Gajah Mada (c. 1290 – c. 1364), also known as Jirnnodhara was, according to Old Javanese manuscripts, poems, and inscriptions, a powerful military leader and Mahapatih (the approximate equivalent of a modern prime minister) of the Javanese empire of Majapahit during the 14th century. He is credited with bringing the empire to its peak of glory. He delivered an oath called Sumpah Palapa, in which he vowed to live an ascetic lifestyle (by not consuming food containing spices) until he had conquered all of the Southeast Asian archipelago of Nusantara for Majapahit. During his reign, the Hindu epics, including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, became ingrained in the Javanese culture and worldview through the performing arts of wayang kulit (“leather puppets”). He is considered an important national hero in modern Indonesia, as well as a symbol of patriotism and national unity. Historical accounts of his life, political career, and administration are taken from several sources, mainly Pararaton ("The Book of Kings"), the Nagarakretagama (a Javanese-language eulogy), and an inscription dating from the mid 14th century. Depiction Much of the modern popular depiction of Gajah Mada derives from the imagination of Mohammad Yamin in his 1945 book Gajah Mada: Pahlawan Persatuan Nusantara. One day in the 1940s, Yamin visited Trowulan to see the location of the former Majapahit kingdom. He found fragments of terracotta, one of which was a piggy bank in the form of the face of a man with a stocky face and curly hair. Based on the look on the piggy bank's face, Yamin interpreted this as the face of Gajah Mada, the unifier of the archipelago. Yamin then asked the artist Henk Ngantung to make the terracotta-like painting. The painting is then displayed as the cover of Yamin's book. Many people oppose Yamin's opinion, because it is impossible for the face of a figure as big as Gajah Mada to be displayed in a piggy bank. This kind of thing is an insult because usually the state leaders during the Hindu-Buddhist era, including Majapahit, were made a statue. Some people even believe that the face that Gajah Mada thought was none other than Yamin's own face. Another illustration of the historical Gajah Mada, different from Yamin's, is the result of research at the University of Indonesia by archaeologist Agus Aris Munandar. He interpreted that Gajah Mada was depicted as Bima in wayang shadow puppet shows, with a