For many years I did not set foot in Pontianak. Two associations that may be most remembered about the capital of West Kalimantan is orange and the Kapuas River. Both deserve to be icons. Pontianak oranges taste sour-sweet characteristic with thin green skin. While the Kapuas is the longest river in Indonesia’s number one. It is said that this river had been filming locations “anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid”.
Pontianak is not only geographically divided by the river, but also the demographics of the tribes who lived in, both immigrants and native. Living here ethnic Malays, Chinese, Javanese, Bugis, and Padang. They blend in harmony and give color to the city paras.
If there’s one thing not many people know about Pontianak must be about the origin of its name. Pontianak derived from the word “kuntilanak”, a legendary female ghost in a horror film that Indonesia is characterized by long hair, white dress, and high-pitched laughter. By a handful of people in neighboring countries, the term “ghost pontianak” still in use today.
My first agenda was visited palace called the Palace Pontianak Kadariyah.
Stepping on the pages of this magnificent palace, a fantasy I flew into the past. Pontianak history began in 1771 when the kingdom Abdurrachman Syarief Mempawah take great expedition in search of new homes along the Kapuas. The group had stopped at Batu Layang Island is now transformed into a royal cemetery. This is where they start to get interference from ghost pontianak.
Syarief Abdurrachman proceed to the intersection of the Kapuas and the Porcupine, opened the area for eight days, and then build a house and hall. Interval of eight years, he was inaugurated as the first king and with it also the Palace stood Kadariyah.