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Hello dear Hiveians...
Today I'm gonna write about one of the most famous character in Indonesian mythology, especially in Java "Kanjeng Ratu Kidul"= "The queen of the Southern Sea".
The legend of Ratu Kidul is believed and worshipped by few different tribes across Java with some little differences in the story details.
The tribes living in the West Java believed that she was originally the crown princess of Padjadjaran empire. Her father's new empress had schemed to let her be banished by using a voodoo magic that destroyed her beauty with infectious skin ulcers.
She fled to the east until she reached the Indian ocean and drowned herself into it.
The sea had magically healed her skin disease but also turned her into a spiritual being. From then on she ruled over all the deities and demons living in the southern sea.
Another variation of the story said that since birth her reverend grandfather had already foreseen her future that she is fated to be a wife of the ruler of Java great empire, so she won't be shackled in the Sunda territory. That explained why she wasn't married yet in that age despite being the great beauty of her nation.
This legend is somehow eventually mixed with the belief of Javanese folks.
When I talk about 'javanese' here, it would generally refer to the folks living in Central Java. It means those belong to the territory of the new Mataram (although in fact Java island not only consist of Central Java folks, but there are few more big tribes living in it).
Ancient Mataram was Hindu folks whereas the new Mataram was an islamic empire.
Despite having similar name, between those empire lies nine centuries gap and both Dynasties had no relation except that their ruling area was about the same.
Nevertheless there was a speculation that the myth about Ratu Kidul has actually been designated by the new Mataram empire to legitimate their reign in Java, in order to win over the people's heart who were still either paganism, Hinduism oder Buddhism folllowers.
Why is that?
I will certainly come into it soon after you enjoy the pictures of my own masterpiece describing our most beautiful mythical Queen here:
Now we can continue with the story 😉...
Indonesia is the biggest moslem population in the world, however Islam in Indonesia has a different vibe compared to those in Middle-East and North Africa despite being relatively more spiritually religious than those in central Asia. This condition has something to do with the way the imams spreading the teaching to our ancestors in the past. Islam in Java was spread by Walisongo (The 9 Guardians) who was a kind of state advisors since the first islamic empire established in Java.
Walisongo didn't use force to teach the new religion but rather through trading, marriage, mild and slow assimilation with the local customs and beliefs. Therefore in Java we would find plenty of indigenous traditions, rituals and myths mixed with the islamic rites.
For example Kudus, the last city I lived in before I moved into Germany, there was an old mosque which had the design similar to a Hindu temple.
Another example is the myth about the Southern Sea's Mythical Queen I am narrating here.
My folks believed that the queen was the incarnation of Dewi Sri, the rice goddess (read=protector of the agriculture, the symbol of fertility), ruling over the spiritual beings living in the southern sea to protect us. But she would also show her wrath when the folks are doing bad things excessively and living against the nature. Therefore the javanese would always tend to connect every natural disaster happening in Java with the mythical queen. Citizen of Yogyakarta, the territory of the last biggest Java empire in Indonesia which has been voluntarily being a part of Indonesian republic, would then doing a special sacrificial rites in the sea for the goddess aside of the regular one every year.
Yes, Yogyakarta was supposed to be an islamic empire, but the folks have always been doing some sacrificial rites for "the protectors of the land":
for the queen of the Southern Sea, the deities of Merapi volcano, the Lawu mountain, in the palace, and Dlepih Kahyangan (the place where Panembahan Senopati, "the founder of new Mataram empire", meditated and believed to be a place where he made a marriage contract with "Kanjeng Ratu Kidul" and shared a nuptial chamber for three days and three nights).
The javanese people believe that the queen would always be one of the consort of every throne's successors and aside of helping the founding father to establish the new kingdom, she will also be bound to guard the land for as long as the country exists.
The supposedly marriage between the two important figures in Java was likely spread by the new royal clans with a special purpose to get a legitimation of power by the Java folks, since Panembahan Senopati (Danang Sutawijaya) was only an adopted son of Sultan Pajang 'Hadiwijaya' and had rebelled towards the declining Pajang empire to establish his new kingdom in his vassal state 'Mataram'.
Moreover it was good for him to win the people's heart since Javanese indigenous people were strong believers in the Animism and partly Hinduism as well as Buddhism. So it was better to assimilate the culture differences well than forcing the strict rules of Islam.
Interesting fact recently is that our present king actually the first one practices monogamy despite not having a son after successively having 5 princesses 😉.
Sofar the empress has always been evading the question related the topic of the "marriage" between Java king and the mythical queen.
At the moment there is a subtle hot undercurrent regarding the succession of the throne in Yogyakarta, because the king has established his eldest daughter to be a crown princess despite the disagreement of some related parties as the king has actually some step brothers who have been thought as more eligible than the princess to inherit the throne.
Yogyakarta (continuation of new Mataram empire) is an islamic nation, so a female is not supposed to rule as long as there is still a capable male with an inheritance right.
The king has taken off a part of the traditional title for the next ruler which symbolically gives a possibility for a female fo reign.
Frankly speaking I am truly looking forward to seeing the first female ruler in Java after the Islamic Dynasties reigned in this island for the last centuries.
Well, I know that the monarchy doesn't have a big role in our nation as a whole anymore, but what interests me more is the breakthrough in the alpha male dominance among our conservative society despite living in a theoretically secular republic for 7 decades, especially when it comes to leading roles in the political world.
That would be like a fresh air blowing into this land who has been slowly infiltrated by the Wahabists in the last 2 decades.
By the way you can get a glimpse of the present Javanese main royal family here!
Back to the myth... It is believed that green is the favorite color of Ratu Kidul, so outfits in green are unofficially banned at the beaches of the southern sea like Parangtritis, Parangkusumo or Pelabuhan Ratu otherwise there would be accidents cos the queen would likely take the offenders into her custody and make them her soldiers.
However I can tell a plausible explanation why the drowning victims wearing green there haven't been found again by the rescuers.
Aside of being famous with the big waves, indian ocean has naturally plenty of seaplants and other substances which makes the greenish and blueish color tone of it's water.
This would make it especially difficult to find the victim wearing green.
Moreover the Southern Sea has plenty of rocky pits and caves underwater that could possibly trap the body there. The area is beautiful but indeed hid some danger actually. Inexperienced swimmers and divers should better not challenge the wave there and rather just enjoy the sceneries or the food 😉.
Interesting fact was that former US Ambassador Marshall Green was always reluctant to agree any invitation of our first president 'Sukarno' to visit his residential suite located in Pelabuhan Ratu because he was worryingthat his surname might be an issue for our mythical queen 😉.(source for this little fun fact is here!)
Another theory is that the green colour was associated witg the colour of Dutch army's uniform, that's why it was banned for Javanese as a symbol of protest deliberately spread by the royal clans.
The Samudrea Beach Hotel and Pelabuhan Ratu Resort have both reserved a luxurious suite with a certain number which is believed to be a place where the queen resides whenever she comes ashore either for having a date or just for land inspection. In that room hangs a replica the queen painting made by our famous painter Basoeki Abdullah, who claimed to make the painting after having a sacred ritual and meditation that allowed her to meet the goddess.
The 1st king of Surakarta Sunanate had created the sacred dance dedicated to the goddess called "Bedhaya Ketawang" which has always been performed during the inauguration of the new king.
The dance has a spiritual meaning and special requirements for the dancers. The dance also represents the love story between the king and the goddess.
By the way Mataram was divided into two states: Surakarta Sunanate and Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat (Yogyakarta Sultanate) with the
Treaty of Giyanti:, as a result of the scheme done by dutsch colonial in order to take over Java.
You can enjoy one of the dance performance here:
I have been visiting Parangtritis beach twice as a teenager, unfortunately I was so poor that I didn't have a camera to save the memory. Both were school trips when I graduated the elementary and secondary school. So I'd just attach few pictures taken from pixabay below:
Source: pixabay
Well... That's it for today and see you again soon with the next story. Thank you in advance for the upvotes and have a nice day! ~~Strikethrough~~