The Origin of Kediri

          

Once upon a time, Kediri was a large kingdom called the Medang Kingdom. The kingdom of Medang was led by a king named Prabu Airlangga. He came from the Kingdom of Bali but he married the daughter of the King of Medang and finally he became the next King of Medang until now. When King Airlannga grew old, he wanted to hand over the royal throne to his daughter, Sanggramawijaya Tunggadewi. But the princess refused to become queen because she wanted to become a hermit. Finally, Prabu Airlangga turned to his two sons named Raden Jayengrana and Raden Jayanegara. Problems reappeared because Prabu Airlangga had two sons. He was afraid that handing over the royal throne to one of the sons would trigger jealousy and lead to civil war. Then King Airlangga looked for a fair solution. Suddenly he remembered Mpu Bharada who was famous for his wisdom and supernatural powers.

Prabu Airlangga summoned Mpu Bharada to attend the meeting. He asked Mpu Bharada to go to Bali to find out if the throne in the Balinese kingdom was still vacant or if someone had become king there. If it is still empty, he wants to give it to one of his children. Mpu Bharada agreed and went to Bali to check. However, when Mpu Bharada arrived in Bali, it turned out that the throne belonging to Prabu Airlangga's father had already been filled by Prabu Airlangga's younger brother named Anak Wungsu. After getting the information, Mpu Bharada went to see King Airlangga. Prabu Airlangga accepted the information sincerely and he thanked Mpu Bharada for carrying out his orders. Then he asked Mpu Bharada to divide the Medang Kingdom into two parts. Mpu Bharada also agreed to his request.

The next day Mpu Bharada flew in with a jug* filled with water. He then spilt the water from the sky, then the water he spilt changed in an instant to become a large river and the water was swift. The river is known as the Brantas River now. Finally, the Medang Kingdom was divided into two with the Brantas River as a barrier between the two kingdoms. King Airlangga also handed over two kingdoms to his two sons. He named the Medang Kingdom east of the river as the Jenggala Kingdom, while the Medang Kingdom west of the river was the Kadiri Kingdom. Prabu Airlangga gave the Jenggala Kingdom to his son named Raden Jayengrana, and he gave the Kadiri Kingdom to Raden Jayanagara.

After dividing the two kingdoms and handing them over to his two sons, Prabu Airlangga felt calm leaving the Medang Kingdom and becoming a hermit in Pucangan.