Original version

BBC World Service Online

The Documentary

Documentaries

Factual

Investigating global developments, issues and affairs.

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

The Documentary: Open Ear: Sex Mountain

Magazines & Reviews

Sex Mountain

21/12/2016 GMT

Open Ear

BBC World Service - The Documentary, Open Ear, Sex Mountain

Why did Indonesians flock to a remote mountain shrine to have sex with strangers?

Why did Indonesians flock to a remote mountain to have sex with strangers? Gunung Kemukus is a hilltop Islamic shrine in Java where, every 35 days, Muslims from across Indonesia arrive to conduct a ritual that involves adulterous sex. As darkness shrouds the hillside, candles are lit and people sit on mats around the sacred dewadaru trees and the twisting roots of massive fig trees. The single grave here is believed to hold a legendary prince and his stepmother. Legend has it that they ran away together and lived at Gunung Kemukus. It is believed that if you do something even more shameful there, like have adulterous sex, then you will be blessed with good fortune. Rebecca Henschke tells the story of this extraordinary ritual. 

Open Ear features documentaries from producers across the world being rebroadcast by the BBC World Service. It originally aired as a 360 Documentary on ABC Radio National in Australia.

(Photo: A flower on Water, Credit: Thinkstock)

The Documentary: Open Ear

The BBC World Service showcases a range of exciting documentaries from producers across the globe.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Documentary

Open Ear

Sex Mountain

Genres

Formats

Brand

Series

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service