Loro Jonggrang

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom named Prambanan. The people lived peacefully. However, soon their happy lives were disturbed by Pengging Kingdom. The king, Bandung Bondowoso, wanted to occupy Prambanan. He was a mean king.

The war between Prambanan and Pengging could not be avoided. Prambanan lost the war and led by the new king, Bandung Bondowoso. Pengging could win the war because Bandung Bondongwoso had a supernatural power.

His soldiers were not only humans but also genies. Those creatures always obeyed Bandung Bondowoso. They always did whatever Bandung Bondowoso asked them to do. The king of Prambanan had a beautiful daughter. Her name was Loro Jonggrang. Bandung Bondowoso fell in love with her and wanted to marry her.

"If you want to marry me, you have to build a thousand of temples in just one night," said Loro Jonggrang. She hated Bandung Bondowoso because he made the people of Prambanan suffered. "What? Impossible! You just gave me an excuse for not marrying me!" said Bandung Bondowoso. But he did not give up. He asked the genies to help him.

Then all those genies worked hard to build the 1.000 temples. Meanwhile, Loro Jonggrang heard from the lady-inwaiting that the building of 1.000 temples was almost finished.
She was so scared; she did not want to marry Bandung Bondowoso. And then she had a great idea. She asked all the ladies-inwaiting to help her.

"Please prepare a lot of straw and mortar. Come on! Hurry up!" said Loro Jonggrang. All those ladies-in-waiting were confused. They did not know why Loro Jonggrang asked them to prepare a lot of straw and mortars in the middle of the night.

"Listen, all those genies are building the temples, right? We have to stop them by burning the straw and make some noise by pounding the mortar. The genies will think that sun is going to rise and they will run away. Genies are afraid of sunlight." It worked! All those genies thought that sun rose. They did not know the light was from the fire that burning the straw. And the noise from pounding the mortar was like the start of a new day.

Bandung Bondowoso was angry. He knew Loro Jonggrang just tricked him. "You cannot fool me, Loro Jonggrang. I already have 999 temples. I just need one more temple. Now, I will make you the one-thousandth temple." With his supernatural power, Bandung Bondowoso made Loro Jonggrang a temple. Until now, the temple is still standing in Prambanan area, Central Java. And the temple is named Loro Jonggrang temple. ***
Selengkapnya...

Keong Emas (The Golden Snail)

PRINCE Raden Putra and Dewi Limaran were husband and wife. They lived in a palace. Prince Raden Putra's father was the king of the kingdom.

One day, Dewi Limaran was walking around in the palace garden. Suddenly she saw a snail. It was ugly and disgusting.

"Yuck!" said Dewi Limaran and then she threw it away into a river.

She did not know that the snail was actually an old and powerful witch. She could transform herself into anything. The witch was angry to Dewi Limaran. The witch put a spell on her and changed her into a golden snail. The witch then threw it away into the river.


The golden snail was drifting away in the river and got caught into a net. An old woman was fishing and used her net to catch some fish. She was surprised to see a golden snail in her net. She took it and brought it home. When the old woman woke up in the morning, she was surprised that the house was in the good condition. The floor was mopped. And she also had food on the table. She was thinking very hard.

"Who did this to me? The person is very kind." It happened again and again every morning.


The old woman was very curious. One night she decided to stay up late. She was peeping from her room to know who cooked for her. Then, she could not believe what she saw. The golden snail she caught in the river turned into a beautiful woman. The old woman approached her.

"Who are you, young girl?"

"I am Dewi Limaran, Ma'am. A witch cursed me. I can change back as a human only at night," explained Dewi Limaran.

"The spell can be broken if I hear the melody from the holy gamelan," continued Dewi Limaran.

The old woman then rushed to the palace. She talked to Prince Raden Putra about her wife.

Prince Raden Putra was so happy. He had been looking for his wife everywhere.
He then prayed and meditated. He asked the gods to give him the holy gamelan. He wanted to break the witch's spell. After several days praying and meditating, finally gods granted his wish. He immediately brought the holy gamelan to the old woman's house. He played it beautifully. And then amazingly the golden snail turned into the beautiful Dewi Limaran.

The couple was so happy that they could be together again. They also thanked the old woman for her kindness. As a return, they asked her to stay in the palace. ***
Selengkapnya...

Aji Saka

A long time ago there was a kingdom. Its name was Medang Kamulan. The people in the kingdom were very scared. They wanted to leave the kingdom. It all happened because the king was a beast. His name was Prabu Dewata Cengkar and he ate humans! Every day Patih Jugul Muda always provided some humans to be eaten by the king!

Not far from the kingdom, there was Medang Kawit village. A young man with a great supernatural power lived there. His name was Aji Saka. Everybody liked him because Aji Saka was nice, diligent, and kind hearted.

One day, Aji Saka saw an old man was wounded. Some thieves just hit him and stole his money. The old man was the villager in Medang Kamulan kingdom. He told what happened in his kingdom to Aji Saka. Aji Saka was very angry. He decided to go to Medang Kamulan to give Prabu Dewata Cengkar a lesson.

The king had to stop his bad behavior, eating humans. Aji Saka then went to the kingdom. He was wearing his magic turban. When he arrived in the kingdom, the king was angry to Patih Jugul Muda. He was not able to give the king some humans. All the villagers already saved themselves by leaving the kingdom.

“Who are you, young man? Ha...ha...ha.... I’m glad you are here. I'm starving,” said the king.

He was so happy to see Aji Saka. He thought Aji Saka was there to be eaten by him. “I would gladly let you eat me. But I have one request. You give me your land with the size of my turban,” said Aji Saka. He then took off his turban and threw it on the ground. The king and Aji Saka then measured the size of the turban.

Suddenly the turban grew bigger and bigger. It finally covered the whole kingdom. The king was totally angry. He knew Aji Saka was planning to take over his kingdom.

He then attacked Aji Saka. With his supernatural turban, Aji Saka twisted the king’s body and threw him to the ocean. The king never returned to the kingdom. Aji Saka then asked the villagers to come back. They all were very happy. They also asked Aji Saka to be their king.

Aji Saka then ruled the kingdom wisely. He led Medang Kamulan kingdom into its golden moment. The people lived happily and peacefully. ***
Selengkapnya...

Mouse Deer and Tiger

 LONG Time ago in a jungle of Java, tiger was wandering around for food. He hadn't been eating for days. He was really hungry! While he was approaching a small lake, he saw Mouse Deer drinking. The tiger want to eat him.

Tiger smiled, "Hmmm yummy, finally I get my lunch!"

Tiger slowly ducked, crawled, and held his breath. And then..."Gotcha!" said Tiger. He caught Mouse Deer and bit his leg. Mouse Deer was trembling. He was really shocked. But he tried to be calm. He was thinking of a plan to escape from Tiger. He looked around and suddenly he had an idea!

He said, "Hey Tiger, I know you are hungry and want to eat me. But the king will angry if he knows you eat me now."

"Why? The king knows that I eat meat. I eat animals like you! Said Tiger.

Mouse Deer explained, "I guard king's cake. It's very delicious. Only the king and his family eat it. "Mouse Deer pointed at one big, black lump near the lake. It did not look delicious at all. But Tiger was curious.

"Don't be fooled by its appearance. Its taste is very delicious. That's why it meant for kings. And you won't get hungry for a month after you eat it. I tasted it once, "said Mouse Deer.
Tiger's mouth watered. "Can I taste it?"

"Of course you can not The king will punish me like he did when I tasted it last time. He would kill me if something happened to the cake again!"

Well...it's all up to you. I eat you or I eat the cake.
The choice is yours."

"Well, then. You don't give me much choice, Tiger. You can have the cake. But first, let me run away as far as I can. By the way, the king won't be able to get me."

"All right...Now, go!" He was really hungry. He could not wait any longer to eat king's cake.

Mouse Deer took a save distance away from Tiger. But he still could watch him, as Tiger eagerly took the peace of the 'cake'.

Phooey, it's no cake! It's...it's buffalo's dung! I'll get you, Mouse Deer! You! Watch it!"

But Mouse Deer was already far away. He laughed aloud. Mouse Deer was safe for now. But Next Time, he might meet face to face with Tiger again.***

kancil (kantjil)=mouse deer

Selengkapnya...