Some pages from a La Galigo manuscript
Annon: La Galigo (14th)
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Sureq Galigo or La Galigo is an epic creation myth of the Bugis from South Sulawesi in modern-day Indonesia, written down in manuscript form between the 18th and 20th century in the Indonesian language Bugis(only 100 left who speak it), based on an earlier oral tradition. The poem is composed in pentameters and relates the story of humanity's origins but serves also as practical everyday almanac.
Taken from: The Bugis by Christian Pelras
Yves Bonnefoy; Asian Mythologies
These are the near mythical writings from the Bugis of South Sulawesi.
Sawerigading is the son of the king of Luwu, Batara Lattu, and the grandson of Batara Guru, the first man descended from the sky. His adolescent adventures are related to a series of journeys which lead him all around Celebes, to the Moluccas, and to Sumbawa, as well as to countries with unidentifiable names, which could be either real or mythical places. He visits among other places, the island where the cosmic tree (Pao Jengki, the "mango of Zanj") grows, whose branches rise up into the sky and whose roots go down as far as the lower world and between the leaves lives a race of monstrous birds who speak the Bugis and Javanese language; he sees in the middle of the ocean the whirlpool by which the waters of the sea connect with that world. He also penetrates twice into the Land of the Dead, but must decide on the first visit not to marry We Pinrakati, a young princess who had just died, and on the second to bring back among the living Welle ri Lino, to whom he was engaged.
Upon returning to Luwu, Sawerigading meets his twin sister, We Tenriabeng, from whom he had been separated at birth. He falls in love with her and decides to marry her. All of the remonstrancees of his entourage as well as of We Tenriabeng herself are in vain. Finally his twin sister tells him of the existence, in the land of Cina, of one of their cousins, We Cudai, who resembles her exactly. And she gives him a strand of her hair, one of her bracelets, and one of her rings which will make him sure of her. Sawerigading embarks once again on a vessel carved out of the trunk of a gigantic tree, the Welenreng, which grew in the land off Luwu. After engaging in numerous battles at sea and after numerous mishaps, he succeeds in marrying We Cudai, who would give birth to, among others, a son, La Galigo (whose name was given to the cycle), and a daughter, We Tenridio who was to become a bissu (shaman or medium).
After the marriage of his grandson, la Tenritatta, Sawerigading, who had broken his promise never to return to Luwu, is engulfed by the waves along with We Cudai. They replace Guri ri Selleng and his wife as rulers of the lower world, while We Tenriabeng and her husband Remmang ri Langi inherit the throne of the upper world. All the princes of divine origin then disappear from the earth, with the exception of a daughter of Sawerigading and a son of We Tenriabeng who get married and rule over Luwu. As soon as they have a son, communications between the earth and the supernatural worlds are broken; after that, mankind is on its own.
On the Pao Jengki – Pau Janggi see: Note on Pao Jengki – Pauh Janggi.