Nyai Roro Kidul - Queen of The South Sea

Nyai Roro Kidul has many different names, which reflect the diverse stories of her origin in a lot of sagas, legends, myths and traditional tellings. Other names include Ratu Laut Selatan ("Queen of the South Sea," meaning the Indian Ocean) and Gusti Kangjeng Ratu Kidul. Many Javanese believe it is important to use various honorifics when referring to her, such as Nyai, Kangjeng, and Gusti. People who invoke her also call her Eyang (grandmother). In mermaid form she is referred to as Nyai Blorong. Nyai Roro Kidul is often illustrated as a mermaid who has a mermaid tail as well the lower part of the body of a snake. These mythical creatures take your soul for any wish of material matters addressed to them.

Sometimes Nyai Roro Kidul literally is spoken of as a "naga", a mythical snake. It is Nyai Roro Kidul's association with snakes although this idea may have been derived from some myths concerning a princess of Pajajaran who suffered from leprosy. It is obvious that the skin disease mentioned in most of the myths about Nyai Roro Kidul does refer to the shedding of a snake's skin.


Although it is the beauty of the Javanese Spirit-Queen that became a popular motif, and got related with the beauty of Sundanese and Javanese princesses, and their ability to change shape several times a day. Nyai Roro Kidul, with nine changes daily, surpasses all ordinary mortals, and became famous for her beauty.

Nyai Roro Kidul controls the violent waves of the Indian Ocean from dwelling place in the heart of the ocean. Sometimes she is referred as one of the spiritual queens or wives of the Susuhunan of Solo/Surakarta and the Sultan of Yogyakarta and corresponding to Merapi-Kraton-South Sea axis in Solo Sultanate and Yogyakarta Sultanate. Especially the colour of green, gadhung m'lathi in Javanese, is referred to her, which is forbidden to wear along the south-coast of Java.

Origin and history
It is not known that Nyai Roro Kidul has been named in Javanese history. It was Panembahan Senopati (1586-1601 AD), founder of the Mataram Sultanate, and his grandson Sultan Agung (1613-1645 AD) who named the Kanjeng Ratu Kidul as their bride in the Babad Tanah Jawi (the creation story of Java).

One original Sundanese folks telling is about Dewi Kadita of the Pajajaran Kingdom, in Western Java, who desperately sought the Southern Sea after black magic had hit her. She jumped into the violent waves of the Indian Ocean where the spirits and demons crowned the girl to the legendary Spirit-queen of the South Sea.

While another Sundanese folks telling shows how Banyoe Bening (meaning clear water) becomes Queen of the Djojo Koelon Kingdom and, suffering from leprosy, travels to the South where she is taken up by a huge wave to disappear into the Southern Ocean.

A very complicated story goes about the Ajar Cemara Tunggal (Adjar Tjemara Toenggal) on the mountain of Kombang in the Pajajaran Kingdom. He is a male seer who actually was the beautiful great aunt of Raden Joko Susuruh. She told him to go to the east of Java to found a kingdom on the place where a maja-tree just had one fruit; the fruit was bitter, pait in Javanese, and the kingdom got the name of Majaphait. The seer Cemara Tunggal would marry the founder of Majapahit and any descendant in first line, to help in all kind of matters. Though after he (the seer) would have transmigrated into the "spirit-queen of the south" who shall reign over the spirits, demons and all dark creatures. After all it is because of these traditions that the myth about Nyai Roro Kidul got a Sundanese, West-Javanese origin. 

Source : Wikipedia