Sangkuriangs

Sangkuriangs refers to a central figure and legend in Sundanese folklore from West Java, Indonesia. The tale of Sangkuriang and Dayang Sumbi is one of the region’s best-known stories and is often linked to the landscape around Bandung, including the mountain that locals call Tangkuban Perahu.

The core of the story centers on a young man named Sangkuriang who falls in love with Dayang Sumbi, a woman whom he does not initially realize is his mother. When Dayang Sumbi discovers their kinship, she forbids the marriage. To win her approval, Sangkuriang is said to be set a seemingly impossible task: to build a boat overnight. In many versions, he succeeds with supernatural assistance, but Dayang Sumbi, recognizing the truth, refuses the union and rejects him.

Different endings exist in the oral tradition. The most enduring detail is that the completed boat is thwarted, and in some tellings the vessel is overturned or shattered, giving rise to the geographic feature known as Tangkuban Perahu, a mountain whose name means “upturned boat.” Thus, the legend is often cited as an etiological tale explaining the landscape of the Bandung highlands.

Sangkuriang has a significant place in Sundanese culture and literature. It appears in traditional performances, folklore collections, and modern adaptations, and it is frequently cited in discussions of Indonesian myth, geography, and identity. The tale also serves as a cultural touchstone for themes such as fate, taboo, and the human consequence of desires.