the legend of Tangkupan prahu

 THE LEGEND OF MOUNT TANGKUBAN PERAHU

Dayang Sumbi was a girl from West Java. She was beautiful, smart and clever. Her intelligence made a prince from Kayangan kingdom fell in love with her and married her.  Soon, a baby boy named Sangkuriang was born. The king of Kayangan kingdom found out that the prince had married a simple girl not a princess. As a punishment, the king turned the prince into a dog.

Years passed, and Sangkuriang grew up to be an obedient boy. Everyday, he would hunt for food with the family’s dog. One day, he went into the wood and couldn’t find any food. Night was falling and he didn’t want to disappoint his mother. He looked around and not knowing that the dog was really his father. He killed him and brought home the meat. Dayang Sumbi was glad to see him back but she said that Tumang didn’t come with him. When Dayang Sumbi asked where Tumang was, Sangkuriang told her the truth. Unable to control her emotion, Dayang Sumbi struck Sangkuriang’s head with the weaving tool she was holding. In the mid of anger, she made Sangkuriang leave home. Because of her deep sadness, the God granted her eternally.

After years in exile, Sangkuriang decided to return home. Both mother and son didn’t recognize each other. As time passed, Sangkuriang fell in love with Dayang Sumbi. He planned to marry her. But when Dayang Sumbi saw the scar on Sangkuriang’s head, she realised that the person she was about to marry was her own son. In order to prevent the marriage from taking place, Dayang Sumbi asked Sangkuriang to do the impossible thing. She asked him to build a dam on the river citarum and build a large boat to cross the river both to be done before the sun would rise again. Sangkuriang gathered all his power and he was able to build the dam and the boat for Dayang Sumbi. When she saw that the tasks were almost completed, she called all the villagers to spread red silk cloth east of the city to make Sangkuriang think that the sun was rising and that he had failed at the task. Sangkuriang believed her lie. And his anger, he kicked the dam and caused a great flood. And then he kicked the large boat and it landed up side down to create mount Tangkuban Perahu