Indonesia is a canyon that has a variety of cultures. One of the varieties of native Indonesian culture is traditional script in each region. The Batak tribe is a tribe in Indonesia that has traditional characters. Based on the legend of the Batak tribe, in ancient times in Batak Land, there was a child named Mangarapintu. One day when his father was building a house, he was playing with one of his father’s craftsmen, the chisel. But somehow, the chisel was gone. As a result of that incident, Mangarapintu was scared. He couldn’t imagine his father’s anger.
He then ran away from home and went to a strange land he did not know. He was abandoned, nowhere, and no one else was willing to feed him. One day, he arrived at a shrine inhabited by magic people. The magic man said to him, “Come here, I will eat you.” Mangarapintu replied, “Thank God, Ompung. That’s what I’m waiting and looking for. I’d rather die than live alone in this world,” he said sadly.
Hearing that, the magic person felt sorry for and concerned about Mangarapintu. The magic person finally accepted Mangarapintu’s presence, took care of him and looked after him, even taught him a lot of knowledge and various kinds of knowledge. After a while, Marangarapintu left his teacher and went off again to wander. Then he met a tiger striped. The tiger said to him, “I will eat you.” Mangarapintu replied, “Thank you, Ompung. I surrender. I do not expect anything else in this life,” he said.
Hearing that, the tiger became concerned and pity. The tiger then looked after and accompanied him. They are even taught a variety of knowledge, including the science of terawang. And Mangarapintu could finally see from afar where his father’s missing chisel was located. After that, he again left the place. He went to a place at the top of Pusuk Buhit, namely the bathing place for the princesses of the gods. When he arrived there, there were seven divine daughters taking a bath. When the daughters of the gods noticed Mangarapintu’s presence, the princesses immediately flew to the sky.
But Mangarapintu managed to catch one end of the divine princess’s garment. And he too flew and was carried to the sky. He met Debata Batara Guru. Batara Guru was very kind to him. Batara Guru then taught various things about science, including the science of correspondence. Over time, Mangarapintu became good at writing.
After being able to write, Mangarapintu took the bark, then dried it. After the bark (laklak) was dry, Mangarapintu wrote down all the knowledge he got, starting from the magic person, the tiger and the Batara Guru. It is said that the first pustaka (pustaha) of the Batak people.
After a few years, Mangarapintu then returned to earth. It is said that on earth he married and had children. But because of his knowledge and supernatural powers (hadatuan), he always moved from one place to another. During his life, he was mostly on the road. Such is the legend (turi-turian) about the origin of the Batak script. This legend is adapted from the book Jambar Hata by TM Sihombing. Based on this legend, one can conclude: the Batak people believe that the Batak script is original, not borrowed, and is the creation of the Batak people themselves.
