Queen Aji Bidara Putih _ East Kalimantan Folklore

ONCE upon a time in East Kalimantan, there was a kingdom in Muara Kaman.

The kingdom was led by Queen Aji Bidara Putih. She was a very beautiful queen. She was also wise, kind, and loving to her people.

The queen was single. Many kings and princes from other kingdoms have tried to propose her. However, she was still not interested in getting married.

She only wanted to take care of her people.Though the queen has rejected proposal from many rich men, the proposals kept on coming to her. Many kings and princes did not give up. One of them was a prince from China.

The Chinese prince came with a big ship.

He brought his soldiers and also a lot of jewelleries. The prince wanted to give the jewelleries as wedding proposals.When the ship arrived at Muara Kaman, the Chinese prince asked a messenger to meet the queen. The messenger then told the queen about the wedding proposal.Before I accept the proposal, please tell me about your prince, asked the queen.

He is a very rich man and also very handsome, Your Majesty.

Alright then, tell your prince I need time to think, said the queen.The queen thought it was time for her to get married. She felt she was old enough. That was why she did not reject the proposal immediately. However, she did not want to choose the wrong husband. She asked one soldier to secretly go to the ship. The queen asked the soldier to describe her how the Chinese prince looked like.The soldier was finally able to enter the ship. He was peeping from a hole.

He saw the prince was eating. The soldier could not see the prince clearly. The hole was too small. But he could hear how the prince ate.The prince was eating using chopsticks.

He made strange sounds when he was eating. The soldier was so scared. He never heard that sound before. He thought the prince was not a real human. He thought the soldier was a ghost!When he arrived back at the palace, the soldier immediately reported to the queen. He told the queen about the strange sound.Maybe he is not a human, Your Majesty.

Maybe he is a ghost! said the soldier.

At first, the queen did not believe him.

But the soldier was very sure with what he heard. The queen then decided to refuse the wedding proposal. And that made theChinese prince got very angry. He asked his soldiers to attack Muara Kaman kingdom.The Chinese soldiers were able to beat the Muara Kaman s soldiers.Queen Aji Bidara Putih was cornered in the palace. She then prayed to God.

Suddenly, she heard a voice. The voice asked her to chew betel then threw the betel to the Chinese soldiers.

Amazingly, the betel changed into giant centipedes and attacked them.

The Chinese soldiers died and from the ground appeared a lake. People of Muara Kaman then named it as Danau Lipan or Centipede Lake. And sometimes people could find pieces of antique Chinese porcelain in that lake.***
Taken From : http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/East%20Kalimantan

East Kalimantan Folklore

Princess Bungsu and Maniki

Once upon a time there was a king in Berau Kingdom. The king was wise. He had seven beautiful daughters and he did not have a son yet. Among the seven daughters, the most beautiful daughter was the youngest one. Her name was Princess Bungsu. She was a kind girl. She was not spoiled and liked to do the household chores and cooking. She had a special knife to cut the vegetables or meat.

One day the princess’ knife was broken. She was very sad. She did not want to cook anymore. The king loved his daughters very much. He did not want to see his youngest daughter sad.
Therefore the king had a competition. He asked the people to make a new knife for his daughter. The king would give great rewards for the winner.

Soon, everybody was busy making a knife. After they were finished, they brought the knives to the palace. One by one, the villagers showed their knives to Princess Bungsu. Sadly, the Princess was not interested. She thought that all the knives were not as beautiful as her knife.

On the following day, a young man came to the palace. His name was Maniki. He was handsome and very helpful to others and also skillful. He could make anything. Maniki also wanted to join the competition. He brought his knife and showed it to Princess Bungsu. The knife was very beautiful. Princess Bungsu liked it instantly. She immediately brought the knife to the kitchen and began to cook.

Princess Bungsu really loved the knife. She always kept the knife carefully. She even brought the knife to her bed room and put it on the pillow.

In one morning, Princess Bungsu did not feel very well. The king then asked the palace healer to cure the illness.

After a while, the palace healer was surprised. He found out that Princess Bungsu was pregnant! He immediately reported to the king.

The king was really angry. He asked the princess who the father of the baby was. The princess was confused. She always stayed in the palace and never had any contacts with any men.
Nine months later, the princess had a baby son.

The palace healer knew how to find out the father of the baby. He invited all men in the kingdom. Then he gave each of them a banana. If the baby crawled to the man holding the banana, then he was the father.

After all men came to the palace, they all sat down in a big circle. The baby was in the middle.
Amazingly the baby started to crawl. He came to a young man. It was Maniki!
Maniki was confused.

He said that he was innocent. But the king ignored him. Later the king sent Maniki, Princess Bungsu and the baby to the jungle as a punishment.

Days passed by and the baby turned to a boy. Maniki and Princess Bungsu were also rich. They worked hard and always saved their money. One day they heard that the king was terribly ill. They decided to go to the palace to visit the king.

It was true. The king was dying. He was terribly ill because he felt guilty by sending her daughter to the jungle. When he met Maniki and Princess Bungsu, the king apologized to them and asked them to stay in the palace.***

http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/East%20Kalimantan

 

Dandaung Snake_South Kalimantan Folklore

 Dandaung Snake

A long time ago, there was a big kingdom in South Kalimantan. The people lived happily and peacefully. There were no poor people. The land was fertile and they always had great harvest. The kingdom was also peaceful. The king was wise and always protected his people. The king had seven daughters. Those seven princesses were very beautiful. The king and the queen really loved them. Their daughters were all still single.

It was a beautiful afternoon. The king and his family spent their time in the garden. Suddenly the chief soldier came. He told the king a very bad news.

“Your majesty! A giant bird attacked our kingdom. The bird is destroying the rice fields. It is also attacking the people. Many people are wounded,” said the soldier.

“We have to do something. Prepare the soldiers. I’ll command the attack,” said the king bravely. He then took his weapon and led the soldiers.

When the king and the soldiers arrived, they were very shocked. The bird was very big. It was very powerful and mean. The king did not want to wait any longer.

The king and the soldiers fought bravely. At first, they could not match the fight. However they all were very brave. Slowly the giant bird gave up. It was very tired and stopped its attack. The people were happy. For a moment they were safe from the bird.

A week later, the kingdom was restless again. This time a giant snake came to the palace. Amazingly the snake could talk like humans. The snake wanted to meet the king and his family.

“Your Majesty, my name is Dandaung Snake. I’m here to marry one of your seven daughters,” said the snake.

All the daughters were screaming. They all were afraid. However the king was silent and calmed. He knew he had to be very careful. He tried to fi nd a solution.

“I cannot decide right now. We need to discuss. Come back tomorrow,” said the king.

He planned to prolong the time. Meanwhile he also had to ask his daughters. One by one the king asked them, but they all refused to marry the snake.

The king was hopeless. He was afraid the snake would attack his kingdom, he still had problems with the giant bird. It was because the bird was still alive and it could return and attack the kingdom and his people at any time.

Suddenly his youngest daughter came to him.

She said, “Father, I’m willing to marry the snake. I’m afraid the snake will be angry and attack our kingdom if nobody wants to marry him.”

The king was speechless. He was very touched with her youngest daughter’s sacrifice. Then he ordered his people to hold a great wedding ceremony for her youngest daughter and Dandaung
Snake.

The party was great. All the guests were proud with the youngest princess. When everybody was having fun, suddenly something strange happened.

Dandaung Snake slowly changed into a very handsome man. He looked into the youngest princess face and he said.

“Don’t be afraid. You have already helped me from the curse. A bad witch cursed me into a snake. Actually I’m a prince and I have great supernatural power.”

The prince went away. He knew the people were still afraid with the giant bird. The prince wanted to kill the bird. And fi nally he succeeded! The giant bird was dead. Everybody was happy. The king was also happy. He asked the prince to be the new king.
Since then the kingdom was always peaceful. ***

 http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/South%20Kalimantan

The Legend of Gunung Bangkai _ South Kalimantan Folklore

The Legend of Gunung Bangkai

THERE was a woman who lived near the jungle. She lived with her son. Her husband died many years ago. Her son's name was Andung. He always helped her mother.

Andung was in the jungle to collect some firewood. And while he was walking to go home, he heard someone asking for help. Andung was looking around and he saw an old man was injured. Andung immediately help him. The old man was really grateful. He gave Andung a gift.

"I want you to have this necklace. You have already helped me and this is my gratitude to you. This necklace is great. It can cure all disease," said the old man.

Andung was really happy. It looked so beautiful. And when he arrived home, he gave it to his mother. She was very happy to receive the necklace.

Andung wanted to have a better life. He wanted to leave his home and had a better job. He told his plan to his mother. At first she did not agree. However, Andung insisted with his plan and his mother could not hold him anymore.

"Before you go, please wear this necklace. I hope you will always remember me."

Andung had his journey and he finally arrived in a kingdom. When he arrived, he saw an old woman suffered skin rash. Andung really felt sorry. He then remembered the message from the old man who gave him the necklace. He tried to cure the old woman. He put the necklace into a glass of water. he asked the old woman to drink the water. Amazingly, the old woman was cured. She told everyone that Andung cured her.

The news spread very fast. Many sick people came to Andung. They all were cured. And the news about Andung was heard by the king.

The princess was ill. The king had already asked many healers to cure her. But none succeeded. The king asked Andung to cure his daughter.

Andung was also sad to see the princess. She was so beautiful, and sadly she could not leave her room. She was very weak. Her illness forced her just to stay in her room.
Andung put the necklace into the glass of water. He asked the princess to drink the water. And amazingly, she was cured. She was able to walk again. The king was extremely happy. He was so thankful to Andung. To show his gratitude, he asked Andung to marry the princess. Andung agreed. He then lived in the palace.

Later, the princess was pregnant. She wanted to eat a special fruit. However, the fruit was only found in the jungle. Andung then asked some soldiers to accompany him to go to the jungle.
Andung knew the jungle very much. It was not far from his house. On the way to the jungle, he saw his mother. She was very old and poor. His mother was very happy.

"Andung? I'm so happy to see you," said his mother.

Sadly Andung was ashamed with her. He did not want to admit her as his mother. "Who are you? I don't know you," said Andung.

Her mother was very sad. She prayed to God to punish him. Andung suddenly could not move his body. He realize he was wrong. He tried to apologize to his mother but it was too late. Andung finally could not move his body at all. Slowly, he changed into a stone. The stone looked like a human dead body. It was slowly getting bigger and bigger. The stone then turned into a mountain. People named it as the mountain of human dead body or Gunung Bangkai.***

http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/South%20Kalimantan

South Kalimantan's Folklore

Dewi Luing Indung Bunga

PEOPLE in Kampung Datar, South Kalimantan, suffered. There has been disaster. Long drought has made them lack of water. Many people were ill. Children were crying because they were very hungry. Their parents could not work because they were too weak. They had not eaten much.


The head of the village was Datu Beritu Taun. He asked all the villagers to have a meeting. He wanted to discuss how to find the solutions of the problem. He knew God was angry with them. They had wasted all the blessing from God. Yes, previously their village was fertile. Water was easy to find. Their life was prosperous.


It all changed when the villagers cut down the trees recklessly in the jungle. After all the big trees were cut down, their village was flooded. It was very terrible. After that, long drought attacked their village.


“My fellow villagers, let’s find solutions for this disaster. We need a lot of water. Do you have any ideas?” asked Datu Beritu Taun, the head of the village, during the meeting.


“I think we have to dig to find well, Sir,” said one villager.


“But we are too weak to work,” said another villager.


“Well, if we don’t do anything, more people are going to die. I think we have to dig deeper to find the source of water,” said another villager.


“I agree. Now I want all the strong men to dig the land. We have to find water!” said Datu Beritu Taun.


Without waiting any longer, all strong men were busy digging. One of them was Antun Kumara Sukma. He was Datu Beritu Taun’s oldest son. Antun had a sister. Her name was Dewi Luing Indung Bunga. Days and nights the villagers were digging. In one night, Datu Beritu Taun had a dream while he was sleeping. In his dream, he heard that the village could be prosperous again if a girl was willing to be sacrificed. The girl had to be kind hearted and obedient to her parents.


When he woke up, Datu Beritu Taun told the men about his dream. He asked them to find a girl who was willing to be sacrificed. The villagers waited and waited… Sadly, no girl wanted to be sacrificed.


Dewi Luing Indung Bunga was a very kind girl. She knew she had to be sacrificed. She then told his father about it.


“Father, mother… I want this disaster to end. I want our people to be happy again. If there is no girl to be sacrificed, let me sacrifice myself,” said Dewi Luing Indung Bunga.


Though they were very sad, but the family let Dewi to sacrifice herself. All the villagers gathered in a big field. Dewi Luing Indung Bunga was standing in the middle. Suddenly, she fell down.


She died. Not long after that rain fell down heavily. All the villagers were thankful to God. They would never forget Dewi’s sacrifice to them. Since then the villagers were very careful to the forests. They did not want to cut down the trees recklessly. ***

http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/South%20Kalimantan