Sandung Bawi Kuwu Tumbang Rakumpit

Sandung or sandong is the ossuary of the Dayak people of South and Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. The sandung is an integral part of the Tiwah ceremony of the Ngaju people, which is basically a secondary burial ritual where the bones of the deceased are taken from the cemeteries, purified and finally placed in a sandung.

Bawi Kuwu Tumbang Rakumpit is a folk tale from Central Kalimantan. Bawi Kuwu is the daughter of a village official who lives on the banks of the Rungan river, Mungku Baru Village, which is now named Ratu Kumala . Bawi Kuwu died because she was eaten by crocodiles and her bones were buried in this stumbling block. The sandung pole, which is located in Mungku Baru Village, is one indication of the existence of settlements in the past on the banks of the Rungan river. It is said that around the 18th century, in a village around the middle of the Rungan River, to be precise, in Mungku Baru Village, Rakumpit District, Palangkaraya City, Central Kalimantan Province.   

It is said that Bawi Kuwu and his two masters lived. When she grew up, the beautiful woman was forbidden by her parents to leave the house and spent more time in her room, escorted by ladies-in-waiting who faithfully guarded and guarded her for years. Once upon a time, Bawi Kuwu's parents wanted to go to the fields and ordered the ladies-in-waiting to keep their beloved child at home. Not long after his parents left, suddenly Bawi Kuwu felt hot and wanted to bathe in the Rungan River which was not far from their house, of course the ladies guarding Bawi Kuwu forbade him to leave the house, let alone go to the river alone. 

Then the ladies-in-waiting brought water from the river to Rungan to bathe Bawi Kuwu in the house, but he refused the wishes of the ladies-in-waiting and insisted on going to the river alone. The atmosphere was almost out of control but in the end the ladies-in-waiting managed to prevent Bawi Kuwu's wish. After a while, apparently the treatment of the ladies-in-waiting made Bawi Kuwu feel curious. After seeing that the situation was safe and free from escort, Bawi Kuwu went to the Rungan River secretly without anyone knowing. Arriving at the river bank, precisely above Lanting (a wooden raft in the language of the Dayak tribe), an unfortunate incident happened to the beautiful girl. Suddenly a large crocodile appeared on the surface of the water and grabbed Bawi Kuwu who had not yet had time to bathe in the river, then carried him to his nest in the river. Meanwhile, the situation in the house was in a commotion after the ladies-in-waiting realized that Bawi Kuwu was not in the room.

Great anger arose from Bawi Kuwu's parents towards the ladies-in-waiting, because they had been negligent so that they did not know where their favorite child had gone. Then that day they summoned traditional leaders and people with supernatural powers from the Dayak tribe.

For three days and three nights, they held a ritual within the Dayak tribe to look for Bawi Kuwu, and one night, the brother of Bawi Kuwu dreamed of meeting Patahu (a Dayak supernatural person) and gave a clue that Bawi Kuwu was still alive and is now in the belly of the crocodile that had brought it. The supernatural person also advised when the crocodile appeared, never kill him. Then his brother woke up from sleep and told him about his dream.

At that time they also looked for Pangareran (Crocodile handler in the Dayak language), and right on the third day of the ritual, the crocodile carrying Bawi Kuwu emerged from the Rungan River and moved towards the mainland. After seeing the big crocodile coming, suddenly a feeling of sadness mixed with anger emerged from Bawi Kuwu's brother. Maybe because he loved his sister so much, he went crazy and forgot the message of a supernatural person who met him in a dream, then he speared the crocodile so that it finally died.

After seeing the incident, they immediately cut open the crocodile's stomach with makeshift equipment and found Bawi Kuwu who was also dead, dead together with the crocodile. Finally, the atmosphere of grief enveloped all relatives and all who witnessed the event.

Now the Sandung is placed on a pole with a length of 3 meters and a diameter of 0.58 meters. The pole that is seen today is not the original pole, but a new pole that was built to cover the original pole made of ironwood. On the pole there is a relief carving in the form of a crocodile and at the top of the pole is placed a sandung in the form of a miniature small house for the burial of the dead. The sandung pole or what he also called the pantar pole was intended as a symbol of the tree of life or crisp trunk as a ladder for the spirits to go to Lewu Liau Country. 

Administratively, this sandung is located on Jalan Bawi Kumbu, Mungku Baru Village, Rakumpit District, Palangkaraya City, Central Kalimantan Province. Bawi Kuwu is the son of a village official who lives on the banks of the Rungan river, Mungku Baru Village, which is now named Ratu Kumala. Asian Destinations Readers when visiting Sandung Bawi Kuwu apart from seeing the legendary place of Bawi Kuwu, they can also visit the traditional houses of the Dayak tribe.

 

 

Source :

http://kekulturan.kemdikbud.go.id/bpcbkaltim/sandung-bawi-kuwu-tumbang-rakumpit

http://sangkaicity.blogspot.com/2018/08/cepat-bawi-kuwu-kalimantan-tengah.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandung