Samudra Beach's Room No. 308 still retains its mystery

Samudra Beach's Room No. 308 still retains its mystery

By Ida Indawati Khouw

PELABUHAN RATU, West Java (JP): You can book any room you want
at the Samudra Beach Hotel at Pelabuhan Ratu near Sukabumi, about
160 kilometers from Jakarta, but don't ask for room no. 308.

For sure, the management won't let you stay in the room,
located in the center of the third floor even though you might
have a wad of cash or several platinum credit cards. The room is
strictly reserved for a very special guest... a queen. The
queen, named Nyai Rara Kidul or the Queen of the South, is the
spiritual ruler of Java's southern coasts where Pelabuhan Ratu
(literally means the Harbor of the Queen) is located.

Curious about the room and its special guest, I decided to
spend my weekend there as the resort area is not too far from
Jakarta.

Pelabuhan Ratu can normally be reached within about four hours
from Jakarta. Don't worry if you don't have your own car, you can
reach it by bus from Jakarta to Bogor first and then continue
your trip to Sukabumi.

Be prepared as your trip will be rather uncomfortable,
particularly when passing the route between Sukabumi and
Pelabuhan Ratu. Big holes, enough to "torture" you for one hour,
are everywhere along the road.

I had a worse experience. I found that along the way, there
were dozens of youth blocking the road at more than 20 spots
begging for money to pay for their "service," directing passing
cars so as to avoid the holes.

But I felt so relieved when reaching the resort area which was
canopied by shady trees.

New hotels and bungalows are located along the seashore but
the "queen" of the sea, Nyai Rara Kidul, prefers to "stay" at the
oldest hotel in the area, the eight-story Samudra Beach Hotel.

This four-star hotel has been famous for regularly receiving a
special guest, The Queen of the South, but I still clearly
remember that the hotel was mentioned in my elementary school
textbook.

Samudra Beach Hotel was one of four hotels built by the
Indonesian government using the war reparations fund from Japan
in the early l960s. Other hotels were the Ambarrukmo in
Yogyakarta, Hotel Indonesia in Jakarta and Bali Beach Hotel in
Sanur, Bali.

The Samudra Beach Hotel's guests may only take a glance at the
room no 308. One can enter the room and meditate there after
obtaining special permission from the hotel management.

The size of the green-carpeted room was exactly the same as
the others but the interior design was especially created to
please Nyai Rara Kidul who loves green. As I entered the room, I
smelt the sweet fragrance of flowers mixed with incense and all
kinds of scents usually used during "rituals".

The room was furnished with a single-sized spring bed covered
with a green silk-quilted bed sheet adorned with gold threads.
Lying on the bed were several large and small bolsters, a red
gown, a gold lace kebaya (traditional Javanese blouse), a long
batik cloth and a pair of high-heeled, gold-colored slippers to
be "worn" by the queen every time she visits the room.

All the things for rituals are prepared by people who
regularly pray here, usually on Friday evening (the most sacred
night considered by many). "We never prepare anything as our
obligation is only to regularly clean the room like the others,"
said head of the food and beverage division Edy Rohendi.

I was allowed to spend quite some time for a photo session
after Edy, who also acted as the mediator to the queen, "asked"
the queen' to allow me to take some shots of her bedroom.

We sat on the green carpet, facing the "shrine" consisting of
a low table, a small cone of rice with egg on top, incense,
flowers, a place for betel vine, and other ritual equipment.

The "shrine" is located below a big painting of the long-
haired queen sitting in the middle of an ocean storm with a
golden snake at her side, the work of art master Basoeki
Abdullah.

Edy, the guide of the "room no. 308 tour", was silent for a
while before he started "communicating" with the queen's spirit.

"We ask for your permission to take a picture of your room,
may you not be angry with us," he said in a low voice.

A similar "ritual" also took place after the photo session was
ended.

Edy said that the ritual must be conducted adding that "it's
just like the etiquette of entering one's house".

I felt that the 20 square-meter room was too "crowded" with
eight large and small paintings of Nyai Rara Kidul, mostly the
work of Basoeki hanging on the walls. In his 1979 work titled
Nyai Loro Kidul dengan Dua Kuda (Nyai Loro Kidul with Two Horses)
the maestro painter even put the words Nyaosaken gambaran
panjenengan dalem kanjeng pengetan. Saking abdi dalem Basuki
Abdullah (To present the picture of your highness as a
remembrance. From me Basuki Abdullah).

Nearby the window, there are two paintings of the late
president Sukarno with the Indonesian flag surrounded by flowers.

Edy said that it was a homage to Sukarno, who initiated the
hotel's development in 1965.

"One of the local elderly men, who joined the ceremonial meal
was involved at the start of the hotel's construction -- which
was also attended by Sukarno -- and received a wangsit (divine
inspiration) that the hotel should furnish a room for Nyai Rara
Kidul, and the room should be located in front of a ketapang
tree.

"But the wangsit was never communicated to the hotel's
management, that's why the management did not prepare such a
room," said Edy, who started to work there in 1972, adding that
the ceremony itself took place under a Ketapang tree, near the
hotel building.

After the grand opening on Feb. 15, 1966, a Japanese guest
stayed at room no. 308 but he complained that strange voices
always bothered his sleep.

Sometime later an "orang pintar" (person who had super natural
powers) meditated in the room and suggested that the room should
be reserved for the queen.

Surprisingly, room no. 308 is located exactly in front of the
Ketapang tree which still stands there.

According to Edy, the room has brought "blessing" to the
hotel. "For our guests, it is a special attraction."

Pelabuhan Ratu is really a wonderful resort area with its
undulated coasts side by side with paddy fields. But be careful,
because threats are sometime sheltering behind its beauty.

People believe that visitors are banned from wearing green
color clothes when they walk or play along the beach, offenders
will be "seized" by the queen and taken to her underwater
kingdom.

Swimming is quite dangerous because the waves are
unpredictable, sometimes capable of dragging people into the sea.
If you follow the "unwritten" rules, you can just enjoy the
beauty of Pelabuhan Ratu. Happy holiday.