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Urban legends turn South Jakarta cemetery into spot for ‘thrill-seeking tourists’
The Jeruk Purut cemetery in South Jakarta has become a popular tourist destination for horror fans. Although the cemetery is clean, well lit and well maintained, its legends have catapulted it into popularity.
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Participants in the Jakarta Mystical Tour visit Jeruk Purut cemetery, South Jakarta, on Oct. 18. The cemetery is considered one of the most haunted places in Jakarta. (JP/Nina A. Loasana)
T
he clock was about to strike midnight as the group of about 50 people entered Jeruk Purut cemetery, South Jakarta, last Friday night. Walking in silence, they ventured ever deeper into the cemetery as dark clouds engulfed the full moon just above the horizon.
It was no funeral. The crowd had assembled for the Jakarta Mystical Tour, where daring visitors explore the 10 most haunted places in the city to get their Halloween thrills. Jeruk Purut cemetery is one of the best-known spots and is the subject of many horror-filled urban legends.
Daud, the tour guide, stopped the group in front of two large trees in the middle of the cemetery.
“These trees are called the twin trees. They mark one of the scariest spots in the cemetery. It is said that atop these trees lies the gate to a small Javanese palace in the other realm,” he told the group of thrill seekers.
Daud then brought the tour members to an old well near the eastern edge of the cemetery, which he said was also among the scariest spots in the cemetery. Legend has it that a snake demon dwells in the well’s depths.
Taking out their cameras and mobile phones, dozens of tour members bent over the well to look for the bottom and perhaps catch a furtive glimpse of the serpent spirit. Others sat on nearby tombstones waiting their turns.
