{"id":17752,"date":"2014-12-08T07:05:33","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T07:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/pilgrims-flock-sex-mountain-in-search-of-fortune\/"},"modified":"2014-12-08T07:05:19","modified_gmt":"2014-12-08T07:05:19","slug":"pilgrims-flock-sex-mountain-in-search-of-fortune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/pilgrims-flock-sex-mountain-in-search-of-fortune\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilgrims Flock \u2018Sex Mountain\u2019 In Search Of Fortune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sex Mountain in Indonesia attracts thousands of Muslim pilgrims, who believe having sex out of wedlock at this holy site will bring them wealth and good fortune. Dateline follows them as they take part in this unusual ritual.<\/p>\n

Married men, cheating housewives, government officials and prostitutes revelling in a mass ritual of adultery and sex. This is what happens on Gunung Kemukus in Indonesia, otherwise known as Sex Mountain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI come here to seek good fortune,\u201d regular visitor Mardiyah told me as I follow her journey on tonight\u2019sDateline at 9.30pm on SBS ONE.<\/p>\n

She is one of thousands of pilgrims who journey to a mysterious hilltop in Java to perform this ancient ritual. Most of those who take part in the ritual consider themselves devout Muslims<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Mardiyah prays at Sex Mountain, in the hope that the ritual will help provide money to pay her debts.<\/p>\n

There are several versions of the mythic tale that date back to the 16th century. Legend has it a young Indonesian Prince Pangeran Samodro had an affair with his stepmother.<\/p>\n

They ran away and hid on Gunung Kemukus. One day, while mid-coitus, they were caught, killed and buried atop the mountain. It\u2019s now an Islamic shrine where this sex ritual takes place.<\/p>\n

The story goes: pilgrims must copulate on the mountain every 35 days for seven consecutive times and blessings and wealth should come their way.<\/p>\n

But for the magic to work and the money to flow, it\u2019s believed their sex partner for the ritual should not be their spouse.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Gepeng travelled hundreds of kilometres to reach Gunung Kemukus, or Sex Mountain.<\/p>\n

I meet Gepeng, who like many others has travelled hundreds of kilometres from across the archipelago to get to sex mountain.\u201cYou go there to look for a different partner, not the one you have at home. Historically that\u2019s how it works,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Another man travelling with him explained: \u201cI don\u2019t tell my wife. There\u2019s no way my wife will find out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pilgrims first pray and make offerings at the grave. They then must wash themselves at sacred springs nearby and once that\u2019s been completed, they have sex.<\/p>\n

This ritual isn\u2019t seen anywhere else in Indonesia or the rest of the Muslim world. It\u2019s a very Javanese blend of religious ideals with Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist influences.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

A visit to Sex Mountain includes rituals combining Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist influences.<\/p>\n

Professor Keontjoro Soeparno, a social psychologist from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, has been studying the ritual for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a strange thing. A paradox: there\u2019s a mosque, shrine \u2013 but outside \u2013 there\u2019s a place for having illicit sex,\u201d he said. \u201cThe fact is \u2013 it\u2019s hypocritical.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to ignore that the ritual is riddled with contradictions. Islam views adultery as a sin, so the \u2018out of wedlock\u2019 sex clearly goes against the mainstream law of the religion.<\/p>\n

Karaoke bars and \u2018sex shacks\u2019 line the hillside. Some are privately owned, others built and funded by the local government. But they\u2019re loathe to publicly admit there is any sex going on at Gunung Kemukus.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

\u2018Sex shacks\u2019 offer rooms by the hour for those who\u2019ve found a new partner to have sex with.<\/p>\n

\u201cPilgrims should come here with pure hearts and clean bodies,\u201d a gatekeeper employed to look after the mountain shrine said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never said the sex is a condition of the pilgrimage. It\u2019s what they want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The territory has become prime real estate for commercial sex workers. Professor Keontjoro estimates about half of the women who show up now are prostitutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government facilitated the rise of prostitution. The Islamic religion forbids all this, but the government would rather not know about that. Because they\u2019re more interested in profit \u2013 they leave their religion behind,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some say if you pay for sex the ritual doesn\u2019t work. The reality is the local government makes a sizeable profit from sex mountain. They charge the stalls to set up shop and the pilgrims pay a toll to enter the site.<\/p>\n

With up to 8,000 pilgrims arriving on the busiest nights and an entry fee of around 5000 rupiah, or 50 cents, a time, it\u2019s big business in Indonesia.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s not surprising officials and religious leaders turn a blind eye.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Up to 8,000 people visit Sex Mountain on its busiest nights, with seven visits required to complete the ritual.<\/p>\n

The question remains though \u2013 how do we know this ancient tradition actually works. Does sex with a stranger really boost your bank account?Mardiyah genuinely believes it does, attributing sex mountain and its spiritual powers to her recent success.<\/p>\n

\u201cPraise be to God, after coming here, even though I have a few debts, my business is making a bit of a profit. Even though it\u2019s small, I still give thanks that I\u2019ve received blessings from here,\u201d she said to me.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know how willing I am to believe in the legacy of Prince Samodro and his stepmother lover, but I can understand the attachment to the myth.<\/p>\n

Source: http:\/\/www.sbs.com.au\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sex Mountain in Indonesia attracts thousands of Muslim pilgrims, who believe having sex out of wedlock at this holy site will bring them wealth and good fortune. Dateline follows them as they take part in this unusual ritual. Married men, cheating housewives, government officials and prostitutes revelling in a mass ritual of adultery and sex. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000055359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-17752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000055359,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17752.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17752.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17752.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17752.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17752.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton17752.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000055359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17752"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=17752"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=17752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}