THE LEGEND OF BANYUWANGI

A long time ago, the island of java was ruled by a king. The King had a Loyal Prime Minister whose name was Sidapaksa. This is a story about the prime minister.

Sidapaksa's wife was beautiful. he loved her very much. But his mother did not like her.

One day,Sidapaksa's mother asked the King to send her son to a faraway place. She though while his son was away, she had a chance to get rid of his wife. Of course, she did not tell the King about it.

The King agreed with her. So he gave Sidapaksa a task. "Go to Mount Ijen. There grows a flower that can keep a woman beautiful. Get the flower for the Queen," says the King.

Sidapaksa went home sadly. He told his wife about the task.
"I cannot leave you alone. Soon you will give birth to our child," Sidapaksa answered.

"Don't worry about me. I can take care of my self."

The next day, sidapaksa left for Mount Ijen. It was a long and hard journey.

A few days after Sidapaksa left, his wife gave birth to a handsome baby boy. She was very proud of the baby.

One day, Sidapaksa's wife went to the spring. The wicked woman took the baby away. She threw the baby to a river.

Sidapaksa's wife was shocked when she could not find her baby. "Where is my baby?" she cried.

She searched for her son. But she could not find him. Finally she fell sick because she did not eat or drink. She grew thin and weak day after day.

After two years, Sidapaksa came home. He could not wait to see his wife and child.

His mother saw him at the gate. She said to him,"My son, your wife is wicked woman. She killed her own baby. She killed your son. She threw you son to the river."

Sidapaksa was very angry to hear it. He dit not believe in anything his wife said. He was very angry that he would kill his wife.

Sadly his wife said, "I'm very sad because you dont believe me. You don't have to kill me. Because I will die soon."

Then she ran to a river nearby. Before the current of the river took her away, she said, " my dear husband, if the fragrant smell comes out of this river, then I'm innocent."

A miracle happened. From the river, there came out some fragrant smell. At the center of the river came out two beautiful flowers. A big flower and a small one. The small flower said, "Father, I'm your son. My mother is innocent. It was grandmother who threw me tothe river."

Sidapaksa cried loudly. He regreted what he had done to his wife. But it was too late. His wife and child turned into two flowers.

The smelly and dirty river turned into clear and sweet smelled one. In javanese, It's called banyuwangi. It means fragrant river. The land around the fragrant river is now known as Banyuwangi, a town in East Java.



Source :  http://folklore-lover.blogspot.com/2009/01/legend-of-banyuwangi.html