Indonesian Folktales Series: Roro Jonggrang

.Fauzul Mei 29, 2025

The legend of Roro Jonggrang is one of Indonesia's most popular folktales, particularly in Central Java and Yogyakarta. It is closely related to the origins of the Prambanan Temple.

The Prambanan Temple is the setting for the Roro Jonggrang story. Originally from Central Java, the name "Roro Jonggrang" is still often mentioned to this day. It is usually used to describe a task that must be completed quickly or alone.

Once upon a time, there were two neighboring kingdoms in Central Java: the Prambanan Kingdom, led by Prabu Baka, and the Pengging Kingdom, whose powerful crown prince was Bandung Bondowoso.

Prabu Damar Moyo was the leader of the Pengging kingdom. His kingdom was fertile and prosperous, and his people enjoyed a good life. King Prabu Damar Moyo had a powerful and dashing heir named Bandung Bondowoso.

In contrast, the dry and barren Prambanan Palace was ruled by a giant named Prabu Boko. This leader was known for being arrogant and greedy. Nevertheless, Prabu Boko was blessed with a beautiful, angelic daughter named Roro Jonggrang.

Due to his greedy nature, Prabu Boko desired to expand his territory. He decided to declare war on the Pengging Kingdom. He prepared the young men in his kingdom to become soldiers. He also extorted money from his own people.

After careful preparation, the day finally came when Prabu Boko attacked the Pengging Kingdom, disturbing the peace of its people. War ensued, claiming many victims and leaving people in both kingdoms suffering and starving.

Upon seeing this dire situation, Prabu Damar Moyo sent his son to the battlefield to fight Prabu Boko.

The Prambanan Kingdom was attacked and conquered by the Pengging Kingdom under Bandung Bondowoso's leadership. A fierce battle ensued between the powerful Prabu Boko and Bandung Bondowoso. Prabu Boko was killed in the battle. It did not take long for Bandung Bondowoso's Pengging Kingdom troops to besiege Prambanan Palace. After their victory, Bandung Bondowoso occupied Prambanan Palace.

Meanwhile, Roro Jonggrang received the sad news of her father's death. In the palace, Bandung Bondowoso saw Roro Jonggrang, the beautiful daughter of Prabu Boko. Bandung Bondowoso was immediately captivated and wanted to marry her, as her beauty mesmerized him.

However, Roro Jonggrang was very sad and angry because Bandung Bondowoso had killed her father. She did not want to marry her father's murderer, but she was afraid to refuse him outright because of his magic.

If his request was refused, he would be furious and endanger all the people of Prambanan Palace.

Finally, Roro Jonggrang devised a strategy. She proposed two conditions that she thought he would find impossible to fulfill. She would agree to marry him if he could fulfill the two conditions in one night.

The first was that he must dig a deep well called Jalatunda. The second was that he must build a thousand temples in just one night.

Overwhelmed by his love and power, Bandung Bondowoso agreed to these conditions.

He dug deep into the ground to build the well and finished it quickly. Seeing this, Roro Jonggrang became restless because the first condition had been easily fulfilled. Becoming increasingly agitated, she pushed him into the well and threw rocks and dirt at him with the help of the magic patih.

Bandung Bondowoso emerged from the well furious, his anger disproportionate to his strength. However, his love for Roro Jonggrang tempered his anger.

To fulfill the second condition, he enlisted an army of jinn and spirits to build a thousand temples before morning.

All went well, and the army managed to build the temples quickly. By morning, 998 temples had been built, leaving only two unfinished.

Seeing the rapid progress of the construction work, Roro Jonggrang became alarmed. By morning, hundreds of temples were almost complete. The cunning idea to thwart Bandung Bondowoso's efforts returned to her. She looked for a way to stop him.

Suddenly, she ordered her maids to light torches and burn straw, turning the sky red and making the roosters crow as if it were morning.

All of this was done in an attempt to trick Bandung Bondowoso's army. The sound of rice being pounded in a mortar could be heard slowly growing louder. The jinn and spirits working at the mortar saw the light from the burning straw and thought it was morning.

They left in droves, leaving the temple unfinished. Frightened by the sunlight, they immediately stopped working and disappeared.

Bandung Bondowoso was shocked and angry when he realized that his efforts had been thwarted. He had only managed to build 999 temples. Realizing that Roro Jonggrang had cheated to thwart his efforts a second time, Bandung Bondowoso did not remain silent.

Roro Jonggrang's beauty no longer fooled him — he was now filled with rage. In a fit of rage, he cursed her to become a statue to complete the 1,000th temple.

Instantly, the beautiful, angelic Roro Jonggrang was transformed into a huge stone statue, completing the last temple.

Since then, this statue has been known as the Durga statue, located inside the large temple chamber. The temple is still known as Candi Roro Jonggrang to this day.

Meanwhile, the temples around the Prambanan Temple are known as the Sewu Temples, even though there are fewer than a thousand of them. In Javanese, the word 'sewu' means 'a thousand.'

In addition to the Roro Jonggrang Temple to the north, there are nine other temples in the Prambanan Temple Complex today. These are the Shiva Temple, the Brahma Temple, the Vishnu Temple, the Garuda Temple, the Nandi Temple, the Swan Temple, the Apit Temple, the Patok Temple, and the Perwara Temple.

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This legend conveys several moral messages, including the consequences of cheating, the power of will, and how the forces of nature can be harnessed for certain purposes.

Several morals can be learned from the story of Roro Jonggrang and Prambanan Temple. Firstly, we should learn not to be greedy, as this can harm oneself and others. This is what Roro Jonggrang did to Bandung Bondowoso before marrying him.