The legend of Sangkuriang tells the story of a young man who falls in love with his mother, which is somewhat comparable to the Greek tragedy Oedipus.
Firmly supported by geological facts, it is predicted that the Sundanese have been living on Java Island since a thousand years BCE.
Below is a transcription of his report: According to the legend, once upon a time in Svargaloka, a pair of deities, a god and a goddess committed a terrible sin.
As she was of nobility, she was forbidden to leave the palace on foot and was always carried around but without anyone near to help her, she grew anxious to retrieve her terompong.
In her anxiety, she made a promise out loud "whoever picks the terompong for me will be rewarded, if she is a female, I will treat her as close as my sister, and if he is a male I shall marry him."
She soon discovered that Tumang is a supernatural being and during the full moon, was able to transform back into his original form; as a handsome god.
Dayang Sumbi lived in a daze for a while, thinking that it was a strange dream that once a month, a handsome man appeared to her and they made passionate love.
Feeling immense shame and guilt at the realisation that he had killed his good friend, Sangkuriang confesses that the liver they had just eaten was Tumang's.
Convinced that his mother hates him for killing Tumang, Sangkuriang decides not to return home and seeks to live a life for himself in the woods.
In her distress, she prayed to the gods to reunite her with her son someday and swears never to eat any type of meat ever again, henceforth becoming a vegetarian with a steady diet of lalap (raw vegetables with chili condiment) and rice.
After running away from home, he met a powerful wise hermit who adopted him and taught him pencak silat (martial arts) as well as supernatural skills to control the guriang, a type of hyang spirit.
Sangkuriang grew up to be a handsome, strong man who puts his strength to good use by helping villagers in their fights against bandits and other troublemakers.
Despite his carefree life, fate intervenes when he sees a beautiful girl in front of a small cottage on his way home through the forest.
Horrified, she knew immediately she could not marry her son and revealed the whole truth to Sangkuriang and begged him to call off the wedding.
Sangkuriang accepted the challenge and with the help of some guriangs (heavenly spirits or gods in ancient Sundanese belief), he dammed the Citarum River with landslides.
Sangkuriang gave chase and when he almost caught up with her at Gunung Putri, Dayang Sumbi begged The Almighty to help her one last time.
Centuries later, this tale lives on as a local legend on how the Lake Bandung and Mount Tangkuban Parahu were created.
It is more likely that the ancient Sundanese have lived in the Bandung area long before 16,000 years BP and witnessed the second Plinian eruption which wiped out settlements west of the Cikapundung river (north and northwest of Bandung) during the 55000–50000 eruption period when Mount Tangkuban Parahu was created from the remnants of ancient Mount Sunda.
The legend of Sangkuriang contains a philosophy enlightening (Sungging Perbangkara or sun) for anyone (plant Cariang) who is still doubt of his existence and wants to search his humanity identity / spirit (Wayungyang).
At the end, the Ego Ratio returns westward consciously or unconscious seek for the conscience (the meeting of Sangkuriang and Dayang Sumbi).