Nyi Roro Kidul

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.

Nyai Loro Kidul or Nyi Roro Kidul or Ratu Laut Selatan (”Queen of the South”) and also known as Kangjeng Ratu Kidul is thought to be a Javanese goddess. The identity is of a goddess or Queen of Southern Sea of Java (Indian Ocean or Samudra Kidul) in Javanese and Sundanese mythology.

Nyai Loro Kidul has many different names, which reflect the diverse stories of her origin. However, for many Javanese it is important that various honorifics, such as Nyai, Kangjeng, and Gusti, are used when mentioning her name. People who invoke her also call her Eyang (grandmother).

Nyai Loro Kidul controls the violent waves of the Indian Ocean. Her dwelling-place is in the heart of the Indian Ocean, which is told to be her realm. Sometimes she is referred as one of the spiritual queens or wives of the Sultan of Yogyakarta or corresponding to Merapi-Kraton-South Sea axis in Yogyakarta Sultanate.

It was Panembahan Senopati (1586-1601 AD), founder of the second Mataram Kingdom, and his grandson Sultan Agung (1613-1645 AD) who named the Kanjeng Ratu Kidul as their bride in the Babad Tanah Jawi.

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

One original telling is about Dewi Kadita of the Pajajaran Kingdom, West-Java, who desperately seeks for the south after black magic that had hit her. She jumps into the violent waves of the Indian Ocean where the spirits and demons crowned the girl to the legendary Spirit-queen of the South.

A very complicated story goes about the Ajar Cemara Tunggal/Adhar Tjemara Toenggal on the mountain of Kombang, a male seer who actually was the great-aunt of Joko Susuruh. She told him to go to the east of Java to found a kingdom on the place where a maja-tree just had one fruit; the fruit was bitter (pait) and the kingdom got the name of Majapait. The seer Cemara Tunggal would marry the founder of Majapait and, any descendant in first line, to help in all kind of matters. Though after he (the seer) would have transmigrated into the “spirit-queen of the south” who shall reign over the spirits, demons and all dark creatures. After all it is because of these traditions that the myth about Nyai Loro Kidul got a Sundanese, West-Javanese origin.

Pelabuhan Ratu, a city in West Java, celebrates an annual holiday in her honor on (New years day in the Javanese calendar). The special day which is dedicated to the Nyai Loro Kidul is on April, the 6th. She is also associated with Parangtritis, Pangandaran, Karang Bolong, Ngliyep, Puger, Banyuwangi, 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. The Samudra Beach Hotel keeps room 308 furnished with green colours & reserved for Nyai Loro Kidul. The first president, President Soekarno, of Indonesia 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 Soekarno got his spiritual inspiration.

Legends recount her love for the Sultan Agung of Mataram, which continues to be recounted in the ritualized bedhaya dance by the royal line of Surakarta, and she is honored by the sultans of Yogyakarta. When Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX died on October 3, 1988, the Tempo newsmagazine reported her sighting by palace servants, who were sure she was paying her final tribute to the dead ruler.