Nyai Roro Idul
>> Tuesday, September 16, 2008
As many variations of the Nyai Ryo Kidul legend exist as there names for her. What is undisputed is that she is the Queen of the South Seas.
On story of Nyai Ryo Kidul goes like this. A long time ago there was a certain King Mundingsari who ruled the Kingdom of Pajajaran in West Java. The king loved to go hunting and one day while hunting the hurt himself. Luckily, a woman, married came along and helped him. The king fell in love with the woman, married her forthwith and brought her back to his palace. All would have been well and good except that the good king already had a wife, and he had a beautiful daughter named Dyah Retno Suwedho.
The new wife didn’t particularly like the first wife, and so with the help of a black magician she arranged for her and her daughter to contract a horrible skin disease. The disfiguration must have been terrible indeed, for the king couldn’t stand to have them in his presence and banned them from the royal court.
The wife and daughter wandered through the wildness long and wide in search of a cure, but the girl’s mother died before one could be found. Grieving terribly, the disfigured daughter continued her search alone. After many hardships, she arrived at Java’s south coast. The young girl was so unhappy that she threw herself from an outcropping of rock (perhaps at Karang Hawu) into the ocean. But miracle upon miracle, not only did she not drown, but her skin disease was immediately cured and she became more beautiful than ever. On top of that she became immortal. Nyai Ryo Kidul, as she was thereafter known, then built an underwater palace called Kraton Kidul, where it is rumored she has had much consort with kings and sultans ever since.
A word of caution: don’t wear green clothing when on the south coast since it attracts her attention and she is likely to pull you into her watery realm.
On story of Nyai Ryo Kidul goes like this. A long time ago there was a certain King Mundingsari who ruled the Kingdom of Pajajaran in West Java. The king loved to go hunting and one day while hunting the hurt himself. Luckily, a woman, married came along and helped him. The king fell in love with the woman, married her forthwith and brought her back to his palace. All would have been well and good except that the good king already had a wife, and he had a beautiful daughter named Dyah Retno Suwedho.
The new wife didn’t particularly like the first wife, and so with the help of a black magician she arranged for her and her daughter to contract a horrible skin disease. The disfiguration must have been terrible indeed, for the king couldn’t stand to have them in his presence and banned them from the royal court.
The wife and daughter wandered through the wildness long and wide in search of a cure, but the girl’s mother died before one could be found. Grieving terribly, the disfigured daughter continued her search alone. After many hardships, she arrived at Java’s south coast. The young girl was so unhappy that she threw herself from an outcropping of rock (perhaps at Karang Hawu) into the ocean. But miracle upon miracle, not only did she not drown, but her skin disease was immediately cured and she became more beautiful than ever. On top of that she became immortal. Nyai Ryo Kidul, as she was thereafter known, then built an underwater palace called Kraton Kidul, where it is rumored she has had much consort with kings and sultans ever since.
A word of caution: don’t wear green clothing when on the south coast since it attracts her attention and she is likely to pull you into her watery realm.
Source: All Around Bandung, Exploring The West Java Highlands, Gottfried Roelcke, Gary Crabb
Photo: www.cerita-oke.blogspot.com
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