Lutung Kasarung

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Lutung Kasarung is a legend among Sundanese people, Indonesia. The folklore tells about a life of a beautiful princes, in the era of Pasir Batang kingdom, a vassal of Sunda kingdom, facing evil of her older sister willing to seize her right as a crown princes. The story was made a movie by Dutch colonialist with a title "Loetoeng Kasaroeng". It is the first movie taken from local story. This movie was released in 1927 by NV Java Film Company in Bandung from 31 December 1926 to 6 January 1927 at Elite and Oriental Bioscoop (Majestic) [1]. The legend had also been written by Dutch artist, Tilly Dalton and the copy of his writing had been donated to KITLV, Leiden, Holand. [2]

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[edit] Source

This legend originates from a Sundanese oral tradition called Pantun Sunda[3], which then transferred into books written by some Sundanese writers, both in Sundanese and Indonesian[4].

[edit] Summary

King of Pasir Batang, Prabu Tapa Agung, was old. He had two daughters, Purbararang and Purbasari. Prabu Tapa Agung planned to retire as a king. He wanted Purbasari to replace him as a king. Hearing this, Purbararang was angry because she is older than Purbasari.

But the king still selected Purbasari to be the next king. Purbararang then set a bad plan with her fiance, Indrajaya. Together they went to a witch and asked her to put a spell on Purbasari. Later, Purbasari had bad skin. There were black dots all over her body. Purbararang expelled Purbasari to a jungle.

With sadness, Purbasari had to stay in the jungle. Everyday she spent her time playing with some animals there. There was one monkey that always tried to cheer her up. It was not just an ordinary monkey, he had magical power. And he also could talk with humans. The monkey's name was Lutung Kasarung.

Lutung Kasarung planned to help Purbasari. He made a small lake and asked her to take a bath there. Amazingly, her bad skin was cured. Now she got her beautiful skin back. After that, she asked Lutung Kasarung to accompany her to go back to the palace.

Purbararang was very shocked. She come up with another bad idea. She asked Prabu Tapa Agung to select who has longer hair as a king. The king then measured his daughters' hair. Purbasari had longer hair. But Purbararang did not give up. She asked Prabu Tapa Agung to choose who has more handsome finace as a king. Purbararang was sure that she would win the competition because Purbasari did not have a fiance yet. Purbasari was sad. Lutung Kasarung came forward. Suddenly, Lutung Kasarung changed into a very a handsome man. He said that he is actually Guruminda, a son of Sunan Ambu, the God of ancient Sundanese, and want to marry Purbasari. Guruminda was even more handsome than Indrajaya. Prabu Tapa Agung then selected Purbasari as a king. She forgave Purbararang and her fiance and let them stay in the palace.

[edit] See also

[edit] Link

[edit] References

  1. ^ Shaping The Future of Sunda - Lutung Kasarung
  2. ^ Lutung Kasarung. - TILLY DALTON, ILLUS
  3. ^ Eringa, F. S. (1949). "Loetoeng kasaroeng: een mythologisch verhaal uit West-Jawa. Verhanddelingen va heit KITL, Leiden. 
  4. ^ Noorduyn, J. (2006). Three Old Sundanese poems. KITLV Press.