Saranjana is a mystical city in Indonesia that is said inhabited by a very modern technological community, this city is believed by local residents to be covered by a very sophisticated protection barrier that is invisible to the eye, and only certain people can enter the mysterious city.
There were wide streets in the mysterious city, and many tall buildings were built. The residents are also people who have beautiful and handsome faces.
Saranjana in the real world does not exist administratively in Kotabaru Regency, South Kalimantan, it doesn't even appear on any map of Indonesia.
But oddly enough, in 1845, Saranjana appeared on Salomon Muller's map. There is an area called Tandjong Serandjana. Is it the same place?
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| Map of Salomon Muller (1845). Image credit: Historical Studies Journal page 15) |
Muller wrote down an area called Tandjong Sarandjana on his 1845 map which was published by Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen in Reizen en onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel (Institute for Publishing Maps of the Archipelago). The area is located to the south of Poeloe Lawut (Pulau Laut).
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| Pulau Laut (Laut Island) map. Image credit: Google Map |
In his capacity as a cartographer, Salomon Muller served as a member of the des Genootschaps en Natuurkundige Komissie in Nederlands Indie already received training from the Leiden Museum and was doing research on the animal world travel and vegetation on the islands of Indonesia. Not yet ascertained whether Salomon Muller travelled to Tandjong Serandjana before mapping. Salomon Muller was not ever mentioned in a couple of articles published Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Arts.
The map contains Tandjong Serandjana are loaded in Reizen en onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel, the first series published Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. This map was made 18 years before Salomon Müller died in 1863.
Other sources containing about Serandjana is Pieter Johannes Veth in the Aardrijkskundig woordenboek van statistisch en Nederlandsch Indie: bewerkt naar de jongste en beste berigten in page 252. This dictionary was published in Amsterdam by P.N. van Kampen in 1869. Veth (1869) wrote down "Sarandjana, aan de kaap Oostzijde van Zuid-Poeloe sea, welk eiland aan Borneo's Zuid-Oost punt is gelegen" (Sarandjana, the southern side of Poeloe Laut, which is an island located in the southeastern part of Borneo). In terminology, if compared with the vocabulary of India, "Saranjana" means given land.
Precisely bordering the areas of Poeloe Kroempoetan (Kerumputan Island) and Poeloe Kidjang (Deer Island). In the latest map after the independence declaration of Indonesia in 1945, there have been many changes to the name of the area on the map. And then, Saranjana never appear on any modern map.
There are many version about the location of the city. The first version only wrote that purportedly located in Kotabaru, South Kalimantan. On the second version sets forth that Saranjana is located in the Bay of Tamiang, Sea Island. The third version is more emphatically States that the location of the region of Saranjana is on a small hill in the village of Oka Oka-Marine Sea Island Subdistrict, South Kalimantan. The hills bordering the sea is beautiful and suitable tourist destinations. This place is considered haunted by the local people.
However, most people belive the city of Saranjana is located in the southern part of the island, precisely in the hilly and uninhabited part of Oka-Oka Village, Pulau Laut District, Kotabaru, South Kalimantan.
In a publication entitled "Myths in Legend of Halimun Island Kingdom in Kotabaru Regency" in 2017 by Normasunah, a story that has become legendary among the people of Kotabaru, Pulau Laut, is described.
The legend tells of the existence of a kingdom called the Halimun Island Kingdom led by King Pakurindang. Other figures in this legend are known as Sambu Batung and Sambu Ranjana.
In the myth, it was later said that King Pakurindang ordered Sambu Batung and Princess Perak to live in the northern part of Pulau Laut. Sambu Batung and his partner were then given permission to mingle with the wider community in the "real world".
Meanwhile, Sambu Ranjana was ordered to live in the southern area of Pulau Laut. The king gave freedom to Sambu Ranjana who intended to shut himself up and be alone and stay in the "unseen realm".
Although King Pakurindang's orders to Sambu Batung and Sambu Ranjana were different, the same message was conveyed to both of them, "Even though you live in different realms, you must remain in harmony, help each other, and remind each other."
According to the legend, the name Sambu Ranjana was later pronounced as Saranjana by local residents. And the people there believe that the current existence of Bukit Saranjana is an "incarnation" of the Sambu Ranjana figure.
Some stories say, there have been some strange events experienced by some people. Like once there were some heavy equipment such as tractors, bulldozers that was said to be delivered near the city of Kotabaru, South Kalimantan.
It is said that in the 1980s, the local government was surprised by the arrival of a number of heavy equipment orders from Jakarta.
All heavy equipment with a very expensive value was ordered by someone with an address in Saranjana City and paid for in cash. Surprisingly, the man said, just leave the things at the edge of the forest. The next day all the heavy equipment mysteriously disappeared.
One of the few people who can enter the mystical city is Pua Leba, who works as a regional official in Pulau Laut District.
Pua Leba is believed to be the 'chosen person' who is able to enter and leave Saranjana City freely. This is because he has a traditional weapon called the Mandau which is believed to be able penetrate the barrier which protecting the city.
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| Pua Leba. Image credit: Radar Banjarmasin Prokal |
Pua Leba revealed that the residents of Saranjana have a taller physical appearance and a charming face than normal humans in general. Also people in Saranjana don't have two lines between lips and nose. They are known as the Halimun people.
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| Mandau, traditional weapon of Dayak tribe in Kalimantan. Image credit: Correcto.id |
Although he often visits Saranjana City, Pua Leba admits that he has never eaten or drank there, but just walked around. That's because if he does it, it is believed that it will be difficult for him to return to the real world. He said that once there was a Kotabaru resident who could see Saranjana City and then accidentally ate their foods. As a result, the person never returned to the real world and is now became a permanent resident of the mystical city.
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| The location of the cave is believed to be the entrance to the Saranjana. Image credit: Historical Studies Journal page 17) |
There is another story, about a woman who had just moved to the village of oka oka which is located in Kotabaru. Every day this woman is gardening through the forest. This had been done for weeks, so she had memorized the path to the garden to the village. However, she suddenly lost his way in the forest and saw a place she had never met before. Not knowing where, this woman asked the man she met there. He said that she was inside the town of Saranjana.
This woman does not even know the myth of Saranjana City. Some Saranjana residents offer this woman to get around. Without the slightest suspicion, she followed them. Because it was already dark, she asked that she intended to return home. But before returning home, residents offered fruit. The fruit in the city of saranjana is much bigger than the usual fruit. After being offered fruit, this woman refused. In the end, this woman was taken home to the path she knew.
Arriving at her village, the local residents were very surprised to see the arrival of this woman. The reason is, this woman has been missing for one week and they thought that she had been killed by a tiger or died in another way. Obviously, this woman was also shocked because she felt she only left for half a day instead of one week. After explaining what happened, the residents had no idea how this woman could return from the town of Saranjana. Because according to the myth, many people who go there can not return. Residents concluded that this woman could return home safely because she did not eat the fruit they offered.
Several years ago a ferry carried many passengers from Tanjung Serdang Kotabaru, but once it arrived at Batulicin Harbor, Tanah Bumbu Regency, it suddenly became quiet. Those passengers mysteriously gone. They are said to be people from Saranjana City.
References:
Historical Studies Journal-Saranjana in Historical Record: The City's Invisibility in Pulau Laut, South Kalimantan (https://jurnal.fkip.unmul.ac.id/index.php/yupa/article/view/112/44)
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