LEGEND OF LAU KAWAR LAKE

 Once upon a time, there was a very fertile land in Karo, North Sumatra, known as the village of Kawar. The people were mostly farmers, and the land produced bountiful harvests. It is said that one year, the harvest was double that of the previous year, and the barns were overflowing with rice. To celebrate, the villagers decided to hold a grand feast.

On a beautiful day, all the villagers gathered in the field, wearing their finest clothes and preparing delicious food. Everyone was in high spirits, singing, laughing, and enjoying the feast.

All the villagers attended the party, except for an old woman who was paralyzed. Her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren had all gone to the party, leaving her alone in bed.

"I wish I could be at the party, but I can’t even stand on my feet," sobbed the old woman.

She could only watch the joyful celebration from a distance.

When lunchtime arrived, everyone at the party gathered around the table to enjoy the meal. They savored the food with great pleasure. Meanwhile, the old woman at home was starving, having not eaten a bite since morning.

"My goodness, I'm so hungry. Why hasn’t anyone from my family come to bring me something to eat?" she whispered, shivering with hunger.

She forced herself out of bed to search for food in the kitchen, but there was nothing. Her daughter-in-law hadn’t cooked that day, knowing that food would be provided at the party. The poor old woman returned to bed, disappointed and sad, tears streaming down her face.

At the party, the son asked his wife, "Why don't you take some food from the party and give it to my mother? Ask our child to deliver it."

"All right," the woman replied, hurriedly packing some food for her mother-in-law.

She then asked her son, "Please take this food to your grandmother."

The old woman was overjoyed to receive the food. Finally, she had something to eat. But her happiness quickly turned to sorrow when she saw that the food was only leftovers. There was just a little rice and a few bones with hardly any meat on them.

"What is this!? Do they think I'm an animal? Why did they give me leftovers and bones?" she cried out angrily.

In reality, her daughter-in-law had packed a full portion of roast beef, but the grandchild had eaten most of it on the way, leaving only the bones. The old woman didn’t know this and believed that her son and daughter-in-law had purposely given her the scraps. She felt deeply disappointed and humiliated, unable to hold back her tears. In her despair, she prayed to God to curse both her son and daughter-in-law.

"Oh my God, they have sinned against me. I beg you to punish them!" the woman prayed.

Suddenly, a powerful earthquake struck, just moments after she finished her prayer. The sky darkened with clouds, and a fierce storm followed by heavy rain ensued. The villagers were terrified and scrambled to find shelter. But the village was quickly submerged, and not a single person survived. The village of Kawar was swallowed up, turning into a large crater filled with water, which is now known as Lake Lau Kawar.