuruk. Queen Tribhuwana had to abdicate because she ruled Majapahit under Rajapatni's auspices, and was obliged to relinquish the throne to her son.

Hayam Wuruk inherited the throne in 1350 at the age of 16 when the mahapatih (prime minister) Gajah Mada was at the height of his career. Under his rule, Majapahit extended its power throughout the Indonesian archipelago of Nusantara. In 1365 (1287 Saka year), Mpu Prapanca wrote the kakawin of Nagarakretagama, the old Javanese eulogy for King Hayam Wuruk.[5] The manuscript described Hayam Wuruk's royal excursion around the Majapahit realm to visit villages, holy shrines, vassal kingdoms, and territory in East Java. He sent ambassadors to China from 1370 to 1381.[1]^: 240

According to the Pararaton and Kidung Sunda, in 1357, King Hayam Wuruk was expected to marry Dyah Pitaloka Citraresmi, a daughter of King Linggabuana of the united Sunda Kingdom and Galuh Kingdom. She was described as a princess with extraordinary beauty, but the reason for this royal engagement was probably political, to foster the alliance between the Majapahit and the Sundanese Kingdoms. However, in the Bubat incident, the Sunda royal family and their guards were involved in a skirmish with Majapahit troops. The planned royal wedding ended in disaster with the death of the princess and the whole Sunda royal party. Pitaloka took her own life at about 17 years old.

The court officials blamed Gajah Mada, sine it was his intention to demand submission from Sunda Kingdom that ended in bloodshed.

Several years later, Hayam Wuruk married his relative who was more famous as Queen Shri Sudevi or Queen Sori (Kawi : Paduka Sori), her birth name was unknown. She was a stepdaughter of Hayam Wuruk's maternal aunt. They had a daughter, Crown Princess Kusumawardhani, the Duchess of Kabalan. Hayam Wuruk arraged her to marry her cousin, Dyah Gagak Sali who was the future King Wikramawardhana. His mother was Hayam Wuruk's sister, Princess Iswari.

However, from a concubine, Hayam Wuruk had a son, the 2nd Duke of Wirabhumi (his birth name was unknown). He also arranged to marry his relative, Princess Nagarawardhani, 1st Duchess of Wirabhumi (then she bore the title 2nd Duchess of Lasem).

After Hayam Wuruk's death in 1389, the empire fell into chaos and decline during the contest over succession between Wikramawardhana and Wirabhumi. The dispute ended in Wirabhumi's defeat in the Regreg war. Wikramawardhana succeeded Hayam Wuruk as the King of Majapahit.

His reign, as part of Indosphere culturally, helped further Indianisation of Javanese culture through the spread of Hinduism and Sanskritization.[1][2][3]

• Gosari inscription
• Jabung
• Penataran
• Hinduism in Indonesia
• Hinduism in Java
• Agama Hindu Dharma
• Kejawèn
• Nagarakretagama
• List of Hindu temples in Indonesia
• Jalan Gajah Mada and Jalan Hayam Wuruk

• Pringle, Robert (2004). A Short History of Bali: Indonesia's Hindu Realm. Short History of Asia. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1865088631.