Sutojayan District: Lodoyo, Gong Legend and Brantas Dams

Sutojayan District and the Name Lodoyo

Sutojayan district, known locally as Lodoyo, is the commercial centre of south Blitar Regency and lies just south of the Brantas River. It is the smallest district in the south of the regency by area, yet one of the busiest, a flat and fertile lowland whose centre has become largely built up. Its fame rests on two things: a legend of an exiled prince and a sacred gong, and its place as the former seat of the Lodoyo kawedanan, which once governed a swathe of southern Blitar.

A visitor will meet the name Lodoyo before Sutojayan. The market is Pasar Lodoyo, the square is Alun-alun Lodoyo, the old transport terminal is Terminal Lodoyo and the irrigation channel is the Lodagung. For the regency in context, begin with Blitar: Sukarno’s town and the Penataran temple, then follow the road south to see how the other half of the regency lives.

Position and Neighbours

Sutojayan sits in the south of Blitar Regency. To the north lie Kanigoro and Talun, with the Brantas River beyond them. Kademangan lies to the east, Wonotirto and Panggungrejo to the south, and Panggungrejo and Binangun to the west. A belt of teak forest managed by the state forestry company runs along the west side and separates the district from Kademangan, while hills mark the way toward Wonotirto in the south.

The Brantas is the district’s great neighbour. The river and its engineering works, described in the page on the Brantas River of East Java, shape life here. The southern side of the Serut Dam and the Wlingi Raya Dam both touch the district, and the hydroelectric stations at Jegu belong to this system. Readers curious about the nearer reservoir can read Serut Dam in Blitar Regency. The Lodagung River, which begins in the district, is in practice an irrigation channel that carries water from the Wlingi Raya Dam toward Tulungagung, and it has its own entry in the Lodagung River page for Blitar Regency.

Eleven Villages: Seven Kelurahan and Four Desa

The district has eleven administrative units. Seven are kelurahan, which suits the town-like character of the centre: Jegu, Jingglong, Kalipang, Kedungbunder, Kembangarum, Sukorejo and Sutojayan. Four are desa: Bacem, Kaulon, Pandanarum and Sumberjo. Each is made of hamlets, and the names often point to a feature of the land or a story.

Bacem, with nine hamlets, is the largest by that measure, and it carries the district’s best-known temple site. Brubuh in Kalipang gives its name to the sports field, and Jaring in Kembangarum is tied to an old inscription.

The Legend of Lodoyo and the Gong Kyai Pradah

Lodoyo’s story begins in a forest. In the telling that local people pass on, the Lodoyo woodland was a dreaded wilderness, thick with wild animals and thought to be spiritually dangerous. In the early eighteenth century, during the reign of Pakubuwono I in Surakarta, a prince named Pangeran Prabu was sent into exile to clear this forest, a sentence close to a death penalty because few survived it. He travelled with his wife, a favoured follower named Ki Amat Tariman, and a sacred gong.

The tale follows the prince through a string of forest stops, several of which are still revered. At one point Ki Amat Tariman was separated from his master and struck the gong seven times. Tigers appeared instead of the prince, but they did no harm and led the servant to him. The word pradah means tiger, and the gong took the name Kyai Pradah from that episode. By another account, the gong’s sound alone tamed the animals and made it safe for people to settle.

What happened to the prince is not told. The gong, however, passed through a chain of keepers and finally came to rest in a heirloom house in Kalipang, where it has been kept ever since. Other stories give the gong an earlier history in the Mataram court, and its names vary, including Kyai Becak and Kyai Macan. Because the oral accounts disagree, it is best to treat the whole as tradition rather than record.

The Bathing of the Gong

Twice a year the gong is bathed with flower water in a public ceremony in and around Alun-alun Lodoyo. The event includes a procession, the bathing itself and a shadow-puppet performance, and crowds come to take the used water, which people believe soothes illness and calms the heart. Stalls from small local businesses line the road beside Pasar Lodoyo during the event. The tradition has been recognised as part of the regency’s, and Indonesia’s, intangible cultural heritage. A related folk art, Jaranan Jur Ngasinan, is linked to the same legend.

The Lodoyo name also appears in another old story. In the tale behind the mask dance, Lodoyo is a kingdom bordering Kediri that was led by Singo Barong before he was defeated by the hero of Bantarangin. That dance is covered in Reog Ponorogo, the masked dance of East Java.

Candi Bacem and Other Old Sites

Candi Bacem stands in Cungkup hamlet in Bacem village. Two structures survive, a main temple and a smaller companion, but only their foundations remain. They were built mostly of brick, with some andesite. Their origin and religious character are not fully known, and some scholars have guessed that they belong to the Majapahit period, though that is uncertain. The site was recorded in the nineteenth century and listed again in 1908. For a standing example of the era in the same regency, see Candi Simping, the Majapahit temple in Blitar Regency.

Other sites include Prasasti Jaring in Kembangarum, Situs Bening in Jingglong, Situs Makam Setono in Sutojayan and the Songsong Buwono site on Gunung Betet in Kedungbunder. Most are small and quiet, valuable mainly because they show how long the area has been settled.

Kawedanan Lodoyo and the Making of the Town

Under the Dutch, Sutojayan was the seat of the Kawedanan Lodoyo, which covered Sutojayan, Kademangan, Bakung, Panggungrejo, Wates and Binangun. After independence the kawedanan system was abolished and the district came directly under the regency. Later, five villages in the south were separated to form Wonotirto, which is why that district now sits on the southern side. This history explains why Sutojayan still behaves like a regional hub, with its own square, markets, a hospital and a health centre.

Markets, Terminal and Everyday Trade

Sutojayan is regarded as the economic centre of south Blitar. The main markets are Pasar Lodoyo and Pasar Templek Bacem. Terminal Lodoyo, once a bus terminal, is now quiet, and part of it has turned into a small market. The square, Alun-alun Lodoyo, serves as the civic heart and as the stage for the gong ceremony. The sports ground at Brubuh and a swimming pool add to the town’s public life. A walk around the square and the market in the morning gives the best impression of how the district works.

Landscape and Farming

The centre sits on fertile lowland that is now largely urbanised, and the surrounding land is irrigated by the Lodagung channel and the Brantas system. Teak forest to the west is a reminder of the old Lodoyo woodland of the legend, though today it is plantation rather than wilderness. A small hill, Gunung Peranti in Kaulon, is named in the tale of the exiled prince, whose twin children were said to have been born there without tools to help the birth, which is how the mountain got its name. To the south the land rises into hills toward Wonotirto.

Getting Across the Brantas

The Brantas is the main obstacle between Sutojayan and the north. Jembatan Glondong crosses the river at the district centre. People can also cross north via the Serut and Wlingi Raya dams. The Selo Wungu Bridge, a separate crossing, ties Selopuro on the north bank to the south side of the regency. For travellers heading beyond, the south-coast routes lead toward Serang Beach on the south coast of Blitar.

A Day in Sutojayan District

Start at Alun-alun Lodoyo and Pasar Lodoyo, then walk past the old terminal. Continue to Kalipang to see where the gong is kept, then move on to Cungkup hamlet in Bacem for the temple foundations. In the afternoon, drive toward the river works at Jegu, where the dam and power stations show the modern side of the Brantas. If the gong ceremony falls during a visit, expect crowds and plan time accordingly. Dress modestly, move quietly around sacred places and ask before photographing rituals.

Why Sutojayan District Matters

Sutojayan is where legend, trade and river engineering meet. The prince, the gong and the tigers still shape local identity, while the market, the square and the dams show a living town. For anyone learning the south of Blitar Regency, it is the natural starting point.

Related guides: Sanankulon District: Koi Ponds Beside the Brantas, Districts of Blitar Regency: Coast, Hills and Villages.