Menong's friends who like the folklore of the archipelago, of course,
know the story of Sangkuriang, a legend from the land of Sunda. I myself
have memorized the contents of this story from childhood, especially
for Bandung; we can look directly at this story set.
Mount Purba Sunda
Mount
Tangkuban Perahu is located on the border of Lembang, West Bandung
Regency, and Subang Regency. Access to Mount Tangkuban Perahu can be
reached through the Toll Gate of Pasteur to the north of Bandung or from
the direction of Subang city in the direction of Bandung.
The Tangkuban Perahu area became one of the favorite destinations of tourists. In
addition to the area of Taman Wisata Alam (TWA) in the form of protected
forests with lush pine trees and expanses of tea leaves, Menong's
friends will also find outbound camping or resto areas around Tangkuban
Perahu.
Mount Tangkuban Perahu is actually a narrative of the geological structure of the Sundanese Tatar. Geographically, Mount Tangkuban Perahu was formed 90 thousand years ago
as a caldera of 6 x 7 km (environment due to empty magma space after mountain eruption
fire) from the Sunda Mountain.
Sunda Mountain itself has a height of 4000 mdpl (meters above sea level) and
erupted between 210,000 and 105,000 years ago. Mount Sunda contains a high silica that is white, so it is named 'cunda'cumdan,' which means 'white' in Sanskrit.
Erupting to form a lake,
Ancient Bandung (after the lake of Bandung dried up, it now became a basin of the city of Bandung) and the mountains around the Bandung basin, such as Mount Burangrang, Mount Bukit Tunggul, and Mount
Princess.
Now we will find out why this still-active mountain has its shape that resembles an upside-down boat. In
geology, the shape of this face of a dead-cover boat is due to the presence of two craters.
The mountains are located side by side to the west and east.
This
shape, like the ‘tangkuban boat’ itself, can only be observed from the
direction of the city of Bandung alone (the southern direction of the
mountain). And this mountain will look like the shape of the mountain in
general when viewed from the direction of the city of Subang, West Purwakarta, and eastern Sumedang.
Since its first eruption about 1.5 centuries ago, there have been
13 craters formed in Mount Tangkuban Perahu but four of them are more
Many are known, namely Kawah Ratu, Kawah Domas, Wat's Crater and New Crater.
These craters are the attraction of tourists.
The eruption of Mount Tangkuban Perahu has only been recorded since 1829. Mount Tangkuban
The boat had undergone several phreatic eruptions (the eruption that occurred when magma heats groundwater or surface water). This eruption caused
The explosion was suddenly strong but did not produce lava.
The phreatic eruption of Tangkuban Perahu last recorded occurred
in July 2019. At that time, smoke mixed volcanic ash soared as high as
200 meters above the peak of the crater of the Queen, surprising visitors and traders in the area who were on the move.
Active Volcanic Area
Menong's
own friends can enjoy the shape of this upside-down boat when passing
through the Pasupati kite road or while in the Gasibu field
(unfortunately it is now hindered by a new monument at the West Java
Struggle Monument).
Mount
Tangkuban Perahu may be the only volcanic area that is easy to reach.
In the past, when one of my friends from Germany accompanied me on a walk
in Bandung, I showed Mount Tangkuban Perahu from a distance when we
passed on the Pasupati overpass. And my friend immediately refused
because he did not want to walk far because his knees would not be
strong enough to go up the mountain (btw, my friend was born before
Indonesia became independent).
Although he refused, I continued our plan, and voila,
when I got out of the car, I showed him the crater located just a few
meters from the parking lot. And he was very happy because he did not
expect to visit the ‘loan’ that he had never met in Germany.
We
only visited the Queen Crater, the largest crater, because of its easy
location. Honestly, as a person born and raised in Bandung, my visits to
Tangkuban Perahu can be counted on a finger. The beauty of Tangkuban
Perahu crater reminds me of blue and green in Rengganis Crater, Ciwidey, Bandung.
Similarly,
when we took Mother Zauji to take a walk to the area that has been
proclaimed as this Natural Tourism Park, she was still excited because
she knewthere is no need to bother going up and down to see the
beauty of this volcano.
When
standing on the edge of the crater, we can breathe fresh air mixed with
the smell of sulfur. When the weather is sunny, Menong's friends can
see the beauty of the curve of the crater that looks enchanting.
Sangkuriang and Dayang Sumbi
I also told about Sangkuriang and Dayang Sumbi to my German friend. The Sangkuriang story, the legend of Tangkuban Perahu, tells the story of a
couple of mothers and children who have been long separated. Because they had
not seen each other for a long time, Sangkuriang, who had grown up, fell
in love with the mother, Dayang Sumbi.
Dayang
Sumbi himself realized that the man who expressed his love for him was
his son, who had not been found for a long time. And of course, Dayang
Sumbi refused. However, Sangkuriang still insisted on getting the love
of Dayang Sumbi.
Because
it remains adamant, finally Dayang Sumbi is willing on the condition that
Sangkuriang fulfills his request of damming the Citarum River and making
Dayang Sumbi a boat in just one night. When the boat is finished in
time, then Dayang Sumbi is willing to marry Sangkuriang.
Sangkuriang
himself was undaunted by the impossible request because he was
confident in his strength as well as asking for the help of the genie to
speed up the making of the boat. And of course, the work on this
special project went quickly.
Dayang
Sumbi did not break the charcoal and offered an incessant prayer so that
Sangkuriang could not make a boat for him. And the prayer was answered.
Dawn came early. The boat that was almost completed, in fact, could not
meet the conditions given by Dayang Sumbi. The deal is void.
Sangkuriang
was unable to hold back the anger and kicked the boat that was almost
finished until it floated and fell and fell overturned. The ‘Tangkuban’
of this boat is what started the legend of Mount Tangkuban Perahu.
Finished
telling the story; btw, I used simple English. My friend gave a funny
comment because his story was considered strange. As
a kid, I never noticed too much of a legend. For people who like to
read books, these legends are just a complement to my hobby. It feels
like every Indonesian child is familiar with the various legends that we
have heard since childhood, such as Malin Kundang, Situ Bagendit, Timun Mas, and others.
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