The Legend of Nawang Wulan

A long time ago, there lived a dashing man named Jaka Tarub. He liked to go hunting in the jungle near his village. When he went hunting in the bush one day, he noticed the shimmer of rainbow lights that fell to the ground. He was curious so he followed the lights as it led him to the waterfall. 

Jaka Tarub was fascinated when he saw seven beautiful apsaras (Indonesia: Bidadari, in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, a feminine spirit of the clouds and water. They have the form of a beautiful woman) were taking baths in the waterfall. It didn’t take a long time to make Jaka Tarub captivated by their beauty. Then, he decided to take and keep the green shawl that belonged to one of the apsaras. 

It was getting dark. The seven apsaras needed to return to their home in Khayangan (concept of heaven of ancient Javanese people, an incorporeal mystical realm where ancestor spirits or hyang reside) before evening. They dressed up, took their shawl and got ready to go back to Khayangan. But, there was an apsaras crying. She looked confused because she couldn’t find her shawl. She couldn’t fly back to Khayangan without her shawl. With a heavy heart, the six apsaras were saying goodbye to their friend and left her alone in the waterfall.

The apsara sobbed while sitting on the rock. Jaka Tarub suddenly walked up to her and introduced himself. She replied by telling her name as Nawang Wulan. Jaka Tarub pretended not to know what happened. Instead, he made the offer to let Nawang Wulan stay at his home. Knowing the day was getting dark and she didn’t want to be left alone in the jungle, she finally agreed and Jaka Tarub was pleased by her decision. 

Eventually, the two fall in love and get married. Not long after, Nawang Wulan got pregnant with a baby girl, Nawangsih. Jaka Tarub and Nawang Wulan were leading peaceful lives until one day when Jaka Tarub began to question why their stockpiles of rice never ran low. They consumed rice every day, but his wife seemed to have never touched their rice supplies.

Although Nawang Wulan has been living on earth for a long time, she still has her magical ability. She only needs one single grain of rice to cook rice for the whole family. But there was one condition: the rice cooker must not be opened before it is done. She concealed her power and kept it from her husband. Jaka Tarub was also forbidden from accessing the rice cooker.

Nevertheless, Jaka Tarub was haunted by his curiosity. In order to learn the truth, he made the decision to open the rice cooker when Nawang Wulan wasn’t home. This careless action made Nawang Wulan lose her power and she couldn’t use her ability anymore. She prepared meals just like any other typical housewife would. Nawang Wulan required more rice to cook till the rice supplies ran out since she was unable to use her ability any longer.

One day, she went to the barn to take the rice supplies for cooking. She was surprised when she saw her shawl was hidden under the piles of rice. Nawang Wulan was enraged to learn that her husband had been keeping her shawl hidden for a very long time.

She intended to depart from the earth and return to Kahyangan.Jaka Tarub was deeply in love with Nawang Wulan. He begged his wife not to leave them. However, her decision was unanimous. She left her husband and daughter to return to the place where she belonged. She only went down to earth to visit her daughter, Nawangsih.