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).
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