Roro Jonggrang was a very beautiful princess from a Javanese kingdom, Prambanan Kingdom hundred years ago. Her famous beauty was known throughout the country, and princes from far and different land and kingdoms came to propose her. However, her beauty did not make her humble, instead she grew her arrogance even more. She refused all their proposal, and sometime in harsh as well. Many returned brokenhearted.
There
was a famous prince by that era, Prince Bandung Bondowoso. He was
famous by his strength, power, and good looking. He owned a big kingdom
with thousand of soldiers. He too heard of Roro Jonggrang's amazing
beauty that he set up to the kingdom to propose her.
Having
heard that Prince Bondowoso was coming to marry her, Roro Jonggang grew
worried. She disliked the idea of getting married, however, she too
understood the consequence if she refused the proposal. She knew that
Bondowoso had thousands of soldiers that could attack her kingdom if she
disappointed him. So when Bondowoso arrived and proposed her, she was
willing to accept it with one condition.
Bondowoso
had to make her 1000 temples in one night time. If he failed, then Roro
Jonggrang would not marry him. Now, Bondowoso was not only strong, he
had thousands of men working for him, and not only men, he owned the
power to control the genies as well. He agreed to fulfill Jonggrang's
wish and started to work it immediately. He used his power to call all
the genies and asked them to keep on working until they completed 1000
temples by the time the rooster crowed the next morning.
The
genies worked without stop any second. They would only stop by the time
the rooster crowed. Soon hundreds of temples were completed. This made
Roro Jonggrang restless. She could not sleep or even closed her eyes.
She tried to think any way to fail Bondowoso. Finally, she got an idea.
She cut paper in the shape of a circle and glued it in front of a candle
holder. She lit the candle and carried it to the chicken coop where the
rooster slept. When the rooster saw the candle, it thought that it was
almost dawn and the sun was going to rise soon. The rooster quickly got
up and in a second, it crowed.
The
working genies heard the rooster and thought that the morning had come.
Instantly, they stopped working and disappeared leaving the undone
temples. There were 999 temples that completed. One more to be built.
Bondowoso was disappointed to see this. He was very mad. When he found
out that it was the work of Roro Jonggrang, he came to her and cursed
her into a stone.
Until
now, we can still see the statue of Princess Roro Jonggrang in one of
those temples that Bondowoso built for her. The temples are now named
Prambanan.
