I do love to know the story behind places that I visit, especially if it has a mythical legend behind it.
Tangkuban Perahu is a stratovolcano situated in Bandung, Indonesia. In the Sundanese dialect it means “upturned boat”. Legend tells that there was once a beauty named Dayang Sumbi who had a son, Sangkuriang, he wouldn’t listen to her so was cast away by his mother, and in return for her sadness was granted eternal youth by the gods (what?).
Years past and Sangkuriang grew up to be a fine young man while Dayang Sumbi stayed in her youthful state. One day Sangkuriang met his mother and without knowing who she really is, fell in love and deicided to marry her. But Dayang Sumbi saw his birthmark during a hunting trip and recognize who he was.
Dayang Sumbi was quite the polite lady and couldn’t just decline Sangkuriang directly, she agreed to get married only if he can build a dam on the river Citarum and a large boat to cross the river, both before the sunrise. Little did she know that he could summon green giants to do as he command, and they almost got the job done.
So she tricked him again by asking her servants to spread red silk cloths across the east. Thinking that it was already sunset, Sangkuriang got upset and kicked the unfinished dam and boat that he was building, causing flood and the creation of Tangkuban Perahu.