Sangkuriang and Tangkuban Perahu

The story of the legend 'Sangkuriang' is one of the most popular legends from West Java. The essence of this legend is about the origin of Mount Tangkuban Perahu, one of the most favorite tourist destinations in Bandung. The fun fact about this legend is, at first this legend was told in passing down by the next generation through oral. Then, this story was found in the manuscript 'Perjalanan Bujangga Manik' which was written on lontar leaves around the end of the 15th century.

Well, now retell this legendary story to the little one so that they know the legendary stories from Indonesia, let's go!

Happy reading!

The story of Sangkuriang begins with a fantasy, where there is a pair of gods and goddesses who are sentenced to become animals and serve their sentence on earth. The god was transformed into a male dog named Si Tumang, and the goddess became a wild boar named Celeng Wayung Hyang.

Then, one day, there was a king named Sungging Perbangkara. One morning, when he went hunting in the middle of the forest, suddenly he wanted to defecate and the king threw it in the coconut shell. Not long after, Celeng Wayung Hyang came in a state of extreme thirst. He also drank the water in the coconut shell earlier. Suddenly, Celeng Wayung Hyang got pregnant and gave birth to a very beautiful daughter.

When King Sungging Perbangkara saw it, he immediately carried the beautiful baby and brought it back to the palace. The king named his beautiful daughter Dayang Sumbi or Rarasati. Dayang Sumbi grew up to be a very beautiful girl, so many kings wanted to queue up to be her husband.

However, Dayang Sumbi rejected all marriage proposals. In fact, the kings who fought for Dayang Sumbi were willing to fight to win his heart, you know. Because he felt tired of all the proposals that came to him, Dayang Sumbi decided to isolate himself to the forest. In the forest, Dayang Sumbi is accompanied by a dog, namely Si Tumang.

One day, when Dayang Sumbi was weaving, the cloth fell and he felt lazy to pick it up. She also made a promise to herself that she would marry any man who took her cloth. However, if the woman helps him, he will make her a brother.

Apparently, the one who took the Dayang Sumbi cloth was Si Tumang! Dayang Sumbi did not break her promise, she made Si Tumang her husband. From this marriage, Dayang Sumbi and Si Tumang gave birth to a son named Sangkuriang.

When Sangkuriang grew up to be a teenager, Dayang Sumbi gave him the task of hunting deer. Sangkuriang went hunting accompanied by Si Tumang, they waited for the prey animals to pass by them but none of them came. Suddenly, Sangkuriang saw a fat wild boar, Sangkuriang also told Si Tumang to chase and catch him. However, Si Tumang refused because the wild boar that Sangkuriang saw was Celeng Wayung Hyang.

Sangkuriang also threatened Si Tumang with his arrow and he accidentally released it. He also accidentally killed Si Tumang. Sangkuriang felt panicked and he crossed Si Tumang to take his heart. After that, Sangkuriang returned home and handed over the heart to his mother. Thinking that what he received was a deer liver, Dayang Sumbi cooked and ate it. However, after knowing that what he ate was Si Tumang's heart, Dayang Sumbi was furious with Sangkuriang.

Dayang Sumbi hit his son's head with a rice spoon made of wood until Sangkuriang's head was injured. Sangkuriang felt scared, he finally left the house and Dayang Sumbi.

After leaving home for a long time, Sangkuriang grew up to be a strong and magical adult man. One day, he wandered until he didn't realize he was walking to the place where Dayang Sumbi was. Sangkuriang also fell in love with Dayang Sumbi's beauty and did not know that the woman he loved was his own mother.

When Sangkuriang intended to marry her, Dayang Sumbi of course refused because she knew that the man who wanted to propose to her was her own son. Dayang Sumbi also gave an impossible condition to Sangkuriang if she wanted to be her husband, because she believed that her child could not fulfill her desire.

Dayang Sumbi's request is that he wants to build boats and lakes that must be completed overnight by damming the Citarum River. In fact, that condition was agreed by Sangkuriang. Dayang Sumbi was also afraid that Sangkuriang could finish it and begged Sang Hyangg Tunggal to thwart Sangkuriang's efforts. He also hit the mortar into the mortar, as if he was pounding rice to be a sign that dawn had arrived.

Finally, the spirits of Sangkuriang's men became scared and left before finishing their task because they thought the sun would soon shine. Because he failed to meet the requirements of Dayang Sumbi, Sangkuriang got angry, rage, and kicked the boat he made to the north.

In an instant, the fallen boat fell and turned into Mount Tangkuban Perahu. After that, Sangkuriang was still chasing Dayang Sumbi to Mount Putri. However, Sang Hyang Tunggal immediately helped and turned Dayang Sumbi into a sprig of Jaksi Flower to escape Sangkuriang's pursuit. Sangkuriang also failed to find Dayang Sumbi, and in the end Sangkuriang disappeared into the supernatural realm.

This story is quite tense, isn't it? There are so many unexpected plot twists that can happen in this story.