Indonesian Mythology

Basic Information

Indonesian Mythology is the myths and folklore of Indonesia. Indonesia is very culturally diverse, with over 100 ethnic groups. So it's got elements drawn from Dayak mythology, Batak mythology, Toraja mythology, Asmat mythology, Sundanese mythology, Javanese mythology, Minangkabau mythology and malay mythology. Syncretism has blended the folklore of these groups together to various extents, and they've further imported ideas from Hindu mythology, Islamic mythology, Buddhist mythology and Christian mythology.

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Deities:

• Barong - a good-aligned panther, king of the spirits
• Batara Kala - god of the underworld, fearsome and ugly, causes the eclipse
• Dewi Sri - goddess of rice and fertility
• Hainuwele - born from a coconut, she literally poops out valuable items
• Hudoq - 13 crop-destroying pests who are placated with a yearly multi-hour dance
• Hyang - revered unseen spiritual entities that can only move in straight lines
• Nyai Loro Kidul - goddess of the sea
• Ratu Adil - the Just King, a messianic figure in 12th Century prophecies.
• Silewe Nazarate - goddess of the moon, symbol of life

Creatures:

• Babi Ngepet - a boar demon
• Begu Ganjang - a demon
• Ebu Gogo - a hairy humanoid species that parrots speech and kidnaps children
• Hantu Air - spirit of the water associated with drowning and floods
• Hantu Jeruk Purut - the headless ghost that haunts the Jeruk Purut graveyard
• Jailangkung - a demon
• Kuntilanak (aka Pontianak) a female vampiric ghost
• Leyak - a flying head dragging entrails. Feeds on pregnant women and newborns -¹
• Pocong - a ghost wrapped in a burial shroud. Hops because its feet are tied together
• Suanggi - a cannibal witch or an evil spirt that causes disease
• Tuyul - an undead infant associated with magic-users
• Warak ngendog - a composite animal that carries eggs on its back
• Wewe Gombel - a vengeful female ghost

Places:

• Alam Ghaib - the unseen realm

See Also:

Sources

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia

Game and Story Use

Footnotes

1. Technically, the Indonesian version of Leyak is spelled and pronounced "Leak", but that's just going to make for a confusing page name, so we'll use Leyak, a spelling more properly associated with Balinese mythology.