Lutung Kasarung
Encyclopedia
Lutung Kasarung is a Sundanese
folklore
from West Java
, Indonesia
. Set in the Pasir Batang kingdom, it tells the tale of a magical lutung
(a type of black monkey) who helped a beautiful princess, Purbasari Ayuwangi, when her older sister attempted to rob her of her status as crown princess.
The theme and moral of the legend are similar to those of the European folktale "Beauty and the Beast
".
, a traditional Sundanese oral performance. It was later written down by Sundanese writers, in both the Sundanese
and Indonesian
languages.
, there lived a handsome and powerful god named Batara Guruminda Kahyangan. He had almost become the highest god in the heaven; but in his pride, he defied Batari Sunan Ambu, the highest mother goddess
in Sundanese mythology. As punishment, he was cursed and banished from heaven and incarnated upon earth as a black lutung
monkey, in which body he was condemned to live until he could learn humility and earn the sincere love of a woman.
Meanwhile on earth, Prabu Tapa Agung, the aging king of Pasir Batang, had two daughters: Purbararang and Purbasari. Purbasari was kind and good-hearted, while her older sister Purbararang was wicked. Because of this, the king wanted Purbasari to succeed him when he retired.
In the jungle, Purbasari's only companions were the animals. One of these was a black monkey named Lutung Kasarung, who was actually the cursed god Guruminda, and who had magical powers and could talk with humans. To help Purbasari, Lutung Kasarung took her to a lake and told her to bathe in it. He then took some sinom (young tamarind
leaves) from the tree, gave it to Purbasari and told her to rub her body with it. This magically cured the skin condition caused by the witch's spell and restored her beauty.
One morning, Purbasari awoke and was surprised to find herself in a beautiful palace—Lutung Kasarung had transformed her humble shack into a palace overnight. The news of the palace that had magically appeared in the jungle attracted people from all around. When they learned that a kind, generous, and beautiful princess lived there, many stayed, creating a lively new town where there had been jungle. The news of the new town reached Purbararang; when she discovered that her younger sister ruled the town, she was consumed with envy.
Purbararang decided to bring Purbasari down by giving her impossible tasks to do. One day a banteng
bull ran amok and began wreaking havoc in the capital city. No man was able to stop it as it destroyed the square and the marketplace. Purbararang sent a messenger to Purbarsari, ordering her to catch the raging bull. Purbasari was distressed; but Lutung Kasarung told her to take a lock of her own hair and put it around the bull's neck. Purbarsari did so, and the bull was instantly tamed.
Purbararang then ordered Purbasari to make a dam and dry up the Lubuk Sipatahunan wetlands, so that she could catch the fish in them. Lutung Kasarung again saved the day, magically drying up the wetlands. While the people were catching fish, a mysterious handsome man appeared and presented some fishes to the princesses. Purbararang was smitten with the handsome man and instantly forgot about her fiancee Indrajaya. The man, who was actually Lutung Kasarung temporarily transformed back into his form as Guruminda, gave his fish to Purbasari and then vanished. This only made Purbararang more jealous of her sister.
Purbararang asked Prabu Tapa Agung to select the princess with the longer hair as his successor. The king agreed to do so; then, when he measured his daughters' hair, he found that Purbasari's was longer.
Undaunted, Purbararang made a new demand to Prabu Tapa Agung: that he choose as his successor the daughter who had the most handsome fiance. This was a competition that she was confident she could win, since she had the handsome Indrajaya and Purbasari had no man to support her—only an ugly black monkey. However, Purbasari saw beyond Lutung Kasarung's appearance, and recognized his good heart, loyalty, and devotion to her. She reached out to him and chose him as her fiance. The people ridiculed her decision; but at that moment, the curse was broken since he finally earn the sincere love of Purbasari, and Lutung Kasarung resumed his form as Guruminda. Since he was much more handsome than Indrajaya, Prabu Tapa Agung chose Purbasari to be his successor. In one last effort, Purbararang asked Indrajaya to fight Guruminda in a pencak silat
martial art combat. The fight was quickly won by the powerful Guruminda.
Purbasari benevolently forgave Pubararang and Indrajaya all their wrongdoing and allowed them to remain in the palace. She and Guruminda were married, and lived happily ever after.
, was made during the Dutch colonial era, under the direction of L. Heuveldorp. It was filmed in Bandung in 1926 and released there by the NV Java Film Company. It played from 31 December 1926 to 6 January 1927 at the Elite and Oriental Bioscoop (Majestic) theatres.
A version of the legend was written in Indonesian by the Dutch artist Tilly Dalton in 1950. A copy of the book was donated to KITLV in Leiden, Holland.
The story often appeared in children story books and comic books in Indonesia, and its adaptation often appeared in Indonesian TV sinetrons.
Sundanese people
The Sundanese are an ethnic group native to the western part of the Indonesian island of Java. They number approximately 31 million, and are the second most populous of all the nation's ethncities. The Sundanese are predominantly Muslim...
folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
from West Java
West Java
West Java , with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, it is slightly smaller in area than densely populated Taiwan, but with nearly double the population...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. Set in the Pasir Batang kingdom, it tells the tale of a magical lutung
Lutung
The lutungs are a group of Old World monkeys and make up the entirety of the genus Trachypithecus. Their range is split into two parts; one part is much of southeast Asia , the other part is extreme southern India and Sri Lanka. The greater part of India has lutungs...
(a type of black monkey) who helped a beautiful princess, Purbasari Ayuwangi, when her older sister attempted to rob her of her status as crown princess.
The theme and moral of the legend are similar to those of the European folktale "Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
".
Source
Before it was put in written form, this legend was transmitted via Pantun SundaPantun Sunda
Pantun Sunda is a type of Sundanese oral narrative performance interspersed with songs and music played on a kacapi, a kind of zither. A pantun used to be recited during an evening-length performance...
, a traditional Sundanese oral performance. It was later written down by Sundanese writers, in both the Sundanese
Sundanese language
Sundanese is the language of about 27 million people from the western third of Java or about 15% of the Indonesian population....
and Indonesian
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
languages.
Summary
In the heaven called SvargalokaSvarga
In Hinduism, Svarga is a set of heavenly worlds located on and above Mt. Meru. It is a heaven where the righteous live in a paradise before their next reincarnation...
, there lived a handsome and powerful god named Batara Guruminda Kahyangan. He had almost become the highest god in the heaven; but in his pride, he defied Batari Sunan Ambu, the highest mother goddess
Mother goddess
Mother goddess is a term used to refer to a goddess who represents motherhood, fertility, creation or embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother.Many different goddesses have...
in Sundanese mythology. As punishment, he was cursed and banished from heaven and incarnated upon earth as a black lutung
Lutung
The lutungs are a group of Old World monkeys and make up the entirety of the genus Trachypithecus. Their range is split into two parts; one part is much of southeast Asia , the other part is extreme southern India and Sri Lanka. The greater part of India has lutungs...
monkey, in which body he was condemned to live until he could learn humility and earn the sincere love of a woman.
Meanwhile on earth, Prabu Tapa Agung, the aging king of Pasir Batang, had two daughters: Purbararang and Purbasari. Purbasari was kind and good-hearted, while her older sister Purbararang was wicked. Because of this, the king wanted Purbasari to succeed him when he retired.
Purbasari's exile
This angered Purbararang, the elder daughter. With her fiance Indrajaya, she went to a witch and asked her to cast a magical spell upon Purbasari. The spell left Purbasari with a rash all over her body. This illness was regarded as a curse from the gods, so Purbasari was exiled from the palace and driven to live in a shack in the jungle.In the jungle, Purbasari's only companions were the animals. One of these was a black monkey named Lutung Kasarung, who was actually the cursed god Guruminda, and who had magical powers and could talk with humans. To help Purbasari, Lutung Kasarung took her to a lake and told her to bathe in it. He then took some sinom (young tamarind
Tamarind
Tamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .-Origin:...
leaves) from the tree, gave it to Purbasari and told her to rub her body with it. This magically cured the skin condition caused by the witch's spell and restored her beauty.
One morning, Purbasari awoke and was surprised to find herself in a beautiful palace—Lutung Kasarung had transformed her humble shack into a palace overnight. The news of the palace that had magically appeared in the jungle attracted people from all around. When they learned that a kind, generous, and beautiful princess lived there, many stayed, creating a lively new town where there had been jungle. The news of the new town reached Purbararang; when she discovered that her younger sister ruled the town, she was consumed with envy.
Purbararang decided to bring Purbasari down by giving her impossible tasks to do. One day a banteng
Banteng
The banteng , also known as tembadau, is a species of wild cattle found in Southeast Asia.Banteng have been domesticated in several places in Southeast Asia, and there are around 1.5 million domestic banteng, which are called Bali cattle. These animals are used as working animals and for their meat...
bull ran amok and began wreaking havoc in the capital city. No man was able to stop it as it destroyed the square and the marketplace. Purbararang sent a messenger to Purbarsari, ordering her to catch the raging bull. Purbasari was distressed; but Lutung Kasarung told her to take a lock of her own hair and put it around the bull's neck. Purbarsari did so, and the bull was instantly tamed.
Purbararang then ordered Purbasari to make a dam and dry up the Lubuk Sipatahunan wetlands, so that she could catch the fish in them. Lutung Kasarung again saved the day, magically drying up the wetlands. While the people were catching fish, a mysterious handsome man appeared and presented some fishes to the princesses. Purbararang was smitten with the handsome man and instantly forgot about her fiancee Indrajaya. The man, who was actually Lutung Kasarung temporarily transformed back into his form as Guruminda, gave his fish to Purbasari and then vanished. This only made Purbararang more jealous of her sister.
Purbasari's return
After this, Purbararang summoned Purbasari to the palace in the capital city. When Purbasari arrived, she had her thrown in jail. Lutung Kasarung waited for Purbasari to come home to her own palace; but when, after several days, there was no news about her, Lutung Kasarung grew alarmed. He stormed the palace to rescue Purbasari from captivity. The two of them found themselves surrounded by palace guards, with Lutung fighting bravely to protect Purbasari. In the middle of the chaotic fight, Prabu Tapa Agung returned to the palace from the hermitage where he had been living as an ascetic, and discovered his daughters fighting for the throne.Purbararang asked Prabu Tapa Agung to select the princess with the longer hair as his successor. The king agreed to do so; then, when he measured his daughters' hair, he found that Purbasari's was longer.
Undaunted, Purbararang made a new demand to Prabu Tapa Agung: that he choose as his successor the daughter who had the most handsome fiance. This was a competition that she was confident she could win, since she had the handsome Indrajaya and Purbasari had no man to support her—only an ugly black monkey. However, Purbasari saw beyond Lutung Kasarung's appearance, and recognized his good heart, loyalty, and devotion to her. She reached out to him and chose him as her fiance. The people ridiculed her decision; but at that moment, the curse was broken since he finally earn the sincere love of Purbasari, and Lutung Kasarung resumed his form as Guruminda. Since he was much more handsome than Indrajaya, Prabu Tapa Agung chose Purbasari to be his successor. In one last effort, Purbararang asked Indrajaya to fight Guruminda in a pencak silat
Pencak Silat
Pencak silat is an umbrella term for the indigenous martial arts created in Indonesia. The leading organization of pencak silat in Indonesia is IPSI...
martial art combat. The fight was quickly won by the powerful Guruminda.
Purbasari benevolently forgave Pubararang and Indrajaya all their wrongdoing and allowed them to remain in the palace. She and Guruminda were married, and lived happily ever after.
Adaptations
The first film made in Indonesia was a version of this legend. The silent film, titled Loetoeng KasaroengLoetoeng Kasaroeng
Loetoeng Kasaroeng is an Indonesian film from 1926. Although produced and directed by Dutch filmmakers, it was the first film to be commercially released that involved Indonesian actors. The film was inspired by a traditional Sundanese folklore Lutung Kasarung.The film was shot in Padalarang by the...
, was made during the Dutch colonial era, under the direction of L. Heuveldorp. It was filmed in Bandung in 1926 and released there by the NV Java Film Company. It played from 31 December 1926 to 6 January 1927 at the Elite and Oriental Bioscoop (Majestic) theatres.
A version of the legend was written in Indonesian by the Dutch artist Tilly Dalton in 1950. A copy of the book was donated to KITLV in Leiden, Holland.
The story often appeared in children story books and comic books in Indonesia, and its adaptation often appeared in Indonesian TV sinetrons.
External links
- http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com/2007/10/lutung-kasarung-folklore-from-west-java.html
- "Cerita rakyat from West Java: Lutung Kasarung".