.jpg "Reog Ponorogo Origin Story A Javanese Folktale for Kids")
Chapter 1: The Princess Who Did Not Want to Marry
It is said that the lion mask of Reog Ponorogo is the very form of King Singabarong. Would you like to hear how that came to be? Then come closer, and listen well.
Dewi Sanggalangit: "Thank you, Your Majesty, but I do not wish to marry."
One day, the King and Queen of Kediri sat with their daughter in the palace garden.
The King: "My dear daughter, so many good men have come to ask for your hand. Why do you refuse them all?"Dewi Sanggalangit: "Father, I am happy as I am. I have no wish to marry yet."The Queen: "But, my child, we are growing old. We long to hold a grandchild in our arms and rock him to sleep."
Dewi Sanggalangit looked at her parents' hopeful faces. Her heart grew soft.
Chapter 2: The Princess's Special Wish
Dewi Sanggalangit: "Father, Mother, I do not wish to make you sad. I will marry, but only on one condition."The King: "Tell us, my daughter. What is it?"Dewi Sanggalangit: "The man who wins my hand must bring me a spectacle that no one has ever seen before. It must be a grand dance, played with the music of the gamelan. It must have a parade of twin horses, dancing side by side. And it must have a strange animal with two heads!"
The King and Queen gasped. A dance? Twin horses? An animal with two heads? No one had ever seen such a thing!
Still, the King was happy that his daughter had finally agreed. He called for his royal crier at once.
The King: "Let the announcement go out across the land! Whoever can bring my daughter this wondrous spectacle shall marry her!"
Chapter 3: The Great Contest
The news spread from village to village and from kingdom to kingdom. At first, many princes and kings hurried to Kediri to join the contest. But when they heard what Dewi Sanggalangit wished for, their faces fell.
A Young Prince: "Twin horses that dance? And an animal with two heads? That is impossible!"Another Prince: "I cannot do it. I am going home!"
One by one, the suitors gave up and went away. In the end, only two kings remained, each sure that he could do it. One was King Singabarong of the Kingdom of Lodaya. The other was King Kelana Swandana of the Kingdom of Bandarangin.
Chapter 4: Two Very Different Kings
King Singabarong was a very strange sight. He had the head of a great lion and thick, bushy hair. His hair was so thick that it was full of tiny fleas! So he kept a bright peacock, who sat on his head all day, pecking the fleas away. King Singabarong was also fierce and unkind, and his people were afraid of him.
King Kelana Swandana was very different. He was a handsome king with a noble face, and he was very clever and powerful. He also knew great magic.
One day, King Singabarong called for his chief minister, Patih Iderkala.
King Singabarong: "Iderkala! Go to Bandarangin at once. I want to know what King Kelana Swandana is planning."Patih Iderkala: "As you command, Your Majesty."
The minister hurried away. Several days later, he came back with his report.
Patih Iderkala: "Your Majesty, King Kelana Swandana has prepared everything the princess asked for. The dance, the gamelan, the twin horses, all of it is ready. Only the two-headed animal is still missing."King Singabarong: "Hmm... so he has nearly won." (He frowned and thought for a long while.) "Then I shall take his work for myself! Gather my soldiers. We march to Bandarangin!"
Chapter 5: The War Between the Kingdoms
King Singabarong sent spies ahead to find out which road King Kelana Swandana would take. But the spies were caught by the soldiers of Bandarangin! They told King Kelana Swandana everything.
King Kelana Swandana: "So King Singabarong wants to steal my work? I will not wait for him. We attack Lodaya first!"
The soldiers of Bandarangin marched swiftly to the Kingdom of Lodaya. Meanwhile, King Singabarong was sleeping in his royal garden. The peacock was pecking softly at his hair, and it felt so good that he had fallen fast asleep.
Outside the palace walls, the brave soldiers of Bandarangin defeated the soldiers of Lodaya. The noise grew louder and louder, but King Singabarong slept on. Only the peacock stayed by his side, still pecking, pecking, pecking.
At last the king woke up and rushed out to see what was happening. And there stood King Kelana Swandana, waiting for him.
Chapter 6: The Magic of King Kelana Swandana
King Singabarong: "You! How dare you come to my kingdom!"King Kelana Swandana: "You wanted to steal my spectacle, Singabarong. Now you shall become part of it."
King Kelana Swandana lifted his hand and spoke his magic words. Whoosh! A bright light flashed, and King Singabarong changed. He became a great lion, and on top of his head still sat the peacock with its beautiful spread feathers.
King Kelana Swandana: "Look at that! One animal, but two heads, a lion and a peacock! Now I have everything the princess asked for."
Chapter 7: The Birth of Reog Ponorogo
King Kelana Swandana took the magical lion-peacock back with him. Then he traveled to Kediri and presented his spectacle to the princess. There was a grand dance, with gamelan music playing sweetly. There were twin horses dancing side by side. And there was the wonderful animal with two heads!
Dewi Sanggalangit's eyes shone with wonder.
Dewi Sanggalangit: "It is just as I wished, and even more beautiful than I imagined."
So the princess kept her promise. As time passed, the wonderful dance that King Kelana Swandana created became known as Reog Ponorogo. Even today, people in East Java still perform it with the great lion mask and its crown of peacock feathers.
And that is the story of how Reog Ponorogo began.
This is a folktale from East Java about King Kelana Swandana and the origin of the Reog Ponorogo art.
Play through the origin story of Reog Ponorogo interactively! Follow the journey of Dewi Sanggalangit, King Singabarong, and King Kelana Swandana in the narrated folktale game below, available in both Indonesian and English.
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