Indonesian Folklore

Prince Pande Gelang and Princess Cadasari

Pandeglang District - Banten - Indonesia

Pande Gelang is a handsome prince who possesses supernatural power. Once upon a time, all his power is stolen by a fellow apprentice, Prince Cunihin. With the magical strength, Prince Cunihin turns Prince Pande Gelang into an old man in order to win the heart of Prince Cadasari, his lover. Can Prince Pande Gelang take his power back from Prince Cunihin? Find out in the story Prince Pande Gelang and Princess Cadasari as follows.

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The story goes that in Banten, there was a princess named Arum. She was so beautiful. Her skin and heart were as soft as silk. No wonder all princes dreamed of taking her as wife. Of the many princes, there are two who wanted her the most, namely Prince Sae Bagus Lana and Prince Cunihin. They trained under the same guru, but their characters were poles apart. Their traits were just like their name suggested, Sae Bagus Lana meant a kind man and Cunihinmeant a lady’s man. Prince Arum, finally, picked Prince Sae Bagus Lana to be her husband.

Apparently, Prince Cunihin could not accept the bitterness. He was jealous, bearing a grudge for Prince Sae Bagus Lana that he had intention of stealing his power so that he could take Princess Arum from him.

Prince Cunihin succeeded. Possessing great power, he transformed Prince Sae Bagus Lana into an old man with dark skin.

Prince Sae Bagus Lana felt helpless and then went to his guru to ask for advice. He was told to make a big metal ring. That ring should be able to defeat Prince Cunihin. Once he went through it, his powers would vanish and turn back to Prince Sae Bagus.

Prince Sae Bagus Lana went away to a kampong to make the ring secretly. Since then, he was called Pande Gelang, the Ring Maker. His neighbors, though, called him Ki Pande.

One day, when walking about Manggis Hill, Pande Gelang saw a beautiful girl sitting alone, looking sad. She seemed familiar to him. Indeed, she was Princess Arum. She was mourning over her upcoming marriage with Prince Cunihin, the cold and ruthless man. Despite knowing that she was his lover, Prince Sae Bagus Lana did not intend to reveal who he really was. He did not want to add to her sorrow.

“Sampurasun!” greeted Pande Gelang.

“Ra… Rampes,” answered the princess surprisedly.

“I am really sorry for surprising you, young lady,” said Pande Gelang saluting her.

The princess did not respond right away. She was struck dumb looking at the stranger. Although the dark-skinned old man had a dull face, the princess could feel he was harmless. So she finally answered his greeting.

“Who are you old man?” asked the princess.

“My name is Pande Gelang. People call me Ki Pande,” answered the man. “Why, young lady, if you don’t mind, are you looking so depressed?”

The princess was again quieted, then shedding tears. She wanted to tell him her sadness, but it was really hard. She thought it would be useless to tell other people about it as nobody could help her anyway.

“Oh, I beg you pardon for my improper question,” said Ki Pande.

He just took some steps away when the princess stopped him.

“Wait! Don’t leave, Ki!” shouted Princess Arum. “I will tell you why. I have never told anyone about this before. It makes no difference anyway,” explained the princess.

“Why so?” asked Pande Gelang.

“It is a really heavy problem I’m facing, Ki,” the princess sighed.

Princess Arum went on telling that she was under threat of Prince Cunihin.

“I’m so sad, Ki. Prince Cunihin forces me to marry him. He is agreeable indeed, but he is cruel and coldblooded. I can do nothing about him. He has enormous authority and supernatural power,” said Princess Arum.

For a while, Pande Gelang was speechless. He was furious to hear how Prince Cunihin had treated the lady. He could not wait to beat the evil prince. However, he concealed his anger and tried to comfort the lady.

“My condolences, young lady,” said Pande Gelang in a shaky low voice.

“Thank you, Ki. Stupid me, I was hoping that the inspiration was true,” said Princess Arum.

“What do you mean by inspiration?” Pande Gelang was curious.

“I received an inspiration through a dream that I had to spend some time on this hill to calm down myself. Someday a kind-hearted prince would come to help me. But now I began losing hopes. I’ve been waiting here for long but the prince never came. Oh, God! Prince Cunihin will come to marry me in three days,” moaned Princess Arum. 

Pande Gelang did not say a word. He realized that the prince was nobody but himself.

“Forgive me for saying this. I think you should accept Prince Cunihin’s proposal,” said Pande Gelang.

The princess was surprised by such an inconsiderate counsel. How could she allow herself to marry Prince Cunihin, a man whom she really hated? But then, the old man explained what he thought, that the princess should accept his proposal on a condition. He told her to require Prince Cunihin to make a big hole on a huge sacred coral lied not far from the coast. He then had to move the coral to the beach, close enough to the water too. The prince should be given three days to do all that. The princess now understood.

“So what next, Ki?” asked Princess Arum again.

“Don’t worry. If you don’t mind, princess, you can leave the rest to me,” said Pande Gelang.

The princess was even more confident now. Pande Gelang took her to his place to work out a plan. But his place was very far that Princess Arum passed out on their way. She fell on a sandstone right on the fringe of Pande Gelang’s kampong. People who happened to be around hurried to help Pande Gelang carry her to a nearby house. They treated her well. According to the village chief, the princess would recover right away after drinking the water pouring out from the sandstone.

It was true. Princess Arum suddenly regained health after taking some gulps of the water. Since then, the kampong people called her Princess Cadasari, the Princess of the Sandstone Spring.

Next morning, Princess Cadasari went back to her palace accompanied by some people from the kampong. Pande Gelang, meanwhile, was busy making the ring he would put on the sacred coral.

Prince Cunihin came with the marriage proposal on the given day. As planned, Princess Arum said she would accept it on a condition.

“I will marry you, but I have a condition. There is a sacred coral not far from the coast. I want you to move it closer to the water and make a big hole on it,” explained Princess Arum.

“What are you kidding? That is so easy, princess. What do you want from that?” said Prince Cunihin.

“I want to have a honeymoon upon it. We can sit upon it while savoring the beautiful moment and scenery of the ocean. Wouldn’t it be nice, prince?” Princess Cadasari made it clear.

“Oh, that sounds perfect. A good idea of yours, princess,” praised Prince Cunihin.

Having no suspicion, Prince Cunihin did what the princess asked. In three days, he took the coral to the beach. He made a hole on it with his power, then rushed back to the palace to pick the princess up.

By that time, Pande Gelang, who had been hiding behind the bushes all along and wathching everything the prince do, did not waste the chance. He put the ring on the huge hole on the coral’s side. Too bad, though, Prince Cunihin caught him walking away from the shore. The evil prince was now with Princess Cadasari.

“Hey, old man! What are you doing here?” thundered Prince Cunihin.

“Me? Just trying to take back my power and lover from you,” said Pande Gelang.

“Oh, it’s you again, my friend! Didn’t I tell you before that you don’t deserve all these? Look, the princess is mine. Hahahahaha!” Prince Cunihin mocked him.

Princess Cadasari was at a loss listening to the conversation. They sounded like they had known each other before. Just when she wanted to ask about it, Prince Cunihin grabbed her wrist and led her to see the coral.

“See, princess! I have done what you wanted me to do. A beautiful place it is for our a couple like us,” said Prince Cunihin.

Calmly, Princess Cadasari tried to look happy. She knew she still had to make the prince sit on the hole.

“I’m sorry, prince. Maybe I’m too happy to be able to see the hole you made from here. Would you go down there and show me there is really a hole? I’ll be waiting here,” asked Princess Cadasari.

Prince Cunihin went to the coral and did not think twice to walk through the hole. Then, just a few steps through, suddenly he felt unbearable pains all over his body. He yelled out, rolling on the ground. After that, all his power vanished. He became sapless, even to stand up. A moment after, he turned into an old man. It was as if he had just gone through a long tunnel of time.  

At the same time, Pande Gelang could feel that an enormous energy went into his body. He possessed the power he had used to own. His look changed too. Slowly, he turned younger and younger, and finally back into a handsome man.

Princess Cadasari could not believe what she saw. She finally found out that the old man who helped her was her lover, Prince Sae Bagus Lana.

“Oh, dear! How could this all happen to you?” wondered Princess Cadasari.

Prince Pande Gelang, the name by what he was called now, then told her everything, from when Prince Cunihin stole his power to the magical occurrence that just happened. Prince Cadasari realized that the inspiration she received was proven true.

The couple walked away together. Soon, they got married and lived in happiness.

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That is how the story of Prince Pande Gelang and Princess Cadasari from Pandeglang, Banten, Indonesia, goes. Until today, where Prince Cunihin takes the sacred coral (batu keramat) is now known as “Kramatwatu”, while the coast where he put it is called “Karang Bolong” (“Holed Coral”). Meanwhile, where the princess waits in Manggis Hill became known as Kampong Pasir Manggu. The word manggu is derived from Sundanese language, which meansmanggis (mangosteen), and pasir means hill. Later on, where Princess Cadasari passes out is called Cadasari area, situated in Pandeglang, the place where Prince Pande Gelang stays to make the ring.

The moral the story conveys is that jealousy and spitefulness can make one do bad things, just like what happens to Prince Cunihin. He is blinded to the point where he will do anything to get what he wants, even though it means he has to harm a close friend. In the end, though, Prince Cunihin finally loses his powers and transforms into a weak old man.