Uttaraśabda in Java and Bali

The aim of this research is to provide access to less well-known Javanese literary text, Uttaraśabda, which can be categorised as a tutur (utterance) text. It contains dialogues on religious speculation, which is also valuable for the study of religions in Indonesia. To make the text readable, textual editions should be arranged. However, the previously-necessary step taken is to explain the cultural background of all material evidence. It also stands as a consequence on the textual analysis. Uttaraśabda is documented in fifteen copied manuscripts: eight from Java and seven from Bali. If it is assumed that a manuscript is as an equal textual variant, then careful observation of each manuscript can be expected to give explanation on cultural-background peculiarities. Particularly, there are two manuscript groups from different cultural loci: Java and Bali; therefore, this research will apply a philological approach based on textology. The approach will provide comprehension about textual problems and the history of textual development. Thus, the understanding on the reception process to a tutur text, at least in two different cultural loci, can be dug up. Hence, this research wishes to contribute generally in the study of tutur which so far still has been polarised only on Balinese or Javanese traditions.