Lake Toba

EXPLORATIONINDONESIA.COM - Lake Toba is a tecto-volcanic lake with a length of 100 kilometers and a width of 30 kilometers, located in North Sumatra Province, Indonesia.

Lake Toba

- Area : 436 mi²

- Length: 62.14 miles

- Surface Height : 2,969 ft

- Width: 18.64 miles

- Volume: 57.58 cubic miles

- Island : Samosir Pulau Island

Origin, Location of Tourism and its Charm

Talking about Lake Toba, it's incomplete if you don't mention the history of the formation of this great work of the Almighty.

 According to its history, it is divided into two, namely origin according to the point of view of science and based on legends that have been passed down from generation to generation in the community.

According to science, Lake Toba was formed due to a great volcanic explosion. This event occurred about 73,000-75,000 years ago.

Lake Toba

The eruption of the volcano released volcanic eruption material with a lot of 2,800 km3 and 2,000 km3 of which flowed over the ground. While the rest are carried away by the wind and melt with the air.

This super large explosion event resulted in the extinction of various types of living things, and it was reported that around 60 million people died. Another impact of the volcanic eruption is the formation of a caldera which gradually fills with water, thus forming Lake Toba.

While the magma that has not yet come out, presses from the bottom up causing the formation of an island in the middle of the lake, namely Samosir Island.

Unlike the scientific explanation, the legend of the formation of Lake Toba has to do with the marriage of a human with a goldfish.

Once upon a time, his life was a young man who worked in the fields and occasionally fished. Once, when the young man was looking for fish in the river, he found a gold fish that was golden yellow in color, and became more beautiful when exposed to sunlight.

Without thinking, the young man took him home with the intention of cooking it. Unfortunately, when he was about to cook, the firewood in his house ran out. The young man then put the fish on the kitchen table and went to look for firewood.

Arriving at the house, he did not find the fish, but what he found was a beautiful woman with gold pieces around her. Long story short, the woman admitted that it was a gold fish caught by the young man.

This woman was previously the daughter of the king and became a fish due to a magic curse, and will become human again after being held by a young man. The gold pieces scattered below are the scales of the fish as a sign of gratitude given to the young man.

The woman asked permission to stay at the young man's house. Because the young man fell in love, he did not mind, even the young man immediately married the woman who had been the fish.

The condition asked by the woman is that the young man must not bring up the past where the woman was a fish.

Their marriage was blessed with a son named Samosir. Their life was happy until Samosir became a healthy boy.

Once, Samosir was asked to deliver food to his father in the field. But on the way, Samosir was hungry and ate all the supplies. When he met his father, Samosir told him what had happened and made his father angry.

By mistake, his father said, "You son of a fish!". Samosir was crying and complained to his mother. Hearing this, the mother then told Samosir to go up the hill.

After Samosir left, it rained heavily with wind. The rain drowned the entire village and eventually became Lake Toba as it is today. Meanwhile, the hill where Samosir took refuge became Samosir Island.

The truth of the facts of this story has been believed by the public as a legend. In fact, it has been printed into children's fairy tale books with illustrations, presented in drama scripts, videos on YouTube, films, and history in English (story in English) so that this story is known in the international arena.

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