The Legend of Batu Gantung

                 Parapat is a small town located in Simalungun District, North Sumatra. The city is situated on the shores of Lake Toba and has a very beautiful natural scenery. Once upon a time, there was a terrible event that led to the place was named Parapat or Prapat. In such event, there is a stone hanging on a cliff which are believed to be the incarnation of a beautiful girl named Seruni. How about the full story? Please enjoy the full story below.

                Once upon a time there was a family with a single daughter. They lived near Lake Toba. They had stayed there for years. They lived happily and peacefully. They earned their living by cultivating their land. Every year they harvested a lot of crops.

                One day the family’s daughter was at home. She did not go to the farm land. Instead the girl stayed at home with her beloved pet, a nice dog. She felt tired after working for several days in the farm land. She slept all day.

                “My daughter”, shouted her mother.

                That father was looking for where his daughter was. Her mother was astonished at the condition of her daughter. She was weak and pale.

                “What’s the matter, my daughter?”, asked her mother.

                “Nothing, mother”, the girl tried to hide her sad feeling. She did not want to hurt her mother.

                The next morning, the girl followed her parents to the farm land. They could not concentrate and helped her parents. She looked sad and frustrated.

                Several days ago, her mother told her that she would be married to a guy. The girl did not like him. She had chosen another guy to her wife-tobe. That was why the girl felt sorrowful and hopeless.

                “I prefer to die to marry to a guy I don’t like. I promise”, said the girl to herself.

                Suddenly, there was a thunder and lighting followed by a heavy rain. That girl was afraid of thr thunder and lighting. It worsened her feeling of hatred of her parents’ decision. It was hard for her to refuse but it was hard to live with a guy she never loved. Then the girl had an idea to go to lake Toba.

                It was a clear afternoon. The girl was at the bank of the lake accompanied by her beloved dog. The girl decided to commit suicide. She could not imagine how she could live with the guy she never met.

                All of sudden, the girl’s legs were slipped inti a big hole. Then she fell down. She tried to get up bjut she failed. It was dark. She was flanked with hard rocks. She could not stop crying.

                Finding that event, the girl’s dog was barking loudly. The sound the dog’s barking was heard a few meters from Lake Toba. Two fishermen were suspicious of the sound and came closer.

                “Oh my God. How can it be?”, asked one of the fishermen. He tried to pull the girl’s legs, but failed. The girl’s legs were squeezed by two big stones.

                “All right. Don’t move. I’ll call your parents”, said the other fishermen.

                Suddenly, there was a voice from inside saying “Prapat...Prapat...Prapat...the stone”. The two fishermen looked at each other. They did not know where the voice came from.

                A few hours later, the girl’s parents arrived. They felt very sad finding their daughter. They could do nothing. It was too late. Their daughter was swallowed by the two big stone.

                They were crying and sorrowful. The realized that their decision to marry her to someone she did not like.

                Several months later, a lot of people living surrounding Lake Toba came to the place where the girl was swallowed by the stones. Several stones at the cliffs near Lake Toba fell down. That event was frightening the people. It was unbelievable, some stones were hanging, not falling.

                People then called them “Batu Gantung”, because they were hanging on the rock like a girl.

Source :  The Legend of Batu Gantung, page 7-13. Retold by Slamet Riyanto. Pustaka Pelajar. Yogyakarta, 2009. 

Photo :  http://www.panoramio.com/photo/47328057