1.

Bawang Merah Bawang Putih

"Bawang Merah Bawang Putih" ("Shallot and Garlic") is a Cinderella-type story of good
versus evil and very popular in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih are half-sisters who are polar opposites of each other.
Bawang Merah is a lazy, greedy girl spoiled by their mother while Bawang Putih is obedient,
diligent and does all the chores without complaint.

One laundry day in the river, Bawang Putih loses a scarf, which is picked up by an old
woman. The old woman says she will return the scarf if Bawang Putih cooks and cleans for
her. Bawang Putih does as she's told, gets the scarf back and the old woman as a gift tells her
to bring home one of her two pumpkins, a small or a large one.

Bawang Putih chooses the smaller pumpkin. When she breaks open the pumpkin at home, she
discovers the fruit is filled with jewelry.

Bawang Merah and their mother get jealous and want their own pumpkin filled with
jewelery, so they go to the river and deliberately lose their scarves. Then they visit the old
woman’s house and ask for a pumpkin. They bring home the big one (of course), but instead
of jewelry, their large pumpkin is filled with snakes.
The story has been adapted many times into stage plays, movies and TV series.

In 2005, it was made into an Indonesian soap opera (sinetron) set in contemporary Indonesia.
Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih became high-school teens. Revalina S. Temat played Alya
(Bawang Putih), the daughter of a rich, harmonious family, and Nia Ramadhani played Siska
(Bawang Merah) whose mother is a poor widow. There was an additional character named
Ferdi, played by Dimaz Andrean, a boy trapped in a love triangle with Alya and Siska.

The series bagged the "Most Favorite Sinetron" award at the 2005 Panasonic Gobel Awards.
It was then screened on Malaysia’s TV3 in 2006-2007.

2. Malin Kundang

The original "Malin Kundang" story is set at a specific location, the Air Manis Beach in
Padang, West Sumatra. Malin Kundang tells the story of an ungrateful son who is cursed into
stone by his mother.
If you visit the beach, you can see a stone believed to be the cursed Malin Kundang because
it is shaped like a person face-down on his knees begging for forgiveness.

Another folktale from West Kalimantan called "Batu Menangis" ("The Crying Stone") has a
story very similar to Malin Kundang, but no "crying stone" has ever been discovered in the
area.

There are some differences between the two stories. Malin Kundang, in the beginning of the
story, is a hard-working, obedient young man. He sails the world to get more money to
support his mother. After many years, Malin comes back a rich man. New, vain Malin now
refuses to be associated with his poor mother. That's when the mother prays for him to be
transformed into stone.

Meanwhile, Batu Menangis's main character is a spoiled girl who never lifts a finger to help
her mother. Instead, she keeps saying to people that the mother is actually her maid. Mother
finally has enough and prays to God that the girl is turned into stone.

3. Timun Mas

A traditional story from Central Java, "Timun Mas" ("Golden Cucumber") features a brave
young girl who escapes the clutches of a giant called Buto Ijo ("The Green Giant").

It starts with a childless old widow living by herself. She visits Buto Ijo, a powerful giant,
asking to be blessed with a child. Buto Ijo gives her a large cucumber and asks her to promise
to give her first child to him to devour.
When the widow gets home, she finds a baby girl inside the cucumber. She names her Timun
Mas and forgets about her promise.

One day, when Timun Mas is already a teenager, Buto Ijo drops by the old woman’s house
asking her to fulfill her promise. The woman tells Timun Mas to run away, packing her a
supply of magic cucumber seeds, needles and salt.

Buto Ijo chases Timun Mas but she always manages to escape by deploying her mother's
magic tricks. Buto Ijo is finally defeated when Timun Mas sprinkles salt around him that
turns into an ocean and swallows him whole.

Publisher Erlangga for Kids (EFK) published a Disneyfied version of the story in 2016. In it,
Buto Ijo is a lonely giant who desperately wants Timun Mas to be his friend. Timun Mas tells
him to smile so he doesn’t look so terrifying. The story ends happily with a smiling Buto Ijo
hanging out with his new friends.
EFK editor Windrati Hapsari told the Jakarta Globe the story was deliberately edited to carry
a positive message of friendship and make it less scary for children.

4. Sangkuriang

Once upon a time, on the north coast of Sumatra lived a poor woman and his son. The boy
was called Malin Kundang. They didn’t earn much as fishing was their only source of
income. Malin Kundang grew up as a skillful young boy. He always helps his mother to earn
some money. However, as they were only fisherman’s helper, they still lived in poverty.
“Mother, what if I sail overseas?” asked Malin Kundang one day to his mother. Her mother
didn’t agree but Malin Kundang had made up his mind. “Mother, if I stay here, I’ll always be
a poor man. I want to be a successful person,” urged Malin kundang. His mother wiped her
tears, “If you really want to go, I can’t stop you. I could only pray to God for you to gain
success in life,” said his mother wisely. “But, promise me, you’ll come home.” [Source:
aditya indonesianfolktale.blogspot, August 28, 2010 \=/]

In the next morning, Malin Kundang was ready to go. Three days ago, he met one of the
successful ship’s crew. Malin was offered to join him. “Take a good care of yourself, son,”
said Malin Kundang’s mother as she gave him some food supplies. “Yes, Mother,” Malin
Kundang said. “You too have to take a good care of yourself. I’ll keep in touch with you,” he
continued before kissing his mother’s hand. Before Malin stepped onto the ship, Malin’s
mother hugged him tight as if she didn’t want to let him go. It had been three months since
Malin Kundang left his mother. As his mother had predicted before, he hadn’t contacted her
yet. Every morning, she stood on the pier. She wished to see the ship that brought Malin
kundang home. Every day and night, she prayed to the God for her son’s safety. There was so
much prayer that had been said due to her deep love for Malin Kundang. Even though it’s
been a year she had not heard any news from Malin Kundang, she kept waiting and praying
for him. \=/

After several years waiting without any news, Malin Kundang’s mother was suddenly
surprised by the arrival of a big ship in the pier where she usually stood to wait for her son.
When the ship finally pulled over, Malin Kundang’s mother saw a man who looked wealthy
stepping down a ladder along with a beautiful woman. She could not be wrong. Her blurry
eyes still easily recognized him. The man was Malin Kundang, her son. Malin Kundang’s
mother quickly went to see her beloved son. “Malin, you’re back, son!” said Malin
Kundang’s mother and without hesitation, she came running to hug Malin Kundang,“I miss
you so much.” But, Malin Kundang didn’t show any respond. He was ashamed to admit his
own mother in front of his beautiful wife.“You’re not my Mother. I don’t know you. My
mother would never wear such ragged and ugly clothes,” said Malin Kundang as he release
his mother embrace. \=/

Malin Kundang’s mother take a step back, “Malin…You don’t recognize me? I’m your
mother!” she said sadly. Malin Kundang’s face was as cold as ice. “Guard, take this old
women out of here,” Malin Kundang ordered his bodyguard. “Give her some money so she
won’t disturb me again!” Malin Kundang’s mother cried as she was dragged by the
bodyguard,”Malin… my son. Why do you treat your own mother like this?” Malin Kundang
ignored his mother and ordered the ship crews to set sail. Malin Kundang’s mother sat alone
in the pier. Her heart was so hurt, she cried and cried. “Dear God, if he isn’t my son, please
let him have a save journey. But if he is, I cursed him to become a stone,” she prayed to the
God. In the quiet sea, suddenly the wind blew so hard and a thunderstorm came. Malin
Kundang’s huge ship was wrecked. He was thrown by the wave out of his ship, and fell on a
small island. Suddenly, his whole body turned into stone. He was punished for not admitting
his own mother.” \=/

6. Origin of Lake Toba

History shows that Lake Toba was produced from a huge volcanic eruption, creating a crater
which filled with water over thousands of years but the Batak people have a different story to
tell: Thousands of years ago before Lake Toba was a lake, this regions was lush farm land.
One solitary farmer discovered the Toba valley and decided to make it his home. He found a
nice stretch of land he could farm for his own existence, along side a small lake. As well as
the fine produce his farm produced, the lake provided him with ample fish to eat. [Source:
sumatra-indonesia.com ]

One day, while farming his land he noticed a fish poking it's head out of the water watching
him. Thinking this could be lunchtime he moved closer to the lake to see if he could catch the
fish. As he came close to the fish ready to pounce, the fish spoke to him. He froze, amazed
that the fish could speak. The fish said that she could take human form and be with him as his
wife and bear him a son.

Although he was happy on his land, with all the food he could eat he had been lonely so he
quickly agreed. Before she took human form she said to him that he could tell no-one that she
was really a fish from the lake, otherwise she would return to the lake as a fish and could
never be with him again. He was not bothered by this as he had not seen anyone else in the
valley since he discovered it, so knew he would not tell anyone. They became man and wife,
and she bore him 2 sons. He enjoyed many happy years with his beautiful wife and 2 sons.
After several years the boys were strong enough to help their father farming their food.

Each day the father and 2 sons would set off across the farm attending to all it's needs. It was
hard work in the hot conditions of Sumatra but each day his faithful wife would bring him
and her sons lunch and cool water to drink, spending time talking and laughing with her
family. Late one morning, while she was preparing the lunch for her boys and husband, she
had an accident in the kitchen and had to attend to her wounds before heading off to take the
food and water to her family.

The husband noticed that his wife has not appeared at the usual time of day when they most
needed food and water. They worked on knowing she would not be far. As the time passed,
the husband become more tired from the work, hungry and dehydrated from the sun. Soon the
husband erupted into a rage, believing his wife had betrayed her family. He quickly yelled to
his sons that he was stupid for marrying a fish. As soon as he said that she transformed back
to a fish, returning to the lake. She realised why she had returned and was stricken with grief
as she would never see her children or husband again. For the rest of her life tears fell down
her face which eventually filled the Toba valley creating the huge Lake Toba of today.

7. Kesuma and the Volcano

Once upon a time there was a husband and a wife named Joko Seger and Roro Anteng. They
had been married for years but they did not have any children yet. They dearly wanted to
have children and prayed to gods everyday. One day Joko Seger had a vision: his wife would
be pregnant if he meditated in a cave. However, a lion lived in the cave. Joko Seger fought
with the lion. He won! [Source: by Maman Soleman, folktaleszone.blogspot May 5, 2012 ~~]

Later, when Joko Seger was meditating he heard a voice:“Joko Seger, all the Gods agreed to
give you children, lots of children.” “Really? Thank you very much,” said Joko Seger
happily. “But there is one condition you have to do.” “Say it. I will do anything as long as
you give me lots of children,” said Joko Seger. “You will have 25 children. But you have to
sacrifice one of them when they are adult.” “I agree,” said Joko Seger without any doubts. He
was so happy that Gods would give them 25 children. He thought sacrificing one of them
would not to be a problem. He would still have 24 children. ~~

At home, Joko Seger told his wife about his conversation with the god. And Roro Anteng
could not say anything. After all, her husband had promised to Gods. She just hoped that they
would never have to sacrifice one child. Later, Roro Anteng was pregnant. They had a baby!
Joko Seger and Roro Anteng were very happy. The first baby was followed by others babies.
Sometimes, the babies were born twins and other times the babies were born triplets. And the
couple finally had 25 children! They were extremely happy. ~~

And when the children were grown up, Joko Seger had a dream. He talked to the God. “Joko
Seger, remember your promise. I want you to bring one of your children to the crater of
Bromo Mountain. Sacrifice your child there. If you don”t keep you promise, the mountain
will erupt and destroy everything.” Joko Seger wake up from his sleep. He was restless. He
then talked to all his children about his promise. “No, father. I don’t want to die,” said the
oldest. “I don’t either, Father,” said another child. All the children refused to be sacrificed.
Joko Seger did not have the heart to force them. He loved all his children. Suddenly, the
youngest child talked. His name was Kesuma. “Please let me do it, Father. I love our family
and the people of Tengger. But please, commemorate my sacrifice. Every year, please hold a
ceremony and provide some offerings to the creator of Bromo Mountain,” said Kesuma. ~~

Kesuma was a very good son. He was obedient to his parents and very kind to the other
people. All the villagers loved him. He was kind and always helped other people. Kesuma
went to the crater. He jumped and he was swallowed by fire. Everybody was sad. And they
all were very thankful to Kesuma. Because of him, their place was safe from the eruption of
Bromo Mountain. Even today, once a year the people of Tengger always hold a ceremony to
commemorate Kesuma. They bring offerings to the crater of Bromo Mountain. ~~

8. Simalungun

Once upon a time in North Sumatra, there were three small kingdoms: the Silou Kingdom,
Tanah Djawo Kingdom, and Raya Kingdom. Those three kingdoms lived happily and
peacefully. They got along very well and harmoniously. They knew by sticking together they
would be very strong. Those three kingdoms lived in very fertile land. The people were
prosperous. They never lacked any food. Other kingdoms were jealous with those three
kingdoms. They planned to attack them. However they knew that those three kingdoms were
very strong. They wanted just to attack the kingdoms one by one. [Source: by Maman
Soleman, folktaleszone.blogspot May 5, 2012]

The first kingdom that wanted to attack was Majapahit Kingdom. The kingdom tried to attack
Tanah Djawo Kingdom. One soldier reported to the King of Tanah Djawo Kingdom. “Your
Majesty, I have a bad news. Majapahit Kingdom is going to attack us.” “I know Majapahit is
such a great kingdom. We cannot fight them alone, we need to ask our best friends to help
us,” said the king of Tanah Djawo Kingdom. Then he sent message to the kings of Silou
Kingdom and Raya Kingdom. The two kings responded the request. They sent their best
soldiers to help the Tanah Djawo’s Kingdom. They did it! The three kingdoms were able to
unite to fight the Majapahits. They made the Majapahit to leave their land.

Sadly, their problems did not stop. It seemed that other kingdom was ready to attack. Nobody
knew who they were. One thing for sure lots of soldiers were ready to attack the three
kingdoms. They did it simultaneously. They attacked the three kingdoms at one time, and that
made the three kingdoms could not help each other. They were saving their own lives!
Slowly the three kingdoms lost the fight. They had to leave their places. They had to flee to
find a safe place. They found a good place. The people built houses for them to stay. They
did not know when they would go back home.

Time passed by, their hiding place slowly became a small village. They have built houses,
and they also had rice fields. One of them said that he missed his hometown. He asked some
people to go back home. “I miss our hometown. Who wants to go back home with me?” “I
don’t. I love this place, this is already my home. Besides that, I’m afraid our enemies were
still there.” Well, some people also wanted to go back home. “I will join you. I miss my
hometown.” Some people went back home. They brought some weapons, just in case the
enemies were still there. After spending months on the journey, they finally arrived. Some of
them were crying. Their hometown looked completely different. There were no any one
there. The enemies already left the place. It was full of bushes. They said,”Sima-sima
nalungun.” They all kept on saying that. It means the quiet place. Slowly the place was
named Simalungun, which is from the words sima-sima nalungun.

9. Origin of the Landak River

Long time ago, lived a farmer and his wife in a village by the side of a forest. They lived
simply and they like to help other people, especially one who in afflictions. One night, the
farmer and his wife were resting in their house. The farmer was sitting beside his sleeping
wife. Suddenly, a white centipede came out from the wife’s head. The farmer was amazed.
He then followed the centipede until they reach a small pond not far from their house. Then
the centipede suddenly disappeared. The farmer went home and found his wife still soundly
asleep. In the morning, the wife told his husband about the dream she had last night.“I was
walking through a vast field, and I came to a lake. I saw a giant hedgehog in the lake. It was
glaring at me, so I ran away.” After he heard his wife’s dream, the farmer went back to the
small pond. In the pond, he saw something very shiny. He came to the shiny object and took
it. It was a golden hedgehog statue. It was very beautiful. Its eyes were made of diamond.
The farmer then brought the statue home. [Source: aditya indonesianfolktale.blogspot, March
28, 2010 |~|]

At night, the farmer had a dream. A giant hedgehog came to him,“Please let me stay in your
home. As return, I will give you everything you want. Just caress the statue’s head and say
the prayer. There are two kinds of prayers, one is to start your wish and the second is to stop
your wish. Now memorize the prayers.” In the next day, the farmer told his wife about his
dream. They really wanted to prove it. The farmer slowly caressed the statue’s head. He said
the prayer and asked for rice. Suddenly, rice came out of the mouth of the statue. The rice
kept on coming out from the statue’s mouth. The farmer immediately said the prayer to stop
it. The rice then stopped coming out from the statue. The farmer and his wife then asked for
other things, jewelry and other stuff they needed. They became very rich. But they still like to
help other people. A lot of poor came to them for help. |~|

Unfortunately, a thief found out about the secret of the golden hedgehog statue. Pretending to
be a poor asking for help, he stole the statue from the farmer’s house. The thief blurred to the
district area of Ngabang. There was a drought in the area. The thief wanted sympathy from
the people, so he said to them that he would provide them with water. The thief then caressed
the hedgehog statue and said the prayer. Water came out of the statue’s mouth. All the people
were so happy. But the water kept on coming out. The thief didn’t know the prayer to stop the
wish. People who saw the incident were really scared. They ran away to avoid the water as it
was started to flood the area. The thief also wanted to run away, but he cannot move his legs.
In his vision, there was a giant hedgehog holding both his legs. Water kept coming from the
statue and slowly it became a river. The thief was drowned in the river. People then named
the river as Hedgehog River or Sungai Landak. |~|

10. Cindelaras

Raden Putra was the king of Jenggala kingdom. He had a beautiful queen and concubine.
Unlike the queen, the concubine had bad personalities. She was envious and jealous with the
queen, so she planned to make the queen leave the palace. The concubine then asked the
royal healer to help her in her plan. One day, the concubine pretended to be ill. Raden Putra
called the royal healer to give the concubine treatments.“What is her disease?” Raden Putra
asked the royal healer. “I’m very sorry, My Majesty. She is sick because the queen put poison
in her meal,” the royal healer lied. Raden Putra was shock and angry to hear the explanation.
He called the queen and asked her if the story was true. Of course the queen denied, but
Raden Putra won’t listen. “Please Your Majesty, have mercy. I really didn’t do anything,”
cried the queen in her tears. [Source: aditya indonesianfolktale.blogspot, March 28, 2010 |::|]
Raden Putra’s anger ended in a decision. The queen should be banished to the woods and
terminated. He did not know that the queen was already pregnant. Raden Putra commanded
one of his general to do the punishment. The queen was banished to the woods, but the wise
general didn’t have the heart to kill her. He built a simple house in the woods for her. On his
way back to the palace, he smeared his sword with rabbit blood, so Raden Putra would
believe that he had killed the queen. After the general left, the queen lived by herself in the
woods. Several months later, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The baby was named
Cindelaras. He grew up as a nice, healthy, and handsome boy. One day, while Cindelaras
helped her mother to collect some fire woods, an eagle dropped an egg. Cindelaras brought
the egg to be brooded by a chicken behind their house. The egg hatched into a chick and then
it slowly became a strong rooster. The rooster is no ordinary rooster. |::|

The rooster could sing. Every morning, the rooster woke Cindelaras up with its beautiful
song, “My master is Cindelaras. His house is in the woods. He’s the son of Raden Putra.” The
rooster often sang that song. Cindelaras always woke up early in the morning and listen
happily to his rooster’s song. He didn’t realize the meaning of the song until one day, he
started to think.“Who is Raden Putra?” he asked his mother. The queen then told him the
whole story. She also told him why they were banned from the kingdom and lived in the
woods. Cindelaras was very surprised. He decided to go to the palace to meet the king, his
father. Cindelaras asked her mother’s permission to go to the kingdom and to tell the king
what really happened. He also brought his rooster that grew bigger and stronger each day. On
his way, Cindelaras stopped at a village. There, he met some people who were involved in
cockfighting. They challenge him to see how strong his rooster was.“If your rooster wins,
you’ll get a reward,” said the man who challenged him. Cindelaras accepted the challenge. In
a few minutes, his rooster defeated the opponent’s rooster. He was challenged again by other
man, and one more time, his rooster won. He won again and again. |::|

The news about Cindelaras’ rooster quickly spread to the whole Jenggala kingdom and made
Raden Putra curious. So, he invited Cindelaras to the palace.“What is your name, boy?”
Raden Putra asked as Cindelaras arrived in the palace.“My name is Cindelaras, Your
Majesty,” Cindelaras answered. He felt both thrilled and happy to see Raden Putra. Raden
Putra challenged Cindelaras with one condition. If Raden Putra’s rooster won, Cindelaras’
head would be cut off. But if Cindelaras’ rooster won, Raden Putra would share half of his
wealth. Cindelaras accepted the condition. The competition was held in the front yard of the
palace. The two roosters fought bravely. But in just a few minutes, Cindelaras’ rooster won
the fight! Raden Putra shook his head and stared at Cindelaras from his seat,“That rooster is
no ordinary rooster, and the boy is not an ordinary boy either. Who is he exactly?” he
thought. Raden Putra was about to asked when suddenly Cindelaras’ rooster sang the song,
“My master is Cindelaras. His house is in the woods. He’s the son of Raden Putra.” Raden
Putra was surprised. “Is it true?” he asked. “Yes, My Majesty. My name is Cindelaras and my
mother was the queen,” said Cindelaras. Raden putra called the general who had banished the
queen. The general then confessed that he never killed the queen. Later, the royal healer also
admitted his mistake. Raden Putra was so shocked. He immediately went to the woods to
pick up the queen. Ever since, Cindelaras and his parents lived happily together. As for the
concubine, she was sent to the jail as punishment. |::|

Image Sources:
Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London,
Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Compton’s Encyclopedia, The Guardian,
National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters,
AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Global Viewpoint
(Christian Science Monitor), Foreign Policy, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, and various books,
websites and other publications.

Last updated June 2015