NYI RORO KIDUL

This is the pricise story of "The Queen in Southern Sea."

Pajajaran kingdom lied in West Java from 1333 AD to 1630 AD and it was conquered by the Islamic kingdom of Mataram from Central Java.

Pajajaran's greatest ruler was Prabu (King) Siliwangi. He had a bride in his harems and a very beautiful daughter was born between he and the bride. The girl was called Dewi Kadita and the beauties of Dewi Kadita and her mother made other harems jealous, and they had a conspiracy against them.

The harems used some kind of black magic to make the bodies of Dewi Kadita and her mother to be filthy and they turn to be so ugly and disgusting. Prabu Siliwangi got angry against the mother and the daughter and forced them to get out of the palace, as they were thought to be bad luck for the kingdom.
They were wandering around the country and one day the mother died. Dewi Kadita was walking in deep sadness, until she reached the Southern Shore (the shore of Indian Ocean) .

She sat above a rock in a stove shape and when she was sleeping, she had a vision that she must have to jump into the water to help herself out of the curse.
When she woke up, with no second thought, Dewi Kadita jumped into the sea. She returned to a beautiful lady as she was but then she realized that she was not a human anymore. She turned into a supernatural form of life. Since then, she ruled all creatures in the southern coast of Java Island, and she was known as Nyi Roro Kidul (Javanese of "Lady of South Sea"). To avenge her father, she became the primary bride for Mataram kings , the rival of Pajajaran kingdom. It's believed for centuries, even until now.

The river of Bengawan Solo, which started from the mystical mountain of Merapi in Central Java and leads to Indian Ocean, is said as the tunnel used by Nyi Roro Kidul to access Java.
And she traps males in green costume who are walking on the shore. They are swallowed by the wave and missing or dead but he will become her guard or (maybe) male.

This either can be the ancient Javanese explanation on the vacuum effect from underwater canyons that lie in the southern shore of Java, where the depth of the ocean's bed on the shore can reach more than 0-200 meters.


In psychological analysis, Nyi Roro Kidul can be a parallel of the revenge of a female who was once rejected by a male. Once she regains her power and beauty, she takes any man she wants.
And yet, I can't talk my point of view to Javanese elders.



Mario Rustan


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