The ruler of Blambangan Kingdom, Raden Banterang, used to occupy his neighboring countries in order to expand his territory, including to conquer Klungkung Kingdom of Bali. The outbreak of the Klungkung war had destroyed such a small country. The king of Klungkung was killed in the battlefield, yet his daughter and son were able to escape and hide in the jungle.

One day, Raden Banterang and his commanders were inspecting his district while going hunting. He met with a beautiful lady named Ida Ayu Surati in the jungle. He proposed Ida Ayu Surati to be his wife and then she was taken to Blambangan. Raden Banterang and Ida Ayu Surati lived happily in the palace.

When Raden Banterang was going hunting, the princess was surprised by the arrival of dirty beggar asking for her pity. What a surprise the princess was to find that the beggar was her older brother, Agung Bagus Mantra. She promptly squatted and embraced her brother’s legs. However, her great respect on her brother was not well accepted. Instead, she was tortured for she supposed to have betrayed her noble family.

Agung Bagus Mantra asked his sister to kill Raden Banterang, but such a request was rejected. At last, he was very much angry with her, and so that he had a sly idea to slander Raden Banterang

At first, Raden Banterang did not believe that his wife had made a scandal with other man. Yet because of Agung’s convincing words, he was finally very much influenced and therefore, his wife was dragged down to a small lake. Asking for compassion, Ida Ayu Surati tried to tell the truth and denied her husbands accusation. Hearing his wife’s explanation, the king even became angrier. As a proof of her sacred love, she asked her husband to kill her. In her last request, she asked her husband to throw her dead body into river. She said that if the water in the river smelled no good, it means that she had ever been sinful, but if it smelled fragrant it means that she was innocent.

Raden Banterang who was no more able to control his emotion, soon stabbed his keris into his wife’s chess. She died instantly

The dead body of Ida Ayu Surati was quickly thrown down into the dirty river.
How shocked Raden Banterang was to find him self that the dirty water of the river suddenly changed to become clean, as plain as a glass, and smelled fragrant.
Raden Banterang screamed crazily and regretted his deed. He walked unsteadily
and fell down in one side of the river. Unconsciously he said, “Banyuwangi…Banyuwangi , Banyuwangi !

* keris/kris = a distinctive, asymmetrical dagger indigenous to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the southern Philippines. In 2005, UNESCO gave the title Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity to Kris of Indonesia (see here)

(Javanese Folktale, this folktale is only one of several versions of the derivation of Banyuwangi used for the name of Banyuwangi City, East Java.)

This story was taken and edited from EastJava.com. For those who might be indisposed for the story presentation in this web, please kindly contact the webmaster.