For the Love of God: Islamic Shrine Ritual That Involves Adulterous Sex (Part 2)

Gunung Kemukus, on the other hand, has come to be seen as a safe place.

As the night wears on people are heading in to karaoke bars along the alleyways next to the shrine and the grave… in the one I just went into there were about six men and there was one women who was singing and dancing in a very sexual way and then men were sitting on a sofa and joining in the singing.

As recently as the 1980s, Gunung Kemukus was an almost entirely undeveloped hill marked by sacred dewadaru trees and the twisting roots of massive figs.

“It used to be very different. Before people would really have ritual sex. But what was happening was people were having sex out in the open and the local government decided that was not a good idea so they built bamboo huts around the shrine. But as a result prostitution grew.”

Professor Kuntjoro’s estimates that about half of the women who show up now on the mountain are commercial sex workers. 

Another 25 percent are “part-timers” like 27-year-old Liat….  

She is very reluctant to talk. She is worried her husband will know she is here.  My guide Fety persuades here to talk to her without me, behind a curtain. 

“I am just a normal housewife. I have a three year old daughter but my husband doesn’t earn enough to support our family so we are always fighting. So I decided to do this. My husband is a builder and is in Jakarta so he doesn't know what I am doing. My daughter is being looked after by my sister. Once every two months my husband comes home. My family doesn’t know I am doing.”

Each man she sleeps with paid her around 10 Australian dollars. On a good night she goes home with 100 Australian dollars.  

Since the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998, religiously-minded authorities have cracked down on many legal red-light districts. 

Gunung Kemukus, on the other hand, has come to be seen as a safe place.

When word got out recently that a radical vigilante group, the Islamic Defenders Front, was going to conduct a raid from Solo, the police showed up in force to protect the hill. 

The shrine is too valuable to shut down.

“The Islamic Defenders Front would be in enemy territory on Gunung Kemukus. It’s very dark and there are many layers at Gunung Kemukus. There are many gangsters and pimps and if their business was threatened they would fight back.”

Entering Gunung Kemukus in the early afternoon, it is clear just how lucrative the shrine has become. 

M.Suparno, the co-ordinator of tourism, says it adds up. 

“We can get 2,500 to 3,000 people or more in a night. The money from tickets goes to the local government.  In a year we earn around 196 million rupiah per year.” 

That’s around 20,000 Australian dollars.  

In the ritual adultery of Gunung Kemukus, there are many ways to reach your goal. 

For some like Pak Slamat paying for sex invalidates the ritual. 

It’s 1am when I call him to see if he has found a sex partner yet.  He is still near the grave praying…

“I am going to stay here… don’t know where I will sleep.  I haven’t found anyone yet.  I am looking for someone with a good heart…there are lots who look good from the outside but you need to pay for it. 

Sitting under a nearby dewadaru tree I find the new couple of Ishlam the MC and Julia the singer. 

I asked if they have exchanged phone numbers… 

“I don’t have a mobile phone…mobile phones make things complicated (LAUGH)   (can we redo?)

But Isham says he is in for the long haul….

“My business is selling song birds and it’s not going well at the moment.”

Q. Have you seen things change?

“I have only done the ritual three times so I haven’t seen any changes yet. I need to do it seven times!”…LAUGHS…. 

He will need to convince Julia to make the same commitment.