Kidung Sunda

Kidung Sunda is a Middle-Javanese kidung of probable Balinese provenance. In this poem, the story of king Hayam Wuruk of Majapahit who was looking for a bride to be, is narrated. At last he chose the princess of Sunda, a kingdom in West Java. The princess' name is remained undisclosed in this story, however she corresponds to Dyah Pitaloka Citraresmi in Pararaton. Hayam Wuruk's grand vizier Gajah Mada, betrayed his king and rejected this idea. There was a dispute about geopolitical relations between Sunda and Majapahit (i.e. Java). Gajah Mada considered Sunda to be a vassal state of Java. For that reason a great battle took place in Bubat, the port where the Sundanese party landed as they refused to be treated as vassals. There the Majapahit-Javanese army slaughtered the Sundanese. The grieved princess of Sunda committed suicide not long afterwards. This historical story has to be situated somewhere in the 14th century.

A Dutch philologist, Prof. Dr. C.C. Berg, has found several versions of Kidung Sunda. Out of them he has discussed and published two versions:

The former is longer than the latter. It also has better literary merits. That is also the version, which is discussed in this article.

A short summary of the contents of Kidung Sunda is presented below. The summary is divided in different cantos.

Hayam Wuruk, the king of Majapahit, was looking for a bride to be. He sent emissaries throughout Nusantara (Maritime Southeast Asia) to find a suitable bride for him. They all came back with paintings of lovely princesses. But none was able to charm him. Then Hayam Wuruk heard about the beauty of the princess of Sunda. Accordingly, he sent an artist to Sunda and he came back with a painting. At that moment both his uncles: the king of Kahuripan and the king of Daha were in his palace. Both were concerned about the status of Hayam Wuruk who was still unmarried at that time.

Thus the picture of the beautiful princess of Sunda enchanted king Hayam Wuruk. Shortly afterwards, he sent yet another emissary. This time it was an important official, whose name was Madhu, to Sunda to ask for the hand of the princess.

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