3 Famous Ghosts in Indonesian

1. Pocong

A pocong, also known as shroud ghost, is an Indonesian and Malaysian ghost that is said to be the soul of a dead person trapped in its shroud. Known in Indonesia/Malaysia as kain kafan, the shroud is the prescribed length of cloth used in Muslim burials to wrap the body of the dead person. The dead body is covered in white fabric tied over the head, under the feet, and on the neck.

According to traditional beliefs, the soul of a dead person will stay on the Earth for 40 days after the death. If the ties over the shroud are not released after 40 days, the body is said to jump out from the grave to warn people that the soul needs to be released. After the ties are released, the soul will leave the Earth forever. Because of the tie under the feet, the ghost can't walk. This causes the pocong to hop like a rabbit

Pocongs often appear in religion-based movies or TV serials. In the early 2000s (decade), TV stations in Indonesia purported to capture ghost appearances with their cameras and put the records on a specific show of their own. In these shows, the Pocong appearances could be seen very often, along with the kuntilanak. There was also a movie Pocong (2006) directed by Rudy Soedjarwo, which was banned and censored in its French and German DVD versions due to the disturbing, scary, and terrifying scenes. Not long after it was banned, the director created a sequel, less horrible but about the same story, Pocong 2 (2006). Other titles such as Pocong 3 (2007), The Real Pocong (2009), and 40 Hari Bangkitnya Pocong (2008) were introduced in the movie series in theaters in Indonesia.

The movie Pocong Jumat Kliwon, directed by successful director Nayato Fio Nuala, began a trend of horror comedy Pocong movies. In 2011 Pocong is also Pocong, a new horror-comedy featuring Pocong, was made by female director Chiska Doppert, Nayato's former partner.

Other recent movies featuring Pocong are Sumpah, (Ini) Pocong! (2009), Pocong Setan Jompo (2009) and Kepergok Pocong (2011). These films generally share the quality of the pocong playing a role similar to that of the Grim Reaper, in both comedic and dramatic situations.

2. Kuntilanak

The pontianak (Kuntilanak) is a female vampiric ghost in Indonesian and Malay mythology. It is also known as a matianak or kuntilanak, sometimes shortened to kunti. The pontianak are said to be the spirits of women who died while pregnant. This is despite the fact that the earliest recordings of pontianaks in Malay lore describe the ghost as originating from a stillborn child. This is often confused with a related creature, the lang suir, which is the ghost of a woman who died while giving birth.

The word pontianak is reportedly a corruption of the Malay : perempuan mati beranak, or “woman who died in childbirth”. Another theory is that the word is a combination of puan (woman) + mati (die) + anak (child). The term matianak means "death of a child". The city of Pontianak in Indonesia is named after this wicked creature, which was a ghosts' nest until Syarif Abdurrahman Alkadrie and his Army fought and extruded ghosts who attacked his group by shooting cannon balls.

Pontianaks are usually depicted as pale-skinned women with long black hair, red eyes, and white dresses smeared in blood, but they are said to be able to take on a beautiful human appearance since they prey on men and helpless people. They can also be beasts due to their bloodthirsty and carnivorous nature.

In folklore, a pontianak usually arises at full moon and announces her presence through high-pitched baby cries. If the cry is soft, it means that the pontianak is near, and if it is loud, then she is far. Some believe that if one hears a dog howling at night, it means the pontianak is far, but if a dog is whining, that means the pontianak is nearby. Her presence can sometimes be detected by a nice floral fragrance identifiable as that of the plumeria, followed by an awful stench (resembling that of a decaying body) afterwards. The Indian version, the Churail, can be identified by her feet turning backwards just before her transformation into her vampiric form.

A pontianak kills her victims by digging into their body with her sharp fingernails and devouring their bodily organs. In some cases where the pontianak desires revenge against a male individual, the beast rips out the bodily organs with her hands. It is said that if one has his or her eyes open when a pontianak is near, she will suck them out of the victim's head. Pontianaks locate their prey/victims by sniffing out the hanging laundry outside. For this reason, some Malaysians refuse to leave any piece of clothing outside of their house overnight.

The pontianak is associated with banana trees, and her spirit is said to reside in them during the day.

To fend off a pontianak, a nail should be plunged into the hole on the nape of her neck. This is said to make her turn into a beautiful woman and a good wife until the nail is removed. In the case of the kuntilanak, the nail is plunged into the apex of her head.

The Indonesian kuntilanak is similar to the pontianak, but commonly takes the form of a bird and sucks the blood of virgins and young women. The bird, which makes a "ke-ke-ke" sound as it flies, may be sent through some black magic to make a woman fall ill; the characteristic symptom is vaginal bleeding. In her female form, when a man approaches her, she suddenly turns and reveals that her back is hollow, but this apparition is more specifically referred to sundel bolong.

3. Genderuwo

Genderuwo or Genderuwa is a mythical creature from Java, Indonesia. It described as reddish or black skinned hairy humanoid with large and muscular body. Within Javanese mythology this creature are said to be supernatural in nature with the ability to disappear and appear at will or transform into human.

Genderuwo is described generally as a muscular hairy humanoid with reddish black skin and bulging eyes. But because of its supernatural ability, it may appear at first as dwarf hairy humanoid and transform quickly into gigantic humanoid when approached by human. It also said to have the ability to communicate with us and even transform into human to trick us. They said to possess magnificent sex drive and hypnotic skill, they seduce woman by transforming into their husband or inhabit the women uterus to gain sexual satisfaction for both itself and the women it inhabit, it can even produce human-genderuwo hybrid from this relationship. Because of this VICE described genderuwo as "great grandaddy" of obscure monster erotica genre which inspire abominations like Cum for Bigfoot.

Genderuwo sighted all over Java island, if you asked any Javanese villager chance are they might've seen one. Genderuwo form colony on various forests and mountains within Java, but they also can be found individually hiding on huge trees or bamboo forest near human habitation. Just the like the other ghost found in Indonesia they can also inhabit dark and humid places like abandoned building.

Genderuwo are sighted all over Java, but nobody cared enough to document them, most people aware where they might appear or live and move on with their lives. But some stories still appear on television and internet. Genderuwo is one of the ghost noted on the De Javaansche Geestenwereld by H.A. van Hien published in 1897 during the Dutch colonization of Indonesia.

Sumber : Wikipedia 

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