Long ago, in the Pasir Batang Kingdom, there lived a beautiful princess named Purbasari.
He was the youngest child of Prabu Tapa Agung, the king of the kingdom.
Purbasari has a sister named Purbararang who is very jealous of her.
Purbararang wanted to become queen to replace Purbasari, but she knew that Purbasari was more worthy of being queen because of her beauty, kindness and wisdom.
One day, Purbararang went to the forest to look for a powerful shaman.
He wanted to ask the shaman to make Purbasari suffer from an incurable skin disease.
The shaman agreed to help Purbararang.
He gave Purbararang a potion that made Purbasari’s skin ugly.
Prabu Tapa Agung was very sad to see his daughter suffering from a skin disease.
He didn’t know what to do to cure it. He also decided to exile Purbasari to the forest.
Poor Purbasari has to live alone in the forest.
He met an ugly langur.
The langur was named Lutung Kasarung.
Lutung Kasarung is a prince from heaven who was cursed by the gods for breaking the rules.
Purbasari and Lutung Kasarung became good friends.
Lutung Kasarung always entertains Purbasari with his funny stories.
He also helped Purbasari to find food and find a place to live.
One night, Lutung Kasarung told Purbasari to bathe in a lake located in the middle of the forest.
Purbasari also obeyed Lutung Kasarung’s orders.
After bathing in the lake, Purbasari’s skin became clean again.
Purbasari was very surprised and happy.
He didn’t know what had happened.
Lutung Kasarung smiled and said, “Your skin has healed because the water of this lake has magical powers.”
Purbararang, who learned that Purbasari had recovered, became very angry.
He also went to the forest to meet Purbasari.
When Purbararang arrived in the forest, he saw the beautiful and graceful Purbasari.
He also didn’t believe that Purbasari was his younger brother.
“Who are you?” asked Purbararang.
“I am Purbasari,” answered Purbasari.
“Impossible! Purbasari is dead!” said Purbararang.
“I am the real Purbasari,” said Purbasari.
Purbasari shows her clean skin.
Purbararang could no longer deny that Purbasari was his real sister.
Prabu Tapa Agung, who heard the news that Purbasari had recovered, was very happy.
He immediately went to the forest to pick up Purbasari.
Prabu Tapa Agung was very happy to see Purbasari who had recovered.
He also regretted having exiled Purbasari to the forest.
Purbasari returned to the palace and became queen replacing Purbararang.
The evil Purbararang was punished by Prabu Tapa Agung.
Additional information about the culture and history of the location
The story of Lutung Kasarung is one of the most popular folk tales in Indonesia, especially in West Java.
This story describes Sundanese culture which upholds the values of kindness, honesty and loyalty.
The location of this story is the Pasir Batang Kingdom which is located in West Java.
This kingdom is thought to have existed in the 15th century.
The Pasir Batang Kingdom was one of the most powerful Sundanese kingdoms of its time.
The story of Lutung Kasarung also describes the natural beauty of West Java.
The forest where Purbasari and Lutung Kasarung live illustrates the natural richness of West Java which is still beautiful.
What is “Lutung”
Lutung (langur) are a group of Old World monkeys that form the genus Trachypithecus.
Broadly speaking, langurs are distributed in two regions: Southeast Asia (southwest India, southern China, Kalimantan and Bali) and southern India and Sri Lanka.