Do you know Mount Rinjani? One of the highest mountains in Indonesia. Located on Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara, Mount Rinjani has a height of 3.726 meters above sea level and is the second highest mountain in Indonesia. As the second highest mountain in Indonesia, Rinjani is also equipped with the beauty of its stunning natural landscape as an attraction for Indonesian climbers. In addition to its beauty, Mount Rinjani also holds a story that is still developing in the oral culture of the people of West Nusa Tenggara. For the people of NTB, the majesty of Mount Rinjani cannot be separated from the figure of the goddess they call Dewi Anjani.

Birth of Dewi Anjani

According to the oral tradition of the NTB community, Dewi Anjani is the daughter of Dewi Mas, the ex-wife of King Tuan. Dewi Mas was a queen of the Tuan Kingdom who was banished because she was slandered by the king’s second wife. Dewi Mas was slandered that the baby she was carrying was not the child of King Tuan. Therefore, Dewi Mas was banished by King Tuan to an uninhabited island far from the kingdom.

Quoted from kompas.com, despite being banished from the kingdom, Dewi Mas remained determined to live and raise her baby. When it was time to give birth, Dewi Mas gave birth to twins, her son was named Raden Nuna Putra and her daughter was named Dewi Anjani. After growing up, Dewi Mas’ children asked who their father was. Because, they were always teased by their friends as fatherless children. Finally, the mother told them that they were the children of a datuk from the Tuan Kingdom in Lombok.

Fierce Fight with the Father

With his mother’s permission, Dewi Mas’ son, Raden Nuna, went to the kingdom to meet his father. Raden Nuna’s arrival was greeted with attacks by the royal guards. However, all the guards were easily defeated by Raden Nuna with his own abilities.

This condition then forced the king to come out and intervene to deal with this unknown boy who entered the kingdom. The fight between Raden Nuna and his father was fierce. They were both skilled at playing keris without getting hurt at all. In the midst of the fight, a supernatural voice said that the king was fighting against his own son. Finally the king realized and immediately hugged Raden Nuna. Then, they told about Dewi Mas. After that, Dewi Mas and Dewi Anjani were invited back to the kingdom. They lived peacefully again in the kingdom.

Division of Power by the King

The skill of the adult Raden Nuna in playing the keris made the aging king hand over the kingdom to him. Meanwhile, the king’s favorite daughter, Dewi Anjani, who was skilled in playing the bow and arrow was given power in the area of ​​the former eruption of Mount Samalas. It is said that when Mount Samalas erupted, the fragments from the eruption became a new active volcanic mound. Because it became the territory of Dewi Anjani, the area of ​​the nameless mountain was then named Mount Rinjani. The kingdom founded by Dewi Anjani also grew larger after her father’s death. In fact, it is said that she had two kingdoms, a human kingdom and a jinn kingdom, which were located on Mount Rinjani.

Dewi Anjani is known for her captivating beauty and gentle heart. Although she lives in luxury, she is more often seen in the forest, talking to the trees and playing in the river. She feels that nature is her true home. However, her destiny changes when she finds a holy spring in the middle of the forest.

The spring, according to ancestral stories, is a gift from the gods that can only be found by those with pure hearts. With curiosity, Dewi Anjani drinks the water. Unexpectedly, the water changes her body into a supernatural being. She loses her human form but gains extraordinary spiritual power.

After her transformation, Dewi Anjani is appointed by the gods as the guardian of Mount Rinjani. She is tasked with protecting the mountain ecosystem, guarding water sources, and ensuring that humans do not damage its sanctity.

The community believes that Dewi Anjani still lives around the mountain, especially in Lake Segara Anak, which is considered her resting place.

The Sasak community holds the mulang pekelem ritual, a traditional ceremony dedicated to Dewi Anjani to maintain the balance of nature around Rinjani.

In this ritual, they give offerings in the form of small black and gold chickens to the lake as a symbol of gratitude and respect.

This story teaches that we as humans should not be greedy and must help maintain the balance of nature. Without nature, humans cannot live, so we should maintain the beauty and ecosystem of nature so that it is maintained.