Indonesia is known to have a lot of myths, legends, and supernatural tales due to cultural variety. There are many different supernatural stories in Indonesia. Many of these mystical stories end up as tourist attractions, and some of them are related with the local culture. Here are 3 Indonesian tourist destinations are still strongly connected to mystical stories
Sacred Cemetery in Mount Kawi
Mount Kawi is a mountain located in Malang, East Java. This mountain is popular for Pesarean, or sacred cemetery. In Mount Kawi, there is a grave of Kanjeng Kyai Zakaria II which most of the Javanese and the Indo-Chinese people believe that he was a famous spiritual master because he can cure many diseases. Therefore, many people visit the grave of Kanjeng Kyai Zakaria II to put some incense and offerings. Not only that, there is also the grave of Raden Mas Imam Soedjono. He was a spiritual master just like Zakaria II. Imam Soedjono helped Jugo villagers affected by the cholera epidemic by drinking water that he had given a spell.
White crocodile in Tolire Lake
Located in South Maluku, Tolire Lake has a bigger and a smaller lake, alongside the beautiful views of mountains and forests. Yet, who expects this beautiful view to have mystical stories behind it? The local community believed that long time ago, there was an incest relationship between father and daughter. When they tried to escape, the land collapsed and created a lake. The bigger lake was the father and the smaller lake was the daughter. Moreover, the villagers were also cursed to be white crocodiles to protect the Tolire lake.
Human-Bat Mythology in Seram Island
Seram island, located on the north side of Ambon has a mythological creature called “Orang Bati”. However, the name “Orang Bati” is very taboo because “Orang Bati” is considered a sacred and mystical creature. Orang Bati has characteristics like a combination of monkey and bat, they have wings like a bat, and red skin like blood, but their head looks like a monkey. Local people believed that “Orang Bati” lived in mountains and preyed on children to eat.
All in all, Indonesia is very close to supernatural stories even in tourism from the sacred graves on Mount Kawi to the mythological creatures on Seram Island. Moreover, supernatural stories are also closely related to their local cultures. Of those 3 tourist spots, what place interests you the most?
