Rumeseping tirta hing
“Bhumi Laya Ika Tantra Adi Raja”
ya bhumi pasareyane raja-raja agung kang mahardhika
mahanani dadya tirta kang amartani tuwuhing jalma kang
tansah amundhi dharmaning satriya tama nggone sedya
labuh mring nagari.
The Absorption of Water in Blitar is the Earth of the Great Kings of Yang Freedom Becomes the Emergence of Influential Water Sources Cultivate Humans Who Will Always Have the Will of Mendharma Bhaktikan He As the Main Satria For The Country.
Blitar is a cool, calm and peaceful place, far from the frenzy of power, it has never been an area of power holders of this country, both from the times of singosari, Kediri, majapahit, demak, pajang to mataram islam, but that does not mean without achievement, no figures and not taken into account in this nation’s long history.
Many of the nation’s great figures cannot be separated from Blitar, say Ir. Soekarno, the proclaimer of this nation, which was recognized as the world’s great orator, the soepriyadi that made the Japanese era rash, the elephant and the mahapatih majapahit who were able to unite the archipelago was said to be inseparable from its history, and many more finally made Ir. Drs. Poerwanto P., MA felt the need to initiate a book called Blitar Wong which contained Blitar figures, with the hope that the spirit and pride could spread and inspire the next generation to continue the struggle of the predecessors.
Blitar is indeed a small city, its location is also in the “interior” of East Java, the southern part which is relatively a lagging area compared to the northern part. But even so, the Blitar people may be proud, “even though the town is small but has Bung Karno”. Bung Karno was buried in Blitar. In connection with the tomb of a great person, Blitar often takes pride in having Panataran temple and Simping temple which is said to be related to (the tomb) of Sang Radjasa’s character, “Ken Arok” the founder of Singasari, and Sanggrama Widjaya the founder of Madjapahit, so that Blitar people deserve the title “Bhumi Laya Ika Tantra Adi Raja “,” Earth where the tombs of great sovereign kings “.
Already since the time of Majapahit Blitar became an area that was reckoned by the rulers, it was evidenced by the establishment of temples and frequent visits of kings, can be seen in a note that in Saka 1283 or 1361 AD, the Majapahit king named Hayam Wuruk and his companions stopped by in Blitar to hold a worship ceremony at Penataran Temple. The group not only stopped at Penataran Temple, but also to other places considered sacred, namely Sawentar (Lwangwentar) in Kanigoro, Jimbe, Lodoyo, Simping (Sumberjati) in Kademangan, and Mleri (Weleri) in Srengat.
Hayam Wuruk did not only stop at Blitar once. In 1357 AD (1279 Saka) Hayam Wuruk visited back to Blitar to review the southern coast and stay for a few days in Lodoyo. This reflects how important the Blitar area was at the time, so Hayam Wuruk did not hesitate to make two special visits with different destinations to this area.
Based on legend, the Tartars of East Asia once mastered the land of Blitar, this Tartar army historically indirectly contributed to the establishment of the Majapahit kingdom to crush King Jayakatwang from Kediri, a subordinate kingdom that twisted Singosari when King Kertanegara was actively expanding into the Sumatran region. , after Kediri was destroyed the tartar army collected tribute to raden Wijaya including two royal princesses as a form of recognition of the Javanese land surrendered to the emperor Mongol, after conferring with his assistants namely Arya Wiraraja, Lembu Sora, Ronggolawe, Nambi etc. then it was decided not to submit to the tartars, instead immediately prepared troops to attack suddenly the Tartars who were still partying at Dhaha, because they did not expect to be attacked from several directions, the tartar forces were unable to deal with the onslaught coming, based on the report of the generals who could painfully return, in the road to the ship took 3 days and the death toll was 3000 troops because of the fierce attacks on every road that was passed.
Sudden attacks and from several directions caused many Tartar troops to be scattered, many were killed, most returned to the ship to return to Mongol and the rest fled to several places to save themselves, from several survivors arrived on the southern island of Java which at that time not yet named Blitar, there they turned into begal and robbed so that it disturbed the peace of the people, Majapahit as the archipelago ruler at that time felt the need to seize it, to restore the authority and peace of the State.
The superpower empire sent Nilasuwarna to beat back the Tartars. Nilasuwarna or Gusti Sudomo is one of the sons of the Duke of Tubani, finally he was followed by the soldiers from Majapahit to the south to the south coast of Java, after arriving in Blitar a fierce battle ensued between the two troops