The Story of Nyai Loro Kidul - An Indonesian Urban Legend Story
Pelabuhan (or Palabuhan) Ratu means “the bay of the Queen”, originating from an urban legend which is centred around Nyai Loro Kidul, an Indonesian goddess or Queen of the Southern Sea, also known as the Indian Ocean. This legend story from Indonesia has several roots.
Nyai Roro Kidul spirit has many different names, which reflect the diverse stories of her origin in different sagas, legends, myths and traditional folklore. She is often illustrated as a mermaid with her lower body parts in the shape of a fish. This mythical creature is claimed to have powers that can take the soul of anyone she wished for. According to local popular beliefs around coastal villages in Southern Java, the Queen has often claimed the lives of fishermen or visitors that bathe in the sea, usually preferring handsome young men.
The role of Nyai Loro Kidul as a Javanese Spirit-Queen became popular in traditional Javanese folklore and palace mythologies, as well as being tied in with the beauty of Sundanese and Javanese princesses. Another aspect of her mythology was her ability to change shape several times a day.
In many of the stories that surround Nyai Loro Kidul, she is in control of the violent waves of the Indian Ocean from her dwelling place in the heart of the sea. Sometimes she is referred to as one of the spiritual queens or wives of the Susuhunan of Solo or Surakarta and the Sultan of Yogyakarta.
Another pervasive part of folklore surrounding her is her preference for the colour aqua green, gadhung m'lathi in Javanese. She is often described to wear silky sashes, known as selendang in Indonesian, in this colour. There is a local belief that wearing a green garment in these areas will anger her and will bring misfortune to the wearer, as green is her sacred colour.
Javanese and Sundanese studies suggest that the myth of the Queen of Java's Southern Seas originated from older prehistoric animistic beliefs in the pre-Hindu-Buddhist female deity of the Southern Ocean. The fierce waves of the Indian Ocean on southern Java's coasts, its storms and sometimes tsunamis, probably had raised awe and fear of natural power, and locals attributed it to the spiritual realm of deities and demons that inhabit the southern seas ruled by their queen, a female deity, later identified as "Queen Kidul".
The 16th-century Javanese legends connect the Queen of Southern Seas as the protector and spiritual consort of the kings of Mataram Sultanate, who named the Kanjeng Ratu Kidul as their bride.
According to one Javanese legend, the prince Panembahan Senopati aspired to establish a new kingdom Mataram Sultanate against Pajang overlordship. He performed ascetic acts by meditating on the beach of Parang Kusumo, south of his home in the town of Kota Gede. His meditation caused a disturbing, powerful supernatural phenomenon in the spiritual kingdom of the Southern Sea.
The Queen came to the beach to see who had caused this menace in her kingdom. Upon seeing the handsome prince, the queen immediately fell in love and asked the prince to stop his meditation. In return, the deity queen, who ruled the spiritual realm of the southern seas, agreed to help Panembahan Senopati in his political effort to establish a new kingdom. To become the spiritual protector of the kingdom, the Queen asked to be held by the prince in the hand of marriage, as the spiritual consort of Panembahan Senopati and all of his successors, the series of Mataram kings.
Another Sundanese folktale mentions Dewi Kadita, the beautiful princess of the Pajajaran Kingdom, in West Java, who desperately fled to the Southern Sea after being struck by black magic. The black magic was cast by a witch under the order of a jealous rival in the palace and it caused the beautiful princess to suffer a disgusting skin disease. She later jumps into the violent waves of the ocean where she was finally cured and regained her beauty, and the spirits and demons crowned the girl as the legendary Spirit-Queen of the South Sea.
A similar version of the story above mentions that the king (at the time), who had her as his only child, was planning to retire from the throne. At the time, having a queen lead a kingdom, instead of a king, was forbidden. Therefore, the king remarried and sought a male heir to his throne from his new wife. The king's wife finally gets impregnated, but, due to jealousy, forces the king to choose between her and his daughter. His wife then stated an ultimatum; If he chose his daughter, then his wife would leave the palace for good and the throne would be given to his daughter, who would later become the queen. If the wife was chosen instead, the daughter would be banned from the palace and his wife's unborn child would later claim the throne as king. The king then made his decision to ban his daughter from the palace and orders a witch to curse his daughter, leaving her to suffer a skin disease. The pitiful daughter, now banned from the palace, hears a voice that tells her that if she wants to be cured of her terrible disease, she should jump into the seawater as midnight strikes. She followed as instructed and then she vanished, never to be seen or heard from again.
Pelabuhan Ratu, celebrates an annual holiday in her honour on April 6. It is a memorial day for the locals, offering a lot of ceremonial presents to appease the queen. The local fishermen annually send the “Sedekah Laut” ceremony, offering gifts and sacrifices; from rice, vegetables and agricultural produces, to chicken, batik fabrics and cosmetics, to be “larung” (sent afloat to the sea) and finally drawn it to the sea to appease the queen. The local fishermen believed that the ceremony would please the Queen of Southern Sea, that in return would give them some good catches in fisheries and would bless the surrounding areas with better weather, fewer storms and waves.
ROOM 308
The Grand Inna Samudra Beach Hotel keeps a special room dedicated to Nyi Roro Kidul, the Queen and ruler of the Southern Sea (Indian Ocean). The room is decorated with various objects related to Nyi Loro Kidul such as jewellery, clothing and furniture, all dominated by green. There is also a painting of Nyai Rara Kidul by Basuki Abdullah, a famous Indonesian painter, displayed in this room. When entering the room, the mystical atmosphere can be felt, and you can smell the sense of incense and flowers. The room can be visited by guests or booked for the night at an additional cost.