Pilgrims, Prostitutes, and Ritual Seks

Abstract

Abstract The general fixation on globally spreading forms of Islam and other religions (agama) has contributed to an undervaluing of the current and parallel boom in local, often heterodox ritual practices (adat). These ritual practices include forms of pilgrimage that encourage the performance of a sexual act on the tombs of saints, which is regarded as conducive to the redemption of the wishes and hopes associated with such a pilgrimage. The possible sexual partners involved in ritual seks (ritual sex) include not only husband and wife, but also other pilgrims to whom one is not married; even prostitutes are regarded as completely legitimate partners. For a number of years, pilgrimage sites known for this remarkable conjunction of religion and sexuality have been experiencing an unprecedented boom, in sharp contrast to the often diagnosed Islamization of Indonesian society. Against this background, this article examines the media discourses that are controversially related to ritual seks and supports the thesis that the current religious boom (‘religionization’) not only involves globalized Islam, but all religious forms, even the deviant.