The Legend Of "Nyai Roro Kidul"

The story of this Nyi Roro Kidul, very famous. Not only among the population of Yogyakarta and Surakarta, but on the whole island of Java. Both in Central Java, West Java 

and East Java. In the Yogyakarta area Nyi Roro Kidul story is always connected with the story of the King of Mataram. While in East Java, especially in South Malang precisely at the Beach Ngliyep, Nyi Roro Kidul called as Kanjeng Ratu Kidul. On the beach Ngliyep also held Labuhan ceremony is offering Nyi Roro Kidul worshipers believed that the wealth they get is on Nyi Roro Kidul assistance and his men. That said, Nyi Roro Kidul is a beautiful queen like an angel, her beauty never faded at all times. At the base of the South Sea, the sea used to be called the Indian Ocean - south of the island of Java, he was enthroned in a kingdom of spirits were very large and beautiful. Who is the Queen of the South?

Nyai Loro Kidul (also spelled Nyi Roro Kidul) is a legendary Indonesian female spirit or deity, known as the Queen of the Southern Sea of Java (Indian Ocean or Samudra Kidul south of Java island) in Javanese and Sundanese mythology. According to Javanese beliefs, she is also the mythical spiritual consort of the Sultans of Mataram and Yogyakarta, beginning with Senopati and continuing to the present day.

Nyai Roro Kidul has many different names, which reflect the diverse stories of her origin in a lot of sagas, legends, myths and traditional folklore. Other names include Ratu Laut Selatan ("Queen of the South Sea," meaning the Indian Ocean) and Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Kidul. The royal house ofKeraton Surakarta revered her as Kanjeng Ratu Ayu Kencono Sari.ManyJavanese believe it is important to use various honorifics when referring to her, such as Nyai, Kanjeng, and Gusti. People who invoke her also call her Eyang (grandmother). In mermaid form she is referred to as Nyai Blorong.The Javanese word loro literally means two - 2 and merged into the name of the myth about the Spirit-Queen born as a beautiful girl or maiden, in Old Javanese rara, written as rårå, (also used as roro). Old-Javanese rara evolved into the New Javanese lara, written as lårå, (means ill, also grief like heartache, heart-break).

Dutch orthography changed lara into loro (used here in Nyai Loro Kidul) so the word play moved from beautiful girl to a sick one - Old Javanese Nyi Rara and the New Javanese Nyai Lara

Although her legends mostly linked to 16th century Javanese Mataram Sultanate, the older manuscript traced her legendary origin to the era of Sundanese kingdom of Pajajaran, the legend of ill-fated princess Kadita. However, Javanese and Sundanese anthropological and cultural studies suggests that the myth of Queen of Java's Southern Seas probably originated from older prehistoric animistic beliefs, the pre-Hindu-Buddhist female deity of southern ocean. The fierce waves of Indian Ocean on southern Java coasts, its storms and sometimes tsunamis, probably had raised the locals awe and fear of natural power, and attributing it to the spiritual realm of deities and demons that inhabit the southern seas ruled by their queen, a female deity, later identified as "Ratu Kidul".

The 16th century Javanese legends connects the Queen of Southern Seas as the protector and spiritual consort of the kings of Mataram Sultanate. Panembahan Senopati (1586-1601 AD), founder of the Mataram Sultanate, and his grandsonSultan Agung (1613-1645 AD) who named the Kanjeng Ratu Kidul as their bride, is claimed in the Babad Tanah Jawi.According to Javanese legends dated from 16th century CE, the prince Panembahan Senopati, aspired to establish a new kingdom Mataram Sultanate against Pajang overlordship. He performed ascetic acts through meditating on the beach of Parang Kusumo, south of his home in the town of Kota Gede. His meditation caused a disturbing powerful supernatural phenomenon in the spiritual kingdom of Southern Sea. The Queen came to the beach to see who had caused this menace in her kingdom. Upon seeing the handsome prince, the queen immediately fell in love and asked the prince to stop his meditation. In return the deity queen, who ruled spiritual realm of southern seas, agreed to help Panembahan Senopati in his political effort to establish a new kingdom. In order to become the spiritual protector of the kingdom, the Queen asked to be held by the prince in hand of marriage, as the spiritual consort of Panembahan Senopati and all of his successors, the series of Mataram kings.

One Sundanese folktale is mentioned about Dewi Kadita, the beautiful princess of the Pajajaran Kingdom, in West Java, who desperately fled to the Southern Sea after being struck by black magic. The black magic was cast by a witch under the order of a jealous rival in the palace, and caused the beautiful princess to suffer disgusting skin disease. She jumped into the violent waves of the Ocean where she finally cured and regain her beauty, and the spirits and demons crowned the girl as the legendary Spirit-Queen of the South Sea

A similar version of the story above mentions that the king (at the time), having her as the only child, who is planning to retire from the throne, remarries. Having a queen (instead of a king) was forbidden. The king's new wife finally gets pregnant, but, because of jealousy, forces the king to choose between her wife or her daughter. There was an ultimatum. If he chose his daughter, then her wife would leave the palace and the throne would be given to what would later become the queen. If the wife was chosen, the daughter would be banned from the palace and the new, yet to be born child, would be king. The king solves this by ordering a witch to make his daughter suffer a skin disease. The daughter, now banned from the palace, hears a voice that tells her to go to the sea at midnight to cure her disease. She did, and vanished, never to be seen again.

Another Sundanese folktale shows Banyoe Bening (meaning clear water) becomes Queen of the Djojo Koelon Kingdom and, suffering from leprosy, travels to the South where she is taken up by a huge wave to disappear into the Ocean.

Another West Java folktale is about the Ajar Cemara Tunggal (Adjar Tjemara Toenggal) on the mountain of Kombang in the Pajajaran Kingdom. He is a male seer who actually was the beautiful great aunt of Raden Jaka Susuruh. She disguised herself as a psychic and told Raden Jaka Susuruh 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 in Javanese, and the kingdom got the name of Majapahit. The seer Cemara Tunggal would marry the founder of Majapahit and any descendant in first line, to help them in all kind of matters. Though the seer's spirit would have transmigrated into the "spirit-queen of the south" who shall reign over the spirits, demons and all dark creatures.