A long time ago, the ancient land of Sunda was ruled by a king who had a beautiful daughter. Her name was Dayang Sumbi. One day when she was weaving in her pavilion, she dropped her shuttle on the floor and then she exclaimed: “If there is someone can bring my shuttle back, I swear that if he is a man, I will marry him. But if she is a woman I’ll make her to be my own sister!” At that very moment her dog Tumang a demigod possessing magic powers, came up to her with the shuttle in his mouth.
Dayang Sumbi had to marry him. Then, they had a baby boy. She named him Sangkuriang. As the boy he grew up, he was always guarded by the faithful dog Tumang.
One day his mother asked him to go hunting and bring the deer hearts for dinner. After hunting all day without success, Sangkuriang worried about facing his mother empty-handed. Desperate, he took an arrow and shot the dog. He returned home and handed over the meat to his pleased mother.
Soon after feast, however, Dayang Sumbi asked her son about the absence of Tumang. “Sangkuriang, I saw you that you went with Tumang. But now I don’t see him. Where is he, my son?”
At first he evaded her queries but finally told her what had happened. “Forgive me Mom. We have hunted for a long time but there is no prey that we got. So, I was forced to kill him. I’m really sorry Mom.” Dayang Sumbi was very angry and struck her son so hard on the temple and leaved a scar there. “You are a bad boy! You have killed your own father! Go away from here ! I don’t want to see you anymore!”
Sangkuriang was very surprised and said, “I’m sorry Mother. I really didn’t know that Tumang was my father. So, please forgive me Mom. I’m really sorry.” But, there’s no forgiveness for him. He went away to wander about the world.
Years later, Sangkuriang met a beautiful woman and instantly they fell in love. They did not recognize each other. He proposed to her and she agreed to marry him.
On the day before the wedding, as she was caressing her fiancée’s hair, Dayang Sumbi detected the scar on the temple. Horror struck her, she remembered for her son who had scar like this. And now she was about to marry her own son, Sangkuriang. She tried to dissuade him.
But Sangkuriang didn’t trust her. Desperate to avoid the marriage, she set conditions she thought impossible to meet: Sangkuriang had to make a lake that filled the whole valley and build a boat for the couple to sail in, all before dawn.
Sangkuriang agreed to fulfill these conditions. He started to work and he used his magic powers to help him. Firstly, he dammed the river in the valley and the water rose and began to form a lake.
In the early morning hours, when Dayang Sumbi saw that his work almost done, she called on the gods to bring the sun up early and thwart Sangkuriang. “Oh my God, please help me. It’s impossible for me to marry with my own son. So, please help me, please!”
Then, the God showed his power. The cock crowded, the sun rose much earlier than usual, and Sangkuriang realized he had been deceived. In a fit of fury he cursed Dayang Sumbi and kicked the half-finished boat back into the forest.
There it lies upside down today, forming the Mount Tangkuban Perahu. The dam that Sangkuriang had built caused the valley to become a lake, where both Sangkuriang and Dayang Sumbi drowned themselves. They were never heard of again.
