SANGKURIANG
Long time ago in West Java, lived a beautiful girl named Dayang Sumbi. She
was also smart and clever. Her beauty and intelligence made a prince from the
heavenly kingdom
of Kahyangan desire her
as his wife. The prince asked permission from his father to marry Dayang Sumbi.
People from Kahyangan could never live side by side with humans, but his father
approved on one condition, when they had a child, the prince would transform
into a dog. The prince accepted the condition. They get married and lived
happily in the woods until Dayang Sumbi gave birth to a baby boy. The prince
then changed into a dog named Tumang. Their son is named Sangkuriang. He was
very smart and handsome like his father. Everyday, he hunted animals and looked
for fruits to eat. One day, when he was hunting, Sangkuriang accidentally
killed Tumang. His arrow missed the deer he was targeting and hit Tumang
instead. He went home and tells her mother about the dog. “What?” Dayang Sumbi
was appalled. Driven by sadness and anger, she grabbed a weaving tool and hit
Sangkuriang’s head with it. Dayang Sumbi was so sad; she didn’t pay any
attention to Sangkuriang and started to cry. Sangkuriang feel sad and also
confused. How can his mother love a dog more than him? Sangkuriang then decided
to go away from their home and went on a journey. In the morning, Dayang Sumbi
finally stopped crying. She started to feel better, so she went to find
Sangkuriang. But her son was no where to be found. She looked everywhere but
still couldn’t find him. Finally, she went home with nothing. She was
exhausted. She fell asleep, and in her dream, she meets her husband. “Dayang
Sumbi, don’t be sad. Go look for my body in the woods and get the heart. Soak
it with water, and use the water to bathe, and you will look young forever,”
said the prince in her dream. After bathing with the water used to soak the
dog’s heart, Dayang Sumbi looked more beautiful and even younger. And time passed
by. Sangkuriang on his journey stopped at a village and met and fell in love
with a beautiful girl.He didn’t realize that the village was his homeland and
the beautiful girl was his own mother, Dayang Sumbi. Their love grew naturally
and he asked the girl to marry him. One day, Sangkuriang was going on a hunt.
He asked Dayang Sumbi to fix the turban on his head. Dayang Sumbi was startled
when she saw a scar on his head at the same place where she, years ago, hit
Sangkuriang on the head. After the young man left, Dayang Sumbi prayed for
guidance. After praying, she became convinced that the young man was indeed her
missing son. She realized that she had to do something to prevent Sangkuriang
from marrying her. But she did not wish to disappoint him by cancelling the
wedding. So, although she agreed to marry Sangkuriang, she would do so only on
the condition that he provides her with a lake and built a beautiful boat, all
in one night. Sangkuriang accepted this condition without a doubt. He had spent
his youth studying magical arts. After the sun went down, Sangkuriang went to
the hill. Then he called a group of genie to build a dam around Citarum River.
Then, he commands the genies to cut down trees and build a boat. A few moments
before dawn, Sangkuriang and his genie servants almost finished the boat.
Dayang Sumbi, who had been spying on him, realised that Sangkuriang would
fulfill the condition she had set. Dayang Sumbi immediately woke all the women
in the village and asked them to wave a long red scarf. All the women in the
village were waving red scarf, making it look as if dawn was breaking. Deceived
by false dawn, the cock crowed and farmers rose for the new day. Sangkuriang’s
genie servants immediately dropped their work and ran for cover from the sun,
which they feared. Sangkuriang grew furious. With all his anger, he kicked the
unfinished boat. The boat flew and landed on a valley. The boat then became a
mountain, called Mount Tangkuban Perahu (Tangkuban means upturned or upside
down, and Perahu means boat). With his power, he destroyed the dam. The water
drained from the lake becoming a wide plain and nowadays became a city called Bandung (from the word
Bendung, which means Dam).
