Folklore And Fairy Tales
The Origin of Bandung City
Once upon a time in the land of pasundan, on the outskirts of the river Citarum lived an old grandfather who was famous for having the magic of mandraguna. There he lived with his beautiful daughter, Sekar.
In addition to Sekar, Empu Wisesa has 2 students of Jaka and Wira, He found them when they were babies in a village that was destroyed by the eruption of the tangkuban boat which until then his lava still often endangers the surrounding area. The two babies were then taken home, treated and taught by Empu Wisesa.
Despite having the same teacher, Jaka and Wira have different temperaments. Jaka is handsome, he likes to play and is good at talking, although smart but because of his nature that allows something he is far behind from the hero who diligently seeks knowledge and the essence of life.
Such different natures did not make the two of them far apart, they were like two brothers who helped each other and shared secrets. But there is one thing they do not reveal to each other, which is about their feelings for Sekar, their teacher's daughter.
Jaka first conveyed the intention to propose to Sekar to Empu Wisesa, because he was good at taking the heart of his teacher, Empu Wisesa without asking for her son's approval directly approving Jaka's proposal. He thinks Sekar must also like Jaka who is beautiful and sociable.
The next day his Empu Wisesa calls Sekar and then conveys his desire to marry her to Jaka. Sekar is a good and devoted child to parents but only this Sekar denied his parents, he rejected the wishes of Empu Wisesa, who was not, he said that he loved Wira and only wanted to marry Wira.
That made Empu Wisesa depressed, before he had promised it to Jaka. To be fair he then made a contest.
“Alright, I will only marry Sekar to the one who can extinguish the hot lava of Tangkuban Perahu.” said Empu Wisesa.
Meanwhile, Wira, think hard to find out how to win the competition. Every day he zigzagged around the vast basin formed by the hot lava, he knew only water could defeat fire, but from where he could get that much water. A year passed but he had not found his way until one day he saw a beaver who was making a dam from tree branches.
“Wah, how about I dam up the Citarum river so that the water can extinguish the hot lava” thought in his heart.
With full calculation the Hero began to implement his idea, first He evacuated humans and animals in the lava basin so as not to drown by water. Then armed with the devotion of Empu Wisesa, he collapsed a hill with his hands, so that the land and rocks dammed the river water. Over time the water began to pool, hot lava became cold and the basin turned into a vast lake, people call the area “Lake Bandung”.
After successfully passing the exam given by Mpu Wisesa, he then went home and proposed to Sekar. Mpu Wisesa was very happy, his students proved to love his only child, and prevented the disaster that could arise due to the hot lava.
Soon they also held a lively wedding party, attended by all the surrounding residents. Jaka no news anymore.
After many years Wira & Sekar was blessed with many children and grandchildren, while the dam made by Wira began to collapse due to high water discharge. Over time the water in the lake began to dry up, the soil became fertile and loose. At the end they also moved there, not forgetting to invite residents around.
Over time the area became crowded and visited by travelers, because the lake is no longer there, they call it Bandung. According to the myth, the original inhabitants of the city of Bandung came from the descendants of Wira and Sekar.
