Mt. Kemukus: A place with a difference
By Tedy Novan
YOGYAKARTA (JP): The economic crisis has driven many confused and frustrated people to seek their own refuge. Some have chosen to visit places where mysticism reigns. Mount Kemukus is one such place. This mountain is located near Pendem village, Sumber Lawang, 32 kilometers to the west of Sragen, Central Java. It is here that two lovers were buried and as such the place is believed to be sacred -- a place where one may make requests to the souls of the two dead lovers.
The two lovers buried here were Prince Samodra of the Demak royal lineage and Raden Roro Ontrowulan, the prince's stepmother- cum-lover.
This burial site, a place of pilgrimage for those wanting to have their wishes granted by the dead lovers, is about 1,000 square meters in area and lies in the Kedungombo dam area.
If you go there, sex is indeed in the air. The path leading up to the grave is lined on both sides with brothels. Condoms are available in stalls. There is a belief that your request will be granted if you have sex seven times in this place.
This grave site is now a tourist spot and one has to pay an entrance fee of Rp 750.
It is not clear how this place came to have such beliefs attached to it. Locals say that long, long ago, Raden Roro Ontrowulan was in love with her stepson, Prince Samodra, the ruler of the area.
The prince then became a wanderer and died on Mount Kemukus. His death was such a blow to Ontrowulan that she, too, departed from this world. The bodies of the two were then interred. Their grave measures one meter by two meters.
"This proves the strong love that a mother had for her son," said Harjo, 68, the caretaker of the graveyard. He refused to believe that Ontrowulan and Samodra were involved in an illicit affair.
According to Harjo, or Pak Haji as he is affectionately called, pilgrims, male and female, usually arrive alone. Female and male sex workers are ready to have ritual sex with them. Pilgrims rarely arrive with their spouses, perhaps because of the ritual sex required of them before they make their wish, he added.
However, whatever you call these sexual rituals, they are clearly prostitution practices. Such practices have greatly upset the Sragen administration.
In 1974, Sragen district, to combat rumors that it condoned prostitution, announced its intention to declare the place closed to the public. "The plan was canceled when I went to see the regent and explained the whole thing to him," said Pak Haji, a seventh-generation caretaker of the site.
In fact, he said, pilgrims visiting the site only want their wishes fulfilled. They include government officials and rich businesspeople.
Word is that Mount Kemukus is a spot for sex tourism. More and more people have visited this spot. In this time of monetary crisis, many people have become confused and frustrated. Their only refuge, a place that brings them hope, is a place of mystical charm. Visitors arrive from as far as Sumatra to the west and Indonesia's eastern-most regions.
On the night before Friday, Pon (the name of a day in the Javanese calendar), the day when Prince Samodra died, and Friday Kliwon (also according to the Javanese calendar), a day when the ceremony observing the seven days after his death, some 4,000 to 5,000 visitors flock to this place.
In the 1997/1998 fiscal year beginning April 1997, the site collected some Rp 50 million up to December 1997. The annual target is set at Rp 68 million.
"Although the reports that Mount Kemukus is a sex spot are erroneous, it is a blessing in that a lot of tourists come to this place. The proceeds earned from this location are the biggest contribution to the region's income," said Untung Sugiantoro, who is assigned to supervise this tourist area.
He acknowledged, however, that it was impossible to stop prostitution here. "The most we can do is just to give them a warning. The most important thing is that there is order and decency here," said Sugiantoro, a father of one.
Visitors used to have sex in the graveyard, but now they go to one of the 50 hostels and small houses around the grave.
Pardiman, who offers transportation around the Mount Kemukus area on his motorcycle, commented that people used to have sex in the open but now they do it behind closed doors.
Another difference is that previously couples had sex only after a male pilgrim became acquainted with a female one, while today both male and female pilgrims only have to choose their suitable partners in the hostels and small houses in the area.