Sangkuriang Story

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).***