Jumat, 30 Desember 2011

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

Jumat, 23 Desember 2011

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

Kamis, 15 Desember 2011

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

Kamis, 08 Desember 2011

The Legend of Surabaya City

 The Legend of Surabaya

A long time ago in East Java there were two strong animals, Sura and Baya. Sura was a shark and Baya was a crocodile. They lived in a sea. Actually, they were friends. But when they were hungry, they were very greedy. They did not want to share their food. They would fight for it and never stop fighting until one of them gave up.

It was a very hot day. Sura and Baya were looking for some food. Suddenly, Baya saw a goat.
“Yummy, this is my lunch,” said Baya.

“No way! This is my lunch. You are greedy! I had not eaten for two days!” said Sura.
Then Sura and Baya fought again. After several hours, they were very tired. Sura had a plan to stop their bad behavior.

“I’m tired of fighting, Baya,” said Sura.

“Me too. What should we do to stop fighting? Do you have any idea?” asked Baya.
“Yes, I do. Let’s share our territory. I live in the water, so I look for food in the sea. And you live on the land, right? So, you look for the food also on the land. The border is the beach, so we will never meet again. Do you agree?” asked Sura.

“Hmm... let me think about it. OK, I agree. From today, I will never go to the sea again. My place is on the land,” said Baya.

Then they both lived in the different places. But one day, Sura went to the land and looked for some food in the river. He was very hungry and there was not much food in the sea. Baya was very angry when he knew that Sura broke the promise.

“Hey, what are you doing here? This is my place. Your place is in the sea!”

“But, there is water in the river, right? So, this is also my place!” said Sura.

Then Sura and Baya fought again. They both hit each other. Sura bit Baya's tail. Baya did the same thing to Sura. He bit very hard until Sura finally gave up. He went back to the sea. Baya was very happy. He had his place again.

The place where they were fighting was a mess. Blood was everywhere. People then always talked about the fight between Sura and Baya. They then named the place of the fight as Surabaya, it’s from Sura the shark and Baya the crocodile. People also put their fight as the symbol of Surabaya city.

http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com/2007/10/legend-of-surabaya-folklore-from-east.html

Rabu, 30 November 2011

Siguntang Hill

Siguntang Hill
Siguntang hill is a historic place in the city of Palembang. Lush and beautiful hill which is the highest point in the city of Palembang save a lot of stories and mysteries. Throughout the eye could see when entering this place just looks shady trees, chairs and gazebo that is built around the hill.
Impression of the armature will be felt when walking up the hill as you will see the first tomb (the tomb of Panglima Tuan DjungDjungan) of the seven tombs in this hill, the first tomb on the way to this hill as give a welcome message for all those who visit there. But surprisingly, although the impression was haunted but so many young people the city of Palembang who like date in a spooky place like this.
The 7 pieces cemetery on the Siguntang Hill which according to local beliefs is the tomb of the important people of Palembang ancient times, namely:
1. Radja Segentar Alam. His real name is Iskandar zulkarnain Alamsyah from the Mataram Kingdom. According to news from sources Nyai Siguntang Hill (Bukit Siguntang caretaker) Radja Segentar Alam was first to Palembang bring 3 ships flagged lancar kuning while in the course the ships were sunk. Of all the ships there is one which sank the ship that bring Radja Segentar Alam stranded on Siguntang Hill while other ships were destroyed in the ocean and some are broken and then dragged on the site Karang Anyar. There is a unique story of the story Radja Segentar Alam during its heyday the former can be conquered almost the whole of Sumatra to the country and neighboring Johor and Malacca in Malaysia is about the song “Layar di malam hari” is often sung on the ship when he along with troops were sailing, which until today still often singing in Medan, Johor and Malacca.
2. Putri Kembang Dadar. His real name is Putri Bunga Melur. Believe it or not because of her beauty Putri Kembang Dadar is told not from earth but from Heaven (the sky).
3. Putri Rambut Selako. Rambut Selako mean golden hair that may be because there are descendants of the west. His real name is Putri Damar Kencana Wungsu according to a story that originated from Yogyakarta Palace daughter of Prabu Prawijaya.
4. Panglima Batu Api. He is a scholar who came from Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) who came to the Malay land to wandering and broadcast the Islamic religion.
5. Panglima Bagus Kuning. Derived from Mataram which came to Lembang (Palembang) to escort Radja Segentar Alam.
6. Panglima Bagus Karang. Derived from Mataram which came to Lembang (Palembang) with Panglima Bagus Kuning to escort Radja Segentar Alam.
7. Tuan DjungDjungan. He is also a scholar of Arabic who come to the ground melayu (Swarnadwipa) to wander as she broadcast the Islamic religion.
From the graves prove that Siguntang Hill is a very sacred place so that the Palembang nobles ancient times many are buried on the hill.
Bukit Siguntang since ancient Sriwijaya Kingdom had become a sacred place and sacred. Siguntang hill is a historical sites here which used to be a place of worship in the age of Sriwijaya. Siguntang Hill be praying place to worship Almighty God at the Kingdom of Sriwijaya era with the discovery of evidence Buddha statue on the hill which is currently the statue was in front of the Museum of Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II. Then when collapse of the kingdom of Sriwijaya in the 13th century and then came the kingdom of Palembang Darussalam, this place (Siguntang Hill) still be a very sacred because it was frequented by the kings of Palembang as a place of retreat or advance meditation to quiet the mind in order to draw closer to God Almighty the Creator of Life.
Until now the Siguntang Hill still a sacred place for the people of Palembang. Local communities also have exposed to the belief that if a major Palembang disaster such as flood then Siguntang Hill is the place will never drown and still others believe that under the barrow hill there is Siguntang traces the legacy of the legendary kingdom of Sriwijaya that holds a priceless treasure. Believe or not? All it needs proof!.
Regardless of whether or not the stories and myths. Siguntang Hill now is a one tourism destination relied by the city of Palembang government to attract foreign and local tourists to visit the city of Pempek(palembang Food).
To the Siguntang Hill not difficult because this place was in the middle of the city of Palembang that makes access to get there becomes very easy. some tips if you are in Palembang and intend visiting the Siguntang Hill is as follows:
1. Ride public transportation, city bus or Transmusi (such Busway in Jakarta) that led to the Bukit Besar and then down at the roundabout of Taman Simpang State High School 10 and walk about ± 100 meters to the Siguntang Hill. The fee is:
-The cost of public transportation in the city of Palembang is IDT 2.500
-The cost of city buses in the city of Palembang is IDR 2.500
-The cost of Transmusi all routes in the city of Palembang IDR 3.000
2. Arriving at the Siguntang Hill paying admission at IDR 2.000 per person.
3. Bring food and drink from home. Actually, in the Siguntang Hill there are quite a lot of sellers like pempek, snacks and drinks but to be more efficient what’s wrong if you bring your own lunch from home.
4. Over in Siguntang Hill never spit and piss haphazard and do not talk dirty because Siguntang Hill is a place that is quite mystical.
5. Maintain cleanliness wherever you are, because cleanliness is half of faith.
Location :
This place was in the middle of the city of Palembang, South sumatera, indonesia. Ride public transportation, city bus or Transmusi (such Busway in Jakarta) that led to the Bukit Besar and then down at the roundabout of Taman Simpang State High School 10 and walk about ± 100 meters to the Siguntang Hill.
Source :
http://arumaarifu.wordpress.com

Selasa, 22 November 2011

Bromo Mount


Bromo Mount’s story
A long time ago, there lived a beautiful woman by the name Roro Anteng. She was a reknown beauty and had attracted the attention of an evil giant. Because the evil giant possessed extraordinary magical powers, Roro Anteng dared not reject the giant’s advances when he proposed to her. Roro thought of a plan to get away from the marriage without offending the giant. In order to get her hand in marriage, the giant had to fufill her wishes.
Roro then concocted a difficult request in hopes that the giant did not have the power to fufill it. She had asked him to make her a sandy desert in between the mountains in one night and before the break of dawn.
Unfortunately for her, the giant magically and swiftly begin to work his powers and was near completing her wishes. The fast thinking Roro Anteng quickly thought of an idea to disrupt the completion, she made all sorts of noises that woke up the roosters. The roosters began to crow bringing dawn in.
On hearing the rooster’s calls, which signalled the break of dawn, the giant was shocked for having failed his task. Frustrated, he threw the coconut shell that he used to dig the desert, the shell fell to the ground beside Mount Bromo, forming what is now knows as Mount Batok (coconut shell). The sandy plain was to form the Tengger caldera.
The story continues with Roro Anteng falling in love with Joko Seger, a descendant of the great Majapahit Kingdom who had led a reclusive life on the desolate mountain range.
They were married, living happily blessed with many children. Their children and their descendents formed the tribal community of the Tengger (taken from the names ‘Roro Anteng’ and Joko Seger”).
This was the story of how the Tenggerese tribe came to be and how they lived the lands.
http://thetravellust.com/2008/07/03/the-story-and-legend-of-mount-bromo/