Pon Festival, an Indonesian festival of sex with strangers

News24xx.com -  Indonesia is the world’s largest island country. In 2010, Indonesia was also recorded as having the world’s most populous Muslim majority.

But in Solo, Central Java there is a ritual during for this centuries-old, ie the Pon Festival. It seems like a festival based on adulterous sex, because it involves ritualistic sex between strangers. The Pon Festival is a paradox, devout men and women, meet regularly in the same site for adulterous sex.

At that time, couples meet to have sexual intercourse next to a shrine, on the side of a mountain. The mountain in question is Mount Kemukus, located near the village of Solo in Java. 

These are not one-off encounters, but the couples must meet seven times every 35th day if the ritual is to be considered complete. This means that they will have sex for a year. The relationship has all the components of a committed and caring relationship.

Although Solo is said to represent the modern face of Indonesia, Islam here is influenced by other cultures and religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, giving rise to a festival that is far from devout.

For centuries, pilgrims have convened at a shrine called Gunung Kemukus, on the auspicious day of Jumat Pon (from which the Festival takes its name). 

The shrine is believed to house the remains of a 16th century prince called Pangeran Samudro, the son of a Javanese king; next to him are the remains of his stepmother, Nyai Ontrowulan. 

Then, Samudro and Ontrowulan were forced to flee their home when Samudro’s father discovered their affair.

The pair arrived in Solo only to be caught, mid-coitus, by villagers and killed. 

Whatever the lineage, thousands of pilgrims converge at the site in the belief that illicit sex will bring them good luck. 

Pilgrims come seeking success for their businesses or for personal gain to pay off debts.

The proceedings begin with early morning prayers.

Pilgrims then attend the grave of the prince and his star-crossed stepmother to lay flowers and pray again. From here, they must cleanse themselves in one of the sacred springs, and only at this stage do they head off in search of a partner. 

At sunset, the mountain is replete with pilgrims looking for sex. The night is something of a reunion for returning couples. They frequently exchange mobile numbers and addresses in order to find one another at the site,­ which means some couples stay in contact on non-ritual days.

Relationships occasionally form away from the mountain; even in the midst of this unusual tradition, people do fall in love but it is mostly unrequited.

Some pilgrims tell their legal spouses that they are travelling to Gunung Kemukus. Most do not. Traditionally, the sex is performed out in the open, and the couple will spend the remainder of the night together under the trees that dot the hillside. For those not partaking in sex, karaoke bars provide alternative entertainment. 

The mountain is littered with karaoke shacks as well as stalls selling everything from refreshments to traditional trinkets and aphrodisiacs. Amidst the karaoke bars and prayer sites are huts with makeshift bedrooms in the back. In 2014, it was claimed that up to 75% of the women present were full or part-time sex workers.

Religious leaders are said to turn a blind eye to proceedings, and this tacit consent has resulted in a boom in prostitution. 

 

 

 

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