Mount Tangkuban Parahu Eruption, 1910

Image: George P. Lewis/Studio Kurkdjian/National Gallery of Australia

The photo above is the eruption of Mount Parahu in 1910 taken by George P. Lewis and published by Studio Kurkdjian in Surabaya. In 1910, the Ratu Crater of Mount Tangkuban Parahu erupted and produced a column of smoke as high as 2 kilometers. Luckily this eruption can be captured by a photographer.

According to folk legend, Mount Tangkuban Parahu was formed from the story of Sangkuriang and his mother, Dayang Sumbi. In order to prevent her son from marrying her, Dayang Sumbi made a condition for Sangkuriang to build a lake and a boat on it before dawn. His efforts were almost successful, but suddenly a rooster crowed before the dawn tricked by Dayang Sumbi. An angry Sangkuriang then kicked the boat so that it fell upside down on the lake and became Mount Tangkuban Parahu.

According to science, it is known that the basin-shaped area of ​​Bandung was once an ancient lake, with Mount Tangkuban Parahu in the middle. It is possible that the legend of the Sangkuriang folk began and was told from generation to generation.