History of Bali Island
The islands of Bali and Java are now separated by the Bali/Segara Rupek Strait. It is said that once the islands of Bali and Java became one archipelago. Is that possible? maybe you will think it is something that is impossible. We will discuss it starting from the stories handed down from our grandparents.
Starting from the story of Resi Markandeya who brought a group of 4000 followers to build Besakih Temple. In the story it is told that they headed for Bali without crossing the Bali Strait by boat because at that time the islands of Bali and Java were still one. Then there is a story in the history of this archipelago, how the islands of Bali and Java were finally split apart by the Bali Strait.
According to the description of a book called "Usana Bali", that the separation between the island of Java and the island of Bali was due to the supernatural powers of a priest named Mpu Sidhimantra. The priest resided; in East Java, close friends with a large snake named "NAGA BASUKIH". Because of that friendship, Mpu Sidhimantra always came to Besakih every full moon to meet Naga Basukih bringing honey, milk and butter for his friend. Mpu Sidhimantra has a son named Ida Manik Angkeran, this son really likes to gamble even though his father has forbidden him. Ida Manik Angkeran ended up often losing when gambling.
When the full moon returned, Mpu Sidhimantra fell ill. So Ida Manik Angkeran secretly went to Bali without his parents' permission to meet Naga Basukih. When he got there he sat cross-legged while sounding the "bajra" he was carrying so that Dragon Basukih came out of his burrow. When asked about the big snake, Ida Manik Angkeran then explained that his father was still sick, therefore he became his representative to bring honey, milk and butter, which his father used to serve every month. Naga Basukih happily accepts gifts from Ida Manik Angkeran. Then Naga Basukih asked Ida Manik Angkeran what he wanted for lunch on the way home. Ida Manik Angkeran didn't ask for anything, just asked Naga Basukih to come back
Enter Goa first.
It was then that Ida Manik Angkeran saw a beautiful gem in the tail of Naga Basukih. He also thought the gems would be used enough to be able to gamble for the rest of his life. Finally, Ida Manik Angkeran was determined to cut off the tail of Naga Basukih and took the jewels and ran away. However, in the end Ida Manik Angkeran died from being charred in the forest "Camara Geseng" because his footprints could be licked by the anger of Naga Basukih.
Mpu Sidhimantra who was worried that her son would not come home for days without news. Finally went looking for it. Naga Basukih also told Mpu Sidhimantra about what had happened to his son. Naga Basukih also said that his son could live again but had to serve at the Besakih Temple as a servant of the "stakeholder" temple and live forever in Bali. Mpu Sidhimantra also agreed and his son came back to life.
Mpu Sidhimantra returned to Java to prevent one day Ida Manik Angkeran from escaping back to Java and then scratched his staff, so that the mainland of the island of Bali and Java were cut off because of it. That's the story, originally there was a Bali Strait called "SEGARA RUPEK"
This story is an explanation of the separation of the islands of Bali and Java, although it is a superstitious story or fairy tale, the reality is that the descendant of Ida Manik Angkeran is called "Ngurah Sidemen", but until now he is obliged to become a "stakeholder" at Besakih Temple.
While the scientific explanation says that in ancient times most of the Indonesian archipelago did not yet exist, they were still united with the continent of Asia, so at one point, namely at the end of the ice age, it was said that the icebergs at the North Pole and South Pole became liquid, so that the surface the sea rises and submerges the lowlands. Because of this, the South China Sea, the Java Sea, and the Malacca Strait occurred. It is possible that that was when the Bali Strait occurred, because the ground there was low, it was also submerged by the rising sea water. If this is indeed the case, of course the breakup between Bali and Java occurred several hundred centuries before the Christian era.
These are the stories and explanations that can be related to the history of the islands of Bali and Java that used to be one.
Source : http://inputbali.com/