Kuntilanak
The Pontianak, Kuntilanak, Matianak or "Boentianak" (as known in Indonesia, sometimes shortened to just kunti) is a type of vampire in Malay folklore and Indonesian mythology, similar to the Langsuir. Pontianak are women who died during childbirth and became undead, seeking revenge and terrorizing villages. The name “pontianak” is reportedly a corruption of the Indonesian and Malay word “perempuan mati beranak”, or “she who has died in childbirth”[1].
Appearance
In folklore, a Pontianak usually announces its presence through baby cries or assumes the form of a beautiful lady and frightens or kills those unlucky enough to come too close. It disguises itself as a beautiful young woman mainly to attract its victim (usually male). Its presence can sometimes be detected by a nice floral fragrance identifiable as that of the Tuberose, followed by an awful stench afterward. In his 1977 short story collection The Consul’s File Paul Theroux posits that the phantom is an invention of Malay wives who wanted to discourage their husbands from random sexual encounters with women that they met on the road at night[2].
Gauging how far away a pontianak is by its cries is very tricky. The Malays believe that if the cry is soft it means that the pontianak is near, and if it is loud then it must be far. Some believe that if you hear a dog howling, that means that the pontianak is far away. But if a dog is whining, that means the Pontianak is nearby.
A Pontianak kills its victims by digging into their stomachs with its sharp fingernails and devouring their organs. Pontianaks must feed in this manner in order to survive. In some cases where the Pontianak desires revenge against a male individual, it rips out the sex organs with its hands. It is believed that Pontianaks locate prey by sniffing out clothes left outside to dry. For this reason, some Malays refuse to leave any article of clothing outside of their residences overnight.
Some believe that having a sharp object like a nail helps them fend off potential attacks by Pontianaks, the nail being used to plunge a hole at the back of the Pontianak's neck. It is believed that this will turn the Pontianak into a beautiful woman, until the nail is pulled off again. The Indonesian twist on this is to plunge the nail into the apex of the head of the kuntilanak.
The Pontianak is associated with banana trees, and its spirit is said to reside in them during the day.
Name sake
Pontianak in Indonesia is named after this creature, which was claimed to have haunted the men who first settled there. It is said that if you have your eyes open when a Pontianak is near it will suck them out of your head.
Langsuir
Langsuir is a version of Pontianak, popular in Malaysia as one of the deadliest vampires in Malay folklore. Different from the pontianak, which always appears as a beautiful woman to devour the victim, langsuir possess the victim and suck their blood from the inside, slowly killing them. It is believed that langsuir are women who suffered from laboring sickness (meroyan) and which resulted in the death of both mother and child in childbirth. Such a woman would turn in to a langsuir 40 days after her death. Portrayed as hideous, scary, vengeful and furious, the langsuir is further characterized as having red eyes, sharp claws, long hair, a green or white robe (most of the time), a rotten face with long fangs and the ability to fly. It is also believed that the langsuir has a hole behind its neck which is used to suck blood. If one puts the Langsuir's hair in this hole or cuts their claws, Langsuir will become human again. To prevent women from turning into langsuir, glass beads are put in the corpses mouth.
See also
References
External links
- Article by Singapore Paranormal Investigators about pontianaks
- Pontianaks And The Issue Of Verisimilitude In Singaporean Cinema(requires a login and password) -- an essay by Dr Timothy White of the National University of Singapore, about the important role played by 1950s and 1960s horror films in the evolution of pontianak mythology (Microsoft Word document).