Batu gantung or The hanging stone is a tourist attraction on the cliffs of the Lake Toba in Northern Sumatra. The stone has a human like shape into it, like a shape of a woman that sticks out above the cliff. There is a legend about how the stone was formed in the first place and how it stuck out.
Long time ago there was a girl named Seruni, she fell in love with a boy in her village but her parents already arranged her married with her own cousin. Dissapointed and angry, she ran away with her dog Toki.
As she was running away with her dog to the cliffs, she fell into a large hole. She tried to escape but no avail, feeling hopeless she felt that she rather die than living misreable.
She then chants "Parapat.. Parapat batu.." Over and over again til the wall of the hole goes closer and closer. Squeezing her alive.
Her dog Toki, immediately ran into Seruni's house to look for her parents. He barks repeatedly to alert her parents that their daughter is in danger. Understanding what Toki said, Seruni's parents went to the cliffs while being accompanied by the crowd to the hole that their daughter was trapped in.
As they all were going to the cliff, most of the crowd can hear a low faint sound of Seruni's chant. The chant grew louder as they go closer to the hole, as they grew closer an earthquake happened. It was short but as it finished the hole dissapeared, confused they all returned to the village. As they went back, they saw that on the cliff that theres a stone that sticks out and looked quite similar to a human body, they immediately thought of Seruni. So they named the cliff harea Parapat based on her chant.
The place is now a typical tourist attraction, I haven't visited the place myself but I would love to do it someday.
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