Arimbi

Dewi Arimbi - daughter of Prabu Arimbaka

Title	Arimbi - (Dewi) - Mahabharata
Other names	Hidimbi
Size	60 cm
Personal data	Dewi Arimbi or Hidimbi is the second daughter of Prabu Arimbaka, king of giants of Pringandani country, with Dewi Hadimba. Dewi Arimbi has seven siblings, named; Arimba/Hidimba, Arya Prabakesa, Brajadenta, Brajamusti, Brajalamatan, Brajawikalpa and Kalabendana. Dewi Arimbi married Bima/Werkudara, one of the five Pandawa knights, son of Prabu Pandu, king of Astina from Queen Kunti. From that marriage she had a son named Gatotkaca.
Appearance	Dewi Arimbi has traits and character; honest, loyal, devoted and very loving towards his son.
Collection	Private collection

Arimbi - (Dewi) - Mahabharata

Dewi Arimbi became the king of Pringgandani country, replacing her brother, Prabu Arimba, who died in the war against Bima. But because he lived more often in Kesatrian Jodipati following her husband, the power of the Pringgandani state was delegated to his younger brother, Brajadenta until Gatotokaca came of age and was appointed king of the Pringgandani state with the title Prabu Kacanegara.

Goddess Arimbi has magic, she was able to transform from a monster into a beautiful princess.

Dewi Arimbi, daughter of giants was the sister of Prabu Arimba, giant king of the Pringgadani country. The story of Arimbi and Werkudara's meeting occurred when the Pandavas were clearing the forest to make a place to live. At that time he was walking around the Waranata forest while looking for prey, namely humans, who would be used as food for him and his brothers, who were indeed from a race of giants. She saw Bima who was clearing the forest, Arimbi was amazed by Bima's good looks so she fell in love with the second Pandawa knight. She then hugged Bima's legs. However, Bima didn't like Arimbi's actions, besides that at that time he was still in the form of a rekshasi, he also waved his legs.
Kunti, who at that time noticed this incident, immediately approached him, saying, "You really are a poor child, you are a beautiful child, O my child, don't you see how beautiful this princess is?" It turns out that what Dewi Kunti said caused Dewi Arimbi's facial expression to become that of a beautiful princess. Finally, Werkudara's heart melted after seeing Arimbi's beauty. However, Arimbi's older brother, Prabu Arimba, was angry when he found out that his younger sister had fallen in love with a human, namely Bima. He wanted to kill Bima, but in the battle, Arimba died at Bima's hands. After Arimba died, Bima then proposed to Arimbi to become his wife, the two of them married and Gatotkaca was born.

Seperation of her son Gatotkaca
A mother's love for her son is common. With Arimbi the situation is different. She had to be separated from her son, because her son was a warrior. But one day Gatotkaca came to his mother to ask to be decorated, so that he would appear as a dashing knight. How big the mother's heart was when facing her son's perepek (Javanese: ngadi-adi) who asked to be bathed, dressed and so on. This incident occurred when Raden Gatotkaca fell in love with Dewi Pregiwa, Raden Arjuna's daughter. During his new life, Raden Gatotkaca was attracted to a woman. In the story, it is said that the beauty of the princess was because she came from the mountains. According to Gatotkaca's vision, Pregiwa's beauty is unpretentious. So what appeared to him was natural beauty. Although she comes from the mountains, Pregiwa is not inferior to the princesses from Pendawa country. Before turning into a beautiful princess, Dewi Arimbi had eyes stooped, with a sharp nose, an open mouth, teeth like a monster, a necklace of crescent moons, bracelets and hair like a giant princess, but after changing her appearance, she became the most beautiful princess.

Arimbi then succeeded her sister, inherited the royal throne and became the queen of Pringgadani. But she lived more often in Jodipati with her husband and the throne was delegated to Brajadenta, her younger brother until Gatotkaca was an adult. At the end of Dewi Arimbi's life, it is said that she she died on the battlefield of Bharatayuda, defending the death of her beloved son Gathutkaca who died due to Kunta's arrow belonging to Duke Karna, the king of Awangga country.

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Source: History of Wayang Purwa - Hardjowirogo - PN Balai Pustaka - 1982
Blog: Hadisukirno – Yogyakarta - 2011