A seemingly typical Javanese village emerges from the slopes of a nondescript hill. Until recently, when the Fridays of the Javanese and Gregorian calendars coincide, believers congregated from around Java for the Pon Festival, an event that has gained widespread notoriety for facilitating ritual extramarital intercourse. Around 300 years ago, the legend goes, the “prince” of the region fell into an illicit love affair with his stepmother. They would meet in secret on Gunung Kemukus (Mount Kemukus). Both the prince and his stepmother are said to have been caught killed on the…
