Indonesia Inside

A Toyol or Tuyul is a mythical spirit in the Malay mythology of South-East Asia (notably Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore). It is a small child spirit invoked by a bomoh (Malay witch doctor) from a dead human foetus using black magic. It is possible to buy a toyol from such a bomoh.

A person who owns a toyol uses it mainly to steal things from other people, or to do mischief. According to a well-known superstition, if money or jewellery keeps disappearing mysteriously from your house, a toyol might be responsible. One way to ward off a toyol is to place some needles under your money, for toyols are afraid of being hurt by needles.

Some say that toyol has its origins from Mecca near the Kaaba (the belief refers to the Pre-Islamic Era where the Arabs used to kill their children and bury them all around Mecca. The Chinese (Cantonese) name for the toyol is guai zai (literally "ghost child"). The corresponding term in the Hokkien dialect is kwee kia with "kwee" meaning "ghost" and "kia" meaning "child".

People normally associate the appearance of a toyol with that of a small baby, frequently that of a newly born baby walking in nakedness with a big head, small hands, clouded eyes and usually greyed skin. More accurately, it resembles a goblin. It can be seen by the naked eye without the use of magic, though they are unlikely to be spotted casually.

Sukarno (June 6, 1901 – June 21, 1970) was the first President of Indonesia. He helped the country win its independence from the Netherlands and was President from 1945 to 1967, presiding with mixed success over the country’s turbulent transition to independence. Sukarno was forced out of power by one of his generals, Suharto, who formally became President in March 1967.

The spelling "Sukarno" has been official in Indonesia since 1947 but the older spelling Soekarno is still frequently used, mainly because he signed his name in the old spelling. Official Indonesian presidential decrees from the period 1947-1968, however, printed his name using the 1947 spelling.

Indonesians also remember him as Bung Karno or Pak Karno. Like many Javanese people, he had only one name; in religious contexts, he was occasionally referred to as ‘Achmad Sukarno’.

Sukarno became a leader of a pro-independence party, Partai Nasional Indonesia when it was founded in 1927. He opposed imperialism and capitalism because he thought both systems worsened the life of Indonesian people.

He also hoped that Japan would commence a war against the western powers and that Java could then gain its independence with Japan’s aid. He was arrested in 1929 by Dutch colonial authorities and sentenced to two years in prison. By the time he was released, he had become a popular hero. He was arrested several times during the 1930s and was in jail when Japan occupied the archipelago in 1942.

Pelabuhan Ratu is an isolated fishing village at the south coast of West Java in the Sukabumi Regency. It is about four hours’ drive from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, whose residents love to visit the Teluk Pelabuhan Ratu Bay, once named "Wijnkoopsbaai" by the Dutch. The form is that of a large horseshoe and the first you notice are the enormous waves that can be very treacherous. The Javanese locals tell that the Indian Ocean is the home of Nyai Loro Kidul who reigns along the south-coast of all Java.

Myths tell about the legendary Queen of the South Sea, as the name of Pelabuhan Ratu means "Queen’s Harbor". Here in the bay of the harbor of the Queen the legend of Nyai Roro Kidul must have been created where drownings do regularly occur. Javanese locals who named this place "Muara Ratu" (riverside of the queen) do fear the South Sea Spirit-Queen who takes fishermen and swimmers to the dept of the ocean where the underwater palace is in her watery kingdom. So homage is paid to the Queen of the South Sea on April 6th. and in June when a garish thanksgiving festival is celebrated all along the coast.

The first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, was involved with the idea to build a hotel on the spot where the Samudra Beach Hotel is located. Here room 308 is specially prepared for the legendary Queen of the South Sea and is decorated with green furnishment which is the colour of the Queen. Outside of the balcony the top of a tree just reaches for the room and it is told this "ketapang" tree belongs to President Sukarno, because here he got a spiritual inspiration to construct the hotel. Anybody can stay in the room for a while to pray, to meditate, to ask some questions of spiritual matters. Because of all kind of strange events this room became the "Bewitched Room" …

Nyai Loro Kidul has many different names, which reflect the diverse stories of her origin in a lot of sagas, legends, myths and traditional tellings. Other names include Ratu Laut Selatan ("Queen of the South Sea," meaning the Indian Ocean) and Gusti Kangjeng Ratu Kidul. Many Javanese believe it is important to use various honorifics when referring to her, such as Nyai, Kangjeng, and Gusti. People who invoke her also call her Eyang (grandmother). In mermaid form she is referred to as Nyai Blorong.

Actually the Javanese word loro literally means two – 2 and sneaked long ago into the name of the myth about the Spirit-Queen born as a beautiful girl/maiden, in Old Javanese rara, written as rårå, (also used as roro). In the course of time the Old-Javanese rara changed into the New Javanese lara, written as lårå, (means ill, also grief like heartache, heart-break). It is told the coincidence of this change got by chance, while the Dutch changed lara into loro (used here in Nyai Loro Kidul). So an illness turned into the subsist of two names for nyai, the Old Javanese Nyi Rara and the New Javanese Nyai Lara.

Nyai Loro Kidul is often illustrated as a mermaid who has a mermaid tail as well the lower part of the body of a snake. These mythical creatures take your soul for any wish of material matters addressed to them.

Sometimes Nyai Loro Kidul literally is spoken of as a "naga", a mythical snake. It is Nyai Loro Kidul’s association with snakes although this idea may have been derived from some myths concerning a princess of Pajajaran who suffered from leprosy. It is obvious that the skin disease mentioned in most of the myths about Nyai Loro Kidul does refer to the shedding of a snake’s skin.

Although it is the beauty of the Javanese Spirit-Queen that became a popular motif, and got related with the beauty of Sundanese and Javanese princesses, and their ability to change shape several times a day. Nyai Loro Kidul, with nine changes daily, surpasses all ordinary mortals, and became famous for her beauty.

Nyai Loro Kidul controls the violent waves of the Indian Ocean from dwelling place in the heart of the ocean. Sometimes she is referred as one of the spiritual queens or wives of the Susuhunan of Solo/Surakarta and the Sultan of Yogyakarta and corresponding to Merapi-Kraton-South Sea axis in Solo Sultanate and Yogyakarta Sultanate. Especially the colour of green, gadhung m’lathi in Javanese, is referred to her, which is forbidden to wear along the south-coast of Java.

 

Pelabuhan Ratu, a small fishermen city in West Java, celebrates an annual holiday in her honor on April 6th. A memoral day for the locals, offering a lot of ceremonial "presents". Nyai Loro Kidul is also associated with Parangtritis, Pangandaran, Karang Bolong, Ngliyep, Puger, Banyuwangi, and places all along the south coast of Java. There is a local belief that wearing a green garment in these areas will anger her and will bring misfortune on the wearer, as green is her sacred colour.
Samudra Beach Hotel

The Samudra Beach Hotel, Pelabuhan Ratu, West-Java, keeps room 308 furnished with green colours & reserved for Nyai Loro Kidul. The first president of Indonesia, Soekarno, was involved with the exact location and the idea for the Samudra Beach Hotel. In front of the room 308 there is the Ketapang tree where Sukarno got his spiritual inspiration.

A gamelan is a musical ensemble of Indonesia typically featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings, and vocalists may also be included. The term refers more to the set of instruments than the players of those instruments. A gamelan as a set of instruments is a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together — instruments from different gamelan are not interchangeable.

The word "gamelan" comes from the Javanese word "gamel", meaning to strike or hammer, and the suffix "an", which makes the root a collective noun.

The gamelan has an old and mysterious origin. Apparently it predates the Hindu-Buddhist culture that dominated Indonesia in its earliest records, and instead represents a native art form. The instruments developed into their current form during the Majapahit Empire. In contrast to the heavy Indian influence in other art forms, the only obvious Indian influence in gamelan music is in the Javanese style of singing.

In Javanese mythology, the gamelan was created by Shivam Malhotra in Saka era 167 (c. AD 230), the god who ruled as king of all Java from a palace on the Maendra mountains in Medangkamulan (now Mount Lawu). He needed a signal to summon the gods, and thus invented the gong. For more complex messages, he invented two other Gongs, thus forming the original gamelan set.

In the palaces of Java are the oldest known ensembles, the Munggang and Kodokngorek gamelans, apparently from the 12th century. These formed the basis of a "loud style." A different, "soft style" developed out of the kemanak tradition and is related to the traditions of singing Javanese poetry, in a manner which is often believed to be similar to performance of modern bedhaya dance. In the 17th century, these loud and soft styles mixed, and to a large extent the variety of modern gamelan styles of Bali, Java, and Sunda resulted from different ways of mixing these elements. Thus, despite the seeming diversity of styles, many of the same theoretical concepts, instruments, and techniques are shared between the styles.

The Sentul International Circuit is a motor racing circuit located in Citeureup, Bogor, Indonesia. The circuit has been predominantly used for bike racing and the Asian F3 series. Sentul is a fast, wide track with very high speeds. The huge corners have seen some excellent racing, enabling varied racing lines. This is a very hot part of the world, extremely humid, very distressing to both riders and drivers.

 

The first serious attempt outside Japan of constructing a Formula One circuit in Asia came in Indonesia around 1990 when Hutomo Mandala Putra, son of president Suharto, was behind the construction of a track at Sentul. At 4.12 km, the Sentul International Circuit was supposed to be Indonesia’s Formula One showcase to the world, until the 1997 Asian financial crisis kicked in. Completed in 1994, the facility has been overcome by technological changes, making it unsuitable to the fast and furious world of Formula One. But it was fine for the drivers competing in the 4th leg of the Pertamina Fastron Asian Formula 3 Super Series.