According to legend, in ancient times there were two kingdoms as big as neighbors, the Prambanan kingdom and the Pengging kingdom. The Prambanan kingdom was led by King Boko who had a very beautiful daughter named Roro Jonggrang. Meanwhile, the Pengging kingdom was led by the king of Pengging. King Pengging is known to be very hungry for power.
Once upon a time, King Pengging, who was known to be arrogant and power-hungry, ordered a mighty knight named Bandung Bondowoso to attack the Prambanan kingdom.
"Hi Bondowoso, you go to the Prambanan kingdom and then conquer the kingdom so that you want to submit to our kingdom." said Raja Pengging to Bandung Bondowoso.
"Yes, king. I will leave soon. I promise to conquer the kingdom of Prambanan." Bandung Bondowoso received the king's order.
Immediately, Bondowoso Bandung troops went to attack the Prambanan kingdom. In a short time they managed to enter King Boko's palace. Due to the lack of preparation for the Prambanan royal troops, in a short time the Prambanan kingdom was conquered. King Boko himself died in the war.
After the death of King Boko, Bandung Bondowoso now ruled the Prambanan kingdom while waiting for further orders from the king of Pengging. Interested in the beauty of the daughter of the king of Boko, Roro Jonggrang, Bandung Bondowoso asked her to become his wife.
"Roro Jonggrang, will you be my wife?" said Bandung Bondowoso.
Roro Jonggrang of course in his heart refused. He hates Bandung Bondowoso who is very arrogant & has killed his father. However, Bandung Bondowoso was the ruler of the Prambanan kingdom at that time. How could Roro Jonggrang reject it? Finally, Roro Jonggrang agreed to accept his application by submitting the condition that Bandung Bondowoso must build a thousand temples and two wells in just one night.
"I am willing to accept your proposal, but the condition is that you must be able to build me a thousand temples and two wells in just one night." said Roro Jonggrang to Bandung Bondowoso.
 |
| Madame Tussauds Singapore |
"Well if that's your request, I agree." Unexpectedly, Bandung Bondowoso agreed to the terms proposed by Roro Jonggrang.
Immediately Bandung Bondowoso deployed thousands of genie troops to build a thousand temples and two wells so that they could be completed in one night. Seeing this, Roro Jonggrang became worried. He really doesn't want to marry Bandung Bondowoso, the killer of his father. Two-thirds of the night has passed, many temples have been completed. There are only three temples and one well.
In a state of panic, Roro Jonggrang had the idea of tricking Bandung Bondowoso. He immediately called the ladies-in-waiting. He then ordered them to burn the straw and beat the mortar.
"The ladies, hurry over here. Burn the straw, hit the mortar and spread the fragrance so that the genies of the Bondowoso Bandung troops think it's morning." Roro Jonggrang gave orders to his loyal ladies.
"Fine Roro, we will immediately carry out Roro's orders." the ladies immediately did what Roro Jonggrang ordered.
Thousands of genies from the Bandung Bondowoso troops immediately stopped their work, then scattered away after hearing the sound of a hammering mortar and saw a reddish color in the sky plus the roar of a rooster crowing. Seeing this situation, Bandung Bondowoso felt panic. For the sake of his love for Roro Jonggrang, he continued the work of building the temple by himself.
In the morning there was only one statue left unfinished. Roro Jonggrang also said to Bandung Bondowoso that the conditions he had given failed to fulfill. Thus Bandung Bondowoso has no right to marry her.
"Bandung Bondowoso, you failed to meet the conditions I asked to build a thousand temples and two wells. You cannot marry me." said Roro Jonggrang.
Bandung Bondowoso felt very upset and angry. He knew that Roro Jonggrang had tricked him. Bandung Bondowoso then cursed Roro Jonggrang into a statue.
"Roro Jonggrang, you cheated on me. I curse you to become a statue to complete the number of statues that are less than a thousand temples you requested!" Bandung Bondowoso cursed Roro Jonggrang.
A strange incident occurred, Roro Jonggrang's body turned hard into a stone statue. The people of Prambanan then call the statue of the beautiful goddess in the Prambanan temple as the incarnation of Roro Jonggrang. That is the folklore of Roro Jonggrang.
By the people in Yogyakarta and Central Java, the story of Roro Jonggrang is associated with the construction of Prambanan Temple. Whether this story is true or not, no one knows for sure. But there's nothing wrong with knowing the local story about Roro Jonggrang below.
More folklore on Yogyakarta:
No comments:
Post a Comment