The myth about Mount Rinjani is told in Indonesia in traditional shadow puppet shows, called ‘wayang’. The story is written in the Hindu books. Originally it is a very long story but I will try to shorten it here.

The story sets in a land of the giants named Alengka. It is fascinating to see how stories of giants roaming the earth has not only filled local ancient literature in Indonesia but also in the whole world… even in the Bible! In the Bible the giants are explained to be a breed of humans and fallen angels, the Nephilims, recorded in Genesis 6. In Indonesia, giants (who are half human and half demons or generally told in traditional stories as ‘supernatural’) are mentioned in so many local stories and myths.

So in the land of the giants, Alengka, lived a man, Resi Gotama and his wife, Dewi Windradi, with their 3 children – 2 sons and 1 daughter. The daughter’s name was Dewi Rinjani a.k.a. Dewi Anjani. The mother had an affair with the sun god, Bhatara Surya, and they were able to get away with the affair for many years.

The woman was shown a divine heritage by the sun god which was a big secret not to be shown to anyone including her own children. It was a simple bowl called the Cupumanik Astagina which could show those who looked into it all the secrets, the lives and the unknown worlds that this universe is hiding. This included all the lives on the earth, in heaven and in hell. Additionally, whatever the holder of the bowl wishes for, the divine bowl was able to fulfill.

The woman was fascinated with what was shown to her and could not restrain herself from giving the bowl to her favourite child, Dewi Rinjani. This raged the sun god very much and he cursed that revenge will come over Dewi Rinjani.

Long story short, one day Dewi Rinjani visited the Segara Anak lake, a crater lake on Mount Rinjani. When she stepped into the water and washed her legs and her face, and bathed herself in it, she turned into a hairy, half human half monkey, creature. The legend of Dewi Rinjani being devastated and sad staying near the lake until her death was the inspiration of naming the volcano ‘Rinjani’. For many years, the sun god would visit her once in a while to throw food to the half monkey half human, which is why local communities until now come and bring offering to the ruler of the lake.

The locals believe that the spirit of Rinjani still lives there. Some trekkers even claim to have seen a beautiful women by the lake who was quite hairy. Believe it or not.

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