The Origin of Bali Strait

Manik Angkeran, The Origin of Bali Strait

A Folklore from Bali, Indonesia

A long time ago, lived a very rich family in Bali. The father was Sidi Mantra. He was very famous for his supernatural power. He lived happily with his wife and his only child Manik Angkeran. Manik Angkeran was a spoiled son. He also had a bad habit. He liked to gamble.

Because of his bad habit, his parents soon became poor. They always advised Manik Angkeran to stop his bad habit, but he never listened to them. Instead he kept on begging to his parents to give him a lot of money.

The parents then did not have the heart to see him begging. Sidi Mantra then went to Agung Mountain. There lived a mighty dragon with his great supernatural power. He could provide jewelries to those who could say the right prayers and ring the bell. Sidi Mantra had the bell and he also knew the prayers.

"My name is Sidi Mantra. I have a problem. My son likes to gamble. He made me poor. And now he asks a lot of money. I want to give him some, but now I want him to promise to stop his bad behavior," explained Sidi Mantra after he met the dragon.

Sidi Mantra then said the prayers and rang the bell. Suddenly, jewelries came out from the dragon's body. He was very happy and immediately brought the jewelries home. This time Sidi Mantra wanted Manik Angkeran really to stop gambling.

The son then promised. But soon he broke the promise and he did not have some money again. He heard that his father got the jewelries from the dragon living in Mount Agung. So he stole his father's bell then went there.

After arrived in Mount Agung. Manik Angkeran rang the bell. The dragon knew him.

"I will give you anything you want but you have to promise to stop gambling. Remember the karma!" then the dragon gave him the jewelries.

Manik Angkeran was very happy. Suddenly he had a bad idea. He wanted to kill the dragon and stole all his jewelries. The dragon knew his plan and with his great power he killed Manik Angkeran. Sidi Mantra was very sad. He asked the dragon to bring his son back to life. The dragon agreed but they had to live in different places.

After few moments, Manik Angkeran lived again. Then Sidi Mantra used a stick to make a big line between them on the ground.

From the line, water flowed. Soon it became a river. Finally it became a strait. It separated Java and Bali. People then named the strait as Bali Strait.