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What better time to become Ghostbusters than your vacation? 👻 Seek the haunted in these places connected to the otherworldly!
The Most Haunted Places in Indonesia
As someone who was born and raised in Indonesia, I am very much well aware of this country’s fascination with the spiritual. Growing up, I heard many, many stories about ghostly apparitions of our local “friends” and other unexplainable phenomenon. Though fortunately I have never had similar experiences, here are the top destinations to search for the spookies in Indonesia.
Table of contents
1. Lawang Sewu (Semarang)
This historic building is notorious for being the most haunted building in the whole country. Lawang Sewu, with the literal meaning of “a thousand doors”, was a grand construction from the colonial Dutch era. It was a luxurious marvel of its time, and the many doors served as an effective air circulation system.
Things unfortunately changed during the Japanese occupation, and Lawang Sewu became a Japanese army stronghold. The underground tunnels under B Building became a torture chamber for prisoners, with decapitated heads stacked on corners. Another horror for prisoners at the time includes a flooded squatting prison, a 1.5 m by 1.5 m room with the height of only 60 cm*.
Japanese army would fit five to nine prisoners into this small compartment, and they would flood it until everyone drowned to their deaths. Stories about a shadowy figure with green eyes and a bloody smell emanating in the underground prison is still being told to this day.
This legendary site also became a famous filming location for many ghostbusting reality shows, namely Dunia Lain and Uji Nyali. Some of the most famous ghostly apparitions in this location include: a beautiful Dutch woman killed by the Japanese forces, genderuwo, kuntilanak*, and cries of torture from an old well.
*It’s 4.9ft x 4.9ft x 2ft for the Americans reading this
**Local ghost with a very, very tall stature and a lot of hair
***vengeful spirit of a woman with a high-pitched laugh
2. Toraja (South Sulawesi)
You might have read stories about the Toraja ethnic group and their grand funerary rituals. Families spend hundreds of thousands of USDs upon loved ones’ death, and they sacrifice up to hundreds of livestock. Then locals inter the bodies into caves or holes carved out on the sides of cliffs. For newborn babies, Torajans put their small bodies into the Tarra Tree instead- this symbolizes a return to their mother’s womb.
The Torajans believe that the dead will protect them from another realm. This is the reason why locals perform a ritual called Ma’nene every 3-4 years. They exhume, clean, and change the clothes of their dead ancestors. They are in preserved, mummified condition, and the families will all gather- not dissimilar to Thanksgiving! Just with more relatives, dead or alive.
You can visit the caves to see coffins and skeletons from hundreds of years ago! It is a very spooky yet fascinating look into the Torajan culture.
3. Kota Tua Jakarta
The old center of commerce in Jakarta, Kota Tua (“Old Town”), is where grand buildings from the Dutch colonial era are. It was where the VOC put its administrative center– and as one of the most profitable company at the time it had plenty of power. With power, though, comes blood- lots of it!
Jakarta History Museum (Fatahillah Museum) is one of the most haunted buildings in the city. The courtyard is where VOC executed rebels and criminals, and the museum building held prisoners in the underground prison. The execution sword is still displayed at the museum, complete with what is said to be blood markings.
It is reported that some people smelled a metallic, bloody scent inside the museum. Some also heard haunted cries, screams, and colonial era music from the female underground prison. A bell that used to be rang three times before death executions is also said to ring at night.
Toko Merah is another location where people report a lot of supernatural sightings and occurrences. A violent 13-day genocide in 1740, Geger Pecinan, resulted in the torture, rape, and killing of 24,000 people with Chinese ethnicity. Nowadays, there are reports of sightings of a woman in white, haunted footstep sounds of Dutch soldiers, and spirit possessions.
4. Pantai Selatan / Pantai Pelabuhan Ratu
A legendary figure in the Indonesian spiritual world, Queen of the Southern Seas Nyi Roro Kidul even has her own Wiki page! She is said to be a princess from the Padjajaran Kingdom, and her beauty was very much unrivalled. This is why her jealous stepmother used dark magic to make her sick.
After getting a disfiguring skin disease, she threw herself into the South Sea. The ruler of the South Sea then removed her disease, gave her powers, and she became Nyi Roro Kidul.
If you want to visit the South Sea or Pelabuhan Ratu Beach, make sure you are not wearing anything green. Green is her favorite color, and strong waves will sweep up people wearing green into the vast sea. They will then become one of her loyal servants.
5. Trunyan Village
This village in the Kintamani area of Bali is famous for its unique funeral ritual. According to local folklore, a prince from the Surakarta Kingdom traveled to Bali seeking a fragrant scent- which turned out to be the Taru Menyan tree.
To secure the area from external invasions, he created a new rule that is still followed until today. Dead bodies can only be laid down next to this tree and not buried. The tree masked any rotting odor with its naturally fragrant aroma.
Not every villager can be buried in the holiest way under the fragrant tree (Sema Wayah); only those who died from natural causes, died while married, and those who have lost all their baby teeth. Locals will bury the rest in the other two cemeteries: Sema Batas for unnatural causes and Sema Muda for young/unmarried persons. Please visit these cemeteries with a local guide, who would know best the do’s and don’ts in the area.
6. Alas Purwo National Park
Located in Banyuwangi, Alas Purwo National Park is said to be the oldest forest in Java. It means “The Beginning Forest”, and the mysteriousness of this forest reminds me a lot of the haunted Appalachian Mountains.
For starters, if someone visits Alas Purwo and hears something calling their name- pretend that never happened. If they seek its source, they will be cursed with lifelong bad luck. Worst case, that creature will sprit them away.
Rumors say that many spiritual creatures occupy this forest, and it is also a famous location for special types of meditation. What type of meditation, you ask? To seek advice and fortune from the other realm. One cave, “Goa Istana”, is a famous meeting place for Ir. Soekarno, the first president of Indonesia, and Nyi Roro Kidul.
7. Lubang Buaya (Jakarta)
Lubang Buaya directly translates to “crocodile hole”. It is an apt description of the horrors that happened in this particular location. This is the dumping site for the bodies of 7 army generals killed in the G30S PKI incident, a bloody rebellion attributed to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
In 1965, PKI kidnapped these army generals, assasinated them, and left their mutilated bodies down the Lubang Buaya well. The ghosts of these generals are still haunting the site of the well, where phantom cries for help and crying sounds can still be heard by locals.
Some reported ghost sightings who resembled members of the army, bleeding and walking by the well. An anecdotal story of an international tourist getting possessed by a spirit added to the haunted mysteriousness, due to the tourist’s sudden ability to sing the folk song “Genjer genjer“- members of the PKI loved this song! 😱
There are a whole lot more mystical traditions and destinations in Indonesia. Leave a comment if you would like to read more, and share this article to your dread-aficionado friends.
P.S. = If you are visiting Indonesia, check out the travel apps you should download and this Bali destination honest review!
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