PORTALJABAR, BANDUNG CITY - In the context of preserving, developing and utilizing cultural advancement objects in West Java, the West Java Provincial Tourism and Culture Office through the West Java Regional Cultural Management UPTD, held the 2026 West Java Arts Performance Creation Festival.

The activity, which will be attended by 27 districts/cities in West Java, by highlighting stories/history/myths/legends, will be held at the Taman Budaya Closed Theater from April to November 2026.

The Head of the West Java Province Tourism and Culture Office, Iendra Sofyan, accompanied by the Head of the West Java Regional Cultural Management UPTD, Ary Heriyanto, explained that the first performance will begin on April 7, 2026, from the City of Bandung, which will feature a dance drama performance "Nyi Sumur Bandung".

During April 2026, there will be three West Java Performing Arts Creative Festivals. Performances will be held on April 16, 2026, from Cimahi City, and performances from Subang Regency on April 30, 2026.

In the synopsis, the Nyi Sumur Bandung Dance Drama begins from the wet soil of prayer, the story of a princess who embraces a sacred mandate is born, her father guards ancestral heirlooms, and maintains the breath of the earth.

But behind the light, shadows of envy and slander danced. She was exiled from the palace, but not from the love of the universe. In the silence of the forest and tears that became water, she found herself again, a woman as flexible as bamboo, yet strong as a rock that resists the current.

From wounds grows strength, from tears, springs the fountain of life. Nyai Sumur Bandung is not just a name, it is a "well" that never runs dry, a source of water for souls who thirst for loyalty and a mirror for the wisdom of Sundanese women who guide the earth towards balance.

In short, Nyai Sumur Bandung, the youngest daughter of King Kidang Pananjung, inherited a sacred heirloom symbolizing the balance of nature. This inheritance sparked the envy of her two older siblings, Rangga Wayang and Langen Sari, who then attacked their younger sibling and successfully seized the heirloom.

Tragically, after successfully capturing it, the two brothers fought each other to get the heirloom they had obtained, and both died because the energy of the heirlooms clashed with each other (Story revision).

In sadness and to calm the energy of the heritage, Nyai Sumur Bandung chose to exile herself to the Ujungberung forest. There, she was married by Raja Munding Keling, but slander from the old queens, Nimbang and Waringin, who exchanged her baby for a black monkey, made Raja Munding Keling angry and threw her out.

Several years later, the kingdom was struck by drought and plague as punishment for the injustice. The remorseful king sought forgiveness from Nyai Sumur Bandung, and from her hands flowed holy water, restoring life to the earth.

Nyai chose to remain in nature, and the spring from her meditation site is now known as "Sumur Bandung," a symbol of the purity and steadfastness of Sundanese women. (Parno)