Lake Bandung

believed to exist between 126,000 and 20,000 BCE in the Pleistocene due to the violent eruption of Mount Sunda that blocked the Citarum River, causing the lowlands to begin to be inundated with water, eventually forming a lake.

2 million years ago this volcanic activity shifted northwards and formed an ancient volcano called Mount Sunda, which is estimated to have reached a height of around 3000m above sea level.

The Bandung basin is surrounded by volcanic domes formed during the quaternary period in most sides, with only the western parts are dated older.

As the violent plinian eruption that engulfed the northern part of Bandung, west of the Cikapundung River to about Padalarang, the conic stratovolcano then collapsed and formed a caldera, measuring 5-10 km.

[3] The archaeological findings around the lake discovered several obsidian stone tools around Padalarang, suggesting that the surrounding area once supported early human habitation that provides water and food.

It is suggested that either tectonic or volcanic activities in the area or gradual erosion, between Curug Cukangrahong and Curug Halimunhas, caused the natural dam to collapse and leaked the basin, allowing the lake water to flow north and meet the Cimeta River, then draining the lake's water into the Citarum river.

The other side of this ancient Sunda Mountain lies to the north of Bandung, particularly east of the Cikapundung River to Mount Manglayang, which van Bemmelen (1935-1949) called the Pulasari Block.

In the 1990s, Dam and Suparan from the Directorate of Environmental Management of the Mining Department revealed the geological history of the Bandung plateau.

This might suggest the collective native Sundanese memories about the lake's existence, transmitted through oral tradition in the Pantun Sunda through the ages.

Approximate extent of lake Bandung
Elevation map of the Bandung Basin